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☆ Jimmy Carter is setting a new record for American presidents. It’s important for everyone
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-30 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +25 min

Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images Carter works at a construction site sponsored by the Jimmy Carter Work Project in Asan, South Korea, in 2001. Alex Wong/Getty Images Carter meets with Obama and other former presidents at the White House in January 2009. Richard Lewis/The Elders/Getty Images Carter was interviewed for "The Presidents' Gatekeepers" project at the Carter Center in Atlanta in September 2011. Chris McKay/Getty Images Carter talks about his cancer diagnosis during a news conference at the Carter Center in Atlanta in August 2015. The 1983 tweaks to Social Security included, for instance, the counting of some Social Security benefits as taxable income and a gradual increase of the retirement age from 65 to 67.

Persons: Jimmy Carter, Carter, John Quincy Adams, It’s, CNN’s Stephen Collinson, ” Carter, “, George H.W, George H.W . Bush, Rosalynn, Lillian, Gloria, . Bradley, Jimmy, Horace Cort, —, John Storey, Stan Wayman, Amy, Walter Mondale, Gerald Ford, Ford, Warren Burger, Rosalynn Carter, Billy, Simons, Barry Thumma, Harvey Georges, Helmut Schmidt, Schmidt, Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin, Camp David, Carter's, Carter jogs, Karl Schumacher, Dirck Halstead, Leonid Brezhnev, Chuck McManis, Ronald Reagan, Reagan, Robert Burgess, Joe Holloway Jr, AP Carter, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Paul J, Richards, Clinton, Chung Sung, Fidel Castro, Adalberto Roque, Arne Knudsen, Hugo Chavez's, Juan Barreto, Howard Dean, Erik S, Scott Olson, Marco Longari, Michael Williamson, Barack Obama's, Alex Wong, Obama, George W, Bush, J, Scott Applewhite, Mark Wilson, Ismail Haniya, Mahmud Hams, Jung Yeon, Nelson Mandela, Jeff Moore, Aijalon Mahli Gomes, Gomes, Darren McCollester, Sheikh Jarrah, Mary Robinson, Bernat, George, Kris Connor, Raul Castro, Javier Galeano, Richard Lewis, David Hume Kennerly, Michelle Obama, Martin Luther King Jr, Jewel Samad, Brian Kersey, Chris McKay, Phil Skinner, Donald Trump, Saul Loeb, Jim Chapin, Drew Angerer, Matt McClain, Dan Quinn, Scott Cunningham, Chip Somodevilla, Mark Humphrey, John Amis, Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Adam Schultz, John Bazemore, Michael S, Williamson, Jason Carter, Evelyn Hockstein, Jimmy Carter's, there’s, aren’t, – Carter, Ronald Reagan –, CNN’s Eva Rothenberg, ” Regan, dismissively, gaslighting, “ Governor Reagan, Reagan empaneled, Alan Greenspan, Donald Trump’s, Kamala Harris Organizations: CNN, Social Security, Medicare, Carter, ”, Habitat, Humanity, Bettmann, Jimmy, AP, US Naval Academy, Democratic, Atlanta, Hulton, Democratic National Convention, Walnut, Theater, Ford, Getty Images, Department of Energy, West, Airlift, Camp, AFP, Getty, Democratic National Committee, White House, Ronald Reagan Library, Andrews Air Force Base, United Nations, Trinity Church, Summit, America's, Getty Images Cuban, University of Havana, Venezuelan, Department of Defense, Washington Post, White, Foreign, Korea University, North, South, Boston's Logan International Airport, Irish, Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies, Carter Center, Lincoln Memorial, Sunday School, Maranatha Baptist Church, Hurricane Relief, College, College Station ,, Secret Service, Atlanta Falcons, NFL, Former, The New York Times, Pew Research Center, Congressional Research Service, Security Locations: Cuba, Guinea, Iraq, Winnipeg, Canada, George H.W ., United States, Elk City , Oklahoma, Plains , Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia, New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Georgia's St, Florida, Panama, Vietnam, Berlin, Maryland, Egypt, Israel, Pennsylvania, Vienna, Austria, Los Angeles, Arab, Wiesbaden, West Germany, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, AFP, New, Asan , South Korea, Havana, Oslo, Norway, Caracas, Venezuela, American, Connecticut, Boston, Maputo, Mozambique, DC, Ghana, Gaza, Seoul, South Korea, North Korea, Johannesburg, Jerusalem, Sheikh, Pyongyang, Chicago, College Station, College Station , Texas, Nashville , Tennessee, Plains

☆ Magdalena Suarez Frimkess, the artist messing with Mickey Mouse
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-26 | by ( Christian House | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“Magdalena Suarez Frimkess: The Finest Disregard” finds the artist enjoying her first major solo show at the tender age of 95. Whimsical and nostalgic or unsettling and sinister, Magdalena Suarez Frimkess is an anarchic cartoonist in clay, says this writer. Museum Associates/LACMAConsidering her medium and subject matter, Suarez Frimkess sits art-historically somewhere between Grayson Perry and Andy Warhol. With these and other works, Suarez Frimkess began exploring the absurdities of the commonplace. Bowl with Mickey Mouse, Condorito and Pansy Pattern by Magdalena Suarez Frimkess (2010).

Persons: Magdalena Suarez Frimkess, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Olive Oyl, Looney, “ Magdalena Suarez Frimkess, Suarez Frimkess —, Michael Frimkess —, Betty Boop, Bugs Bunny, Felix the, Miles Davis, Fidel Castro, Martin Luther King, Mickey, Suarez Frimkess, Grayson Perry, Andy Warhol, Magdalena, Rafael Ramon González, ”, Minnie Mouse, Michael Frimkess, “, Suarez, Michael, Jenni Sorkin, wackiness Organizations: Los Angeles CNN —, Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum, Escuela de Artes Plásticas de, Pontifical Catholic University, Clay Art Center Locations: Venezuelan, Venice Beach, Los Angeles, American, Chilean, Maturín, Venezuala, Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Caracas, Portuguese, Santiago, Chile, Port Chester , New York, California, LACMA, Venice

Hussein Malla / AP“We have examples where supply chains were compromised in very elaborate, long lasting, super sophisticated ways for espionage. This may be the first supply chain attack that actually really deserves to be called a supply chain attack,” said Thomas Rid, a Johns Hopkins University professor who studies the history of intelligence operations. “Supply chain compromises are tried and true in intelligence work,” said Harding, who is the director of the Intelligence, National Security, and Technology Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I literally cannot think of a single example that is unclassified.”But she said the combined scope, planning and violence behind the pager and walkie-talkie operation made it a unique incident in the history of supply chain compromises. While the attack in Lebanon broke with spy agencies’ tradition by using a supply chain for an attack rather than for espionage, it could benefit Israel’s military objectives and have larger political implications.

Persons: It’s, Hussein Malla, ”, Thomas, Israel, Icom, pagers, Emily Harding, Harding, “, Edward Snowden, There’s, Fidel Castro, Yahya Ayyash, it’s Organizations: NBC News, Johns Hopkins University, Lebanon’s Telecommunications Ministry, New York Times, CIA, U.S . National Security Council, Intelligence, National Security, Technology, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Crypto, Washington Post, ZDF, National Security Agency, NSA, FBI, Australian Federal Police Locations: Israel, Beirut, Swiss, Cuban, Lebanon

☆ The plot to topple Putin
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-09 | by ( Paul Starobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +32 min

But it was only when Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine , in 2022, that Ammosov began to plot the overthrow of his homeland. As I found in months of wide-ranging interviews, everyone aspiring to a new Russian revolution grasps the seemingly impossible odds of their bid to topple Putin. Ponomarev — who was profiled last year in The Washington Post under the headline "Could this man bring down Putin?" Most applicants live in Russia, Sokolov tells me, but submissions have come from as far away as Uruguay. "I know a lot of good officers" in the CIA, Ponomarev told me, who "sympathize" with the anti-Putin insurgency.

Persons: Vladislav Ammosov, Ukraine —, Ammosov, wondrously, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Simona Supino, Alexey Navalny —, Ilya Ponomarev, Ponomarev —, —, Sean Guillory, Denis Sokolov, Sokolov, Galina Starovoytova, Anastasia Sergeeva, Sergeeva, Valter, Putin —, Tatiana Kosinova, Yelena Bonner, Itil, Boris Nemtsov, Nemtsov, Vladimir Lenin, specter, NurPhoto, Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Boris Akunin, Ponomarev, Trotsky, Mao, Castro, Alexei Sobchenko, Sergei Chuzavkov, Ilya Ponomarev Ponomarev, Michał Kamiński, Kosinova, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, Nikolai Gogol's, . Barnum, Bernie, Madoff, Donald, Leonid Nevzlin, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Navalny, King George III, Khodorkovsky, Garry Kasparov, Putin's, Andrey Volna, Brian Fitzpatrick, Charlie Wilson's, Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Daniel Fried, William Burns, Fried, Biden, We're, Evgenia, it's Organizations: Putin, Ukrainian, Russian Federation, The Washington Post, University of Pittsburgh, Civic Council, Kennan, Wilson Center, GRU, Russia, BI, International Republican Institute, CIA, Kremlin, Russian, Memorial, Soviet Union, of America, Civic, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, Russian Volunteer Corps, European, Human Rights, Siberian Battalion, Ammosov, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Putin's Defense Ministry, True, Bolsheviks, of Russia Legion, People's Deputies, State Department, Justice Department, Polish Senate, Trump University, Trump, Khodorkovsky, FBI, Intelligence, Senate, Ukrainian Security Services, Bolshevik Locations: Siberia, Russia, Warsaw, Poland, Ukraine, Sakha, India, Putin Russia, Russian, Kyiv, The, restive North Caucasus, Washington, Soviet Union, Moscow, WhatsApp, Ukrainian, Soviet, Crimean, USSR, Europe, Uruguay, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, America, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Australia, Belgorod, Kursk, Kremlin, China, Cuba, True Russia, Ponomarev, Northern Virginia, Polish, ., Lviv, Yukos, London, Pennsylvania, Texas, Afghanistan, Putin Russian, Tallinn, Estonia

CNN —The jury has begun deliberating in the federal corruption trial against Sen. Bob Menendez and his co-defendants. Menendez and his co-defendants, New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, are accused of participating in a yearslong bribery scheme. Prosecutors spent nearly seven weeks untangling the multiple corruption schemes that they allege Bob and Nadine Menendez and the co-defendants were involved in. Federal prosecutors structured their case by chapters, calling witnesses to testify about separate schemes allegedly brokered by the senator in tandem with his wife. During the trial, the senator’s lawyers called five witnesses, including his sister, sister-in-law and the attorney for a friend of Uribe.

Persons: Sen, Bob Menendez, Menendez, Wael Hana, Fred Daibes, Mercedes, Nadine Menendez, –, Bob, Hana, Jose Uribe, Uribe, Bob Menendez’s, Fidel Castro, Donald Trump’s, Joe, Andy Kim, Kim, Curtis Bashaw Organizations: CNN, New, New Jersey Democrat, Prosecutors, Mercedes Benz, Democratic, Republican Locations: New Jersey, Cuban, New York City, Cuba, Manhattan, Jersey, South Jersey

☆ I lived in Cuba for 20 years. Moving back to the US has me questioning the meaning of 'home.'
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Conner Gorry | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

After living there for 20 years, she saw herself as an immigrant, rather than an expat. I'm in the toothpaste aisle at Target, dumbfounded by a selection that runs several shelves long and as many high. After more than 20 years in Cuba, where Close-Up and La Perla were the only choices for most of that time, I'm overwhelmed by the number of options. In Cuba, moreover, women have full autonomy over their bodies, which I feel is the only way it should be. Comfort food, like a juicy hamburger, is one of the great things about living back in the US.

Persons: Conner Gorry, —, La Perla, Davidson Jose Salgado, Harley, Davidson, Fidel Castro, I'd, you've, I'm, doctor's, Carolyn Gorry, I've Organizations: Service, La, World Trade, Harley, Diplomats Locations: New York, Havana, Target, Cuba, Detroit, Pakistan, Haiti, —, Dijon

☆ In a Communist Stronghold, Capitalists Become an Economic Lifeline
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( David C. Adams | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A modern grocery store whose shelves are packed with everything from pasta to wine fills a spot in central Havana once occupied by a drab state-owned flower shop, its ceilings and walls repaired and repainted. A former state glass company in a Havana suburb now houses a showroom for a private business selling Cuban-made furniture. And at the Cuban capital’s port, forklifts carefully unload American eggs from a refrigerated container. The eggs are bound for an online private supermarket that, much like Amazon Fresh, provides home delivery. These ventures are part of an explosion of thousands of private businesses that have opened in recent years across Cuba, a remarkable shift in a country where such enterprises have not been permitted and where Fidel Castro rose to power leading a communist revolution determined to eliminate capitalist notions like private ownership.

Persons: Fidel Castro Locations: Havana, Cuban, Cuba

☆ For U.S. Cuban claims holders, spy Manuel Rocha's plea deal raises fresh questions
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Michelle Caruso-Cabrera | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Raul Rubiera | Miami Herald | Getty ImagesWhen Carolyn Lamb saw news of Cuban spy Victor Manuel Rocha's arrest on the news last December, she recognized him immediately. The lower the value of the claims, the less the Cuban government would have to pay in any future negotiated settlement. Ashby assumed Rocha's paranoia about eavesdropping was in response to the George W. Bush administration's opposition to the Cuba claims buying business. But according to the Justice Department, by that point Rocha was already in his third decade as a Cuban agent. File photo of former US ambassador to Bolivia, Manuel Rocha, talking to the press on the 11th of July 2001.

Persons: V, Manuel Rocha, Steel Hector, Davis, Raul Rubiera, Carolyn Lamb, Victor Manuel Rocha's, Rocha, Lamb, Lamb's, Castro, Justin Solomon, CNBC Castro didn't nationalize, of Rocha, Fidel Castro's, It's, Jason Poblete, Poblete, John Kavulich, Sears Roebuck, Timothy Ashby, Ashby couldn't, Ashby, George W, Bush, Little, Covert, Gonzalo Espinoza Organizations: Miami Herald, Steel, Cuban, US State Department, National Security, Cuban Telephone Company, " Beverage Company, CNBC, Pepsi, General Electric, Century Fox, Cuba Trade, Economic Council, Justice Department, Citizen, State Department, National Security Council, DOJ, Cubans, FBI, AFP, Getty Locations: America, Omaha, Bolivia, Cuba, Havana, United States, Cuban, Rocha, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Argentina, Miami, Chile

☆ Cuba sees rare protests amid power cuts and food shortages
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Patrick Oppmann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Demonstrators took to the streets in at least four cities on Sunday to complain about hours-long power cuts and increasing food scarcity. The island has seen frequent power cuts and shortages of food, fuel, and medicine since the Covid-19 pandemic, prompting Cubans to flee to the United States in record numbers. US diplomats said Sunday they were monitoring the protests and called on the Cuban government to listen to the demonstrators. The Cuban government, which typically does not allow organized dissent, did not say how many protesters had been arrested. After island-wide demonstrations in the summer of 2021, more than 1,000 Cubans were put on trial and convicted of rising up against the communist-run government, according to human rights groups.

Persons: Miguel Diaz, Canel, Fidel Castro’s, Diaz Organizations: CNN, Cuban, country’s Communist Party, Twitter Locations: Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, United States, Miami’s, Cuban, Havana

☆ Putin scores a resounding win, but what’s next for Russia?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Nathan Hodge | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Putin poses for a picture with his wife, Lyudmila, and daughters, Yekaterina and Maria. Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images Putin rides a horse during a vacation in Southern Siberia in August 2009. Dmitry Astakhov/RIA Novosti/AFP via Getty Images Putin plays with his dogs Yume, left, and Buffy at his home in Novo-Ogaryovo, Russia, in March 2013. Chris McGrath/Getty Images Putin and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018. Getty Images Putin speaks with American right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson during an interview in February 2024.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, ”, Dmitry Kiselyov, Mikhail Mishustin, Ukraine –, Kiselyov, “, Maria Putina, Archivio GBB, ZUMA Press Wire Putin, Laski, Maria, Vladimir, Anatoly Sobchak, Lyudmila, Yekaterina, Boris Yeltsin, Yeltsin, Fidel Castro, Reuters Putin, George W, Bush, Stephen Jaffe, Camp David, Brooks Kraft, Alexey Druzhinin, Alexey Nikolsky, Mikhail Metzel, Ivan Sekretarev, AP Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, Dmitry Astakhov, Buffy, Angela Merkel, Jochen Lübke, Thomas Bach, Medvedev, Vladimir Konstantinov, Alexei Chalyi, Sergei Aksyonov, Sergei Ilnitsky, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Alexander Lukashenko, Merkel, Francois Hollande, Petro Poroshenko, Mykola Lazarenko, Barack Obama, Ban, Chip Somodevilla, Turkey Andrei Karlov, Karlov, Donald Trump, Chris McGrath, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, LUDOVIC MARIN, Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky, Eliot Blondet, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Biden, Sergey Lavrov, Denis Balibouse, Macron, Sergey Ponomarev, Mikhail Gorbachev, —, Alexander Nemenov, Alexey Danichev, Xi Jinping, Pavel Byrkin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Pavel Bednyakov, Kim Jong Un, Kim, Tucker Carlson, Zuma Press Putin, Maxim Shemetov, – what’s, Alexey Navalny, Navalny, ” Putin Organizations: CNN, coy, Kremlin, Getty, Russian, ZUMA Press, Putin, KGB, ZUMA Press Wire, Getty Images, Reuters, US, White House, Camp, Brooks, Brooks Kraft LLC, RIA Novosti, AP, AFP, International Olympic, Crimean, Ukrainian, United Nations, UN, Assembly, Russian Foreign Ministry, Sputnik, World, Saudi Arabia's Crown, Macron, SPUTNIK, New York Times, Central Clinical Hospital, AP Putin, Belarus, State Russian Museum, AP North Korean, Vostochny, Tucker Carlson Network, Zuma Press Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Putin Russia, Russian, Bakhmut, St . Petersburg, Leningrad, Germany, Moscow, AFP, Kazan, Cuba, Soviet Union, Southern Siberia, Russia's Tver, Novo, Ogaryovo, Hanover, Sevastopol, Crimea, Belarusian, Minsk, Belarus, France, Turkey, Helsinki, Finland, Buenos Aires, Ukrainian, Paris, Geneva, Switzerland, Taganrog, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Tsiolkovsky, Russia's, North Korea, United States

☆ Former US diplomat accused of spying for Cuba indicates he plans to plead guilty, court docket shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Hannah Rabinowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Manuel Rocha, the former US ambassador to Bolivia accused of acting as a secret foreign agent of Cuba, said in court Thursday that he plans to plead guilty to charges, according to his court docket. During a hearing in Miami Thursday, Rocha and prosecutors “announce[d] the Defendant will be changing his plea,” according to the court docket. The court record does not give any information about what charges Rocha plans to plead guilty to. Rocha served as the US ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002 and as the deputy principal officer of the US Interests Section in Cuba in the 1990s. His role as the political officer at the US Embassy in the Dominican Republic gave him “special responsibility” for Cuba, prosecutors alleged.

Persons: CNN — Manuel Rocha, Rocha, “, Fidel Castro Organizations: CNN, Prosecutors, US Embassy, Embassy, Cuban Locations: Bolivia, Cuba, American, Miami, Dominican Republic, Italy, Mexico, Argentina

☆ Opinion: Alexey Navalny, one man who stood up to a dictatorship
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. “In his courageous and too short life,” wrote Russia scholar Daniel Treisman, “Navalny became a symbol of hope for the younger generations of his compatriots. “He never gave up on the prospect of what he called ‘the beautiful Russia of the future,’” Treisman noted. “For a ‘beautiful Russia of the future’ to emerge in coming years, Putin must lose the war he started. Navalny understood this.”“Navalny’s death represents the extinguishing of all hope for Russia’s turnaround,” wrote Sasha Vasilyuk.

Persons: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Joseph Stalin “, “, ”, you’ve, Alexey Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s, Navalny, fearlessly, Putin, Daniel Treisman, “ Navalny, Navalny’s, ’ ” Treisman, Sasha Vasilyuk, Alexey Navalny’s, Peter Bergen, Andrei Sakharov, ” Putin, Bergen, Nick Anderson, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, authoritarians, Bill Bramhall, James Mattis, ” Peter Bergen, Frida Ghitis, Fidel Castro’s playbook, Patrick Mahomes, Andy “, Amy Bass, New York Democrat Tom Suozzi, George Santos, ” Suozzi, CNN Suozzi didn’t, Biden, isn’t, Long, Max Burns, ” “, Alejandro Mayorkas, ” “ Suozzi, Burns, Robert Hur’s, Norm Eisen, Richard Painter, Joshua Kolb, Hur, ” Joel Pett, Lawrence C, Levy, Julian Zelizer, Dean Obeidallah, Mark Dent, Dent, Saw, Clay Jones, David Orentlicher, ” Orentlicher, Will Cooper, Fani, Willis, Nathan, Wade, ” “ Willis, Antony Blinken, Batniji, Blinken, Fatah, Hussein, Don’t, David Horsey, Agency Jill Filipovic, Lynda Gorov, Taylor Swift, Jim Parrott, Mark Zandi, Brigid Schulte, Yuliya, Kara Alaimo, Frankie de la, Jackie Robinson’s, Jon Stewart’s, Jon Stewart, Matt Wilson, Jon Stewart skewered Trump, Bill Carter, Stewart, ” “ Stewart Organizations: CNN, IK, Moscow Times, Kremlin, Twitter, Facebook, Soviet, Tribune, Agency, Republican, Senate, Agency Former US Defense, Trump, , Kansas City Chiefs, Chiefs, nab, New, New York Democrat, Democratic, GOP, Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church, Super Bowl, Kansas, West Bank Locations: Soviet, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, New York, Washington, Georgia, ,, York, Glen Cove, Joel Osteen’s, Houston, Kansas City, America, ”, Kansas, Gaza, San Francisco, Israel, Iran

☆ Opinion: Is Putin serious about preferring Biden? Ask Fidel Castro
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. CNN —Russian President Vladimir Putin fired off a few intriguing statements during a Wednesday television interview with loyal journalist Pavel Zarubin. Among them was his claim that he would prefer that President Joe Biden win the 2024 US presidential election. After his first summit in Geneva with Biden as president, back in 2021, Putin sounded a similar note. But on Wednesday, the Russian president was contemptuous.

Persons: Frida Ghitis, Vladimir Putin, Pavel Zarubin, Joe Biden, Fidel Castro, Al Gore, George W, Bush, Castro, Fidel, Zarubin, Putin, Biden, “, ” Putin, Angela Merkel, Merkel’s, —, Tucker Carlson, Carlson, Carlson “, didn’t, Donald Trump, Castro didn’t Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, Texas Gov, Russia “, KGB, Fox News, CIA, Russia, Ukraine Locations: Havana, Cuba, Russia, Geneva, Labrador, Europe, Russian, Ukraine

Here are some key findings from an Associated Press investigation into Rocha's alleged betrayal and the missed red flags that could have helped him avoid scrutiny for decades. Rodríguez told AP he believed at the time he received from the Cuban defector in 2006 was an attempt to discredit a fellow anti-communist crusader. It wasn’t just Rodríguez’s tipster — whom he refused to identify to the AP but says was recently interviewed by the FBI. Officials told the AP that as early 1987, the CIA was aware Castro had a “super mole” burrowed deep inside the U.S. government. The FBI and CIA declined to comment, and the State Department didn’t respond to requests.

Persons: Manuel Rocha, Félix Rodríguez, Rocha, “, ” Rodríguez, MANUEL ROCHA, ”, Fidel Castro’s, Fidel Castro, “ El, Liliana Ayalde, Castro, Evo Morales, Ayalde, retracing, “ Che ” Guevara, Rodríguez, tipster, Peter Romero Organizations: MIAMI, Ivy League, CIA, Cuban, Miami, FBI, State Department, Associated Press, WHO, Yale, of Intelligence, Authorities, The Taft School, Prosecutors, U.S, AP, Officials, . Locations: America, Cuban, Cuba, Chile, Colombia, New York City, Connecticut, Bolivia, U.S, Paraguay, Brazil, Latin America, Investigative@ap.org

☆ Cuba Charges 30 Over Massive Chicken Heist
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba has charged 30 people for stealing 133 tonnes of chicken and selling them on the street in a rare major heist at a time of food shortages in the communist-run nation. The chicken had been earmarked for Cuba`s "rationbook" system introduced after the late Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution to provide subsidized staples for all. Rigoberto Mustelier, director of government food distributor COPMAR, said the quantity stolen was the equivalent of a month`s ration of chicken for a medium-sized province at current distribution rates. The amount of chicken available via the rationbook has fallen sharply in recent years as economic crisis has brought scarcities of food, fuel and medicines. Authorities did not say when the chicken theft took place, but noted it likely occurred between midnight and 2 a.m., when they detected fluctuations in the temperature of the cold storage facility.

Persons: Fidel Castro's, Rigoberto Mustelier, Dave Sherwood, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: TV, Authorities Locations: HAVANA, Cuba, Havana, Cuban

☆ An ex-US ambassador charged with being a longtime secret agent for Cuba bragged about it to undercover FBI officer, feds allege
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An ex-US diplomat has been federally charged over allegations he worked as a secret agent for Cuba. Feds allege that Rocha even bragged about his work for Cuba as "more than a grand slam." AdvertisementAttorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that Rocha's arrest "exposes one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent." "Those who have the privilege of serving in the government of the United States are given an enormous amount of trust by the public we serve," said Garland. We did more than they thought," Rocha told the undercover fed, the court documents allege.

Persons: Victor Rocha, Rocha, —, Merrick Garland, Garland, Fidel Castro Organizations: Feds, Service, United, Department of Justice, State Department, National Security Council, Justice Department, Cuban, Directorate, Intelligence, Department of State, US Southern Command Locations: Cuba, United States, Bolivia, Miami , Florida, Colombia, Republic of Cuba

One of the people said the Justice Department case accuses Rocha of working to promote the Cuban government’s interests. The Justice Department declined to comment. It was not immediately clear if Rocha had a lawyer and a law firm where he previously worked said it was not representing him. Following his retirement from the State Department, Rocha began a second career in business, serving as the president of a gold mine in the Dominican Republic partly owned by Canada’s Barrick Gold. Foley & Lardner said Rocha left the law firm in August.

Persons: —, Manuel Rocha, Rocha, Fidel Castro’s, Evo Morales, “, ″ Rocha, Morales, Rocha’s, ” Rocha, Karla Wittkop Rocha, ”, Canada’s Barrick, he’s, Foley, Lardner, ” Dario Alvarez, ____ Tucker Organizations: MIAMI, Associated Press, Justice Department, AP, Democratic, Republican, Yale, Harvard, Georgetown, Bolivian, National Security Council, State Department, Canada’s, Clover Leaf, Llorente, Cuenca’s Locations: American, Bolivia, Miami, Cuban, America, Cuba, U.S, Colombia, New York City, Argentina, Washington, United States, Italy, Honduras, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Pennsylvania, Spanish, Cuenca, “, Investigative@ap.org

"Given the transition in Argentina, we are handing the subject to the new government, which has indicated they want a deal," the Brazilian foreign ministry spokesman said. A European official with knowledge of the talks said Argentina was no longer open to finalizing the deal on Mercosur. Argentine negotiators who were due to travel to Brasilia for final push to close the deal canceled their trip, a Brazilian government trade official told Reuters. Officials wanted to wrap up agreements before Argentina's Milei takes office on Dec. 10, as he has criticized the trade deal that took two decades to negotiate. Argentina's incoming foreign minister, Diana Mondino, said it was important to sign the EU-Mercosur accord after she visited Brasilia last Sunday to meet Brazil's foreign minister.

Persons: Javier Milei, Milei, Diana Mondino, Anthony Boadle, Marcela Ayres, Lisandra, Matthew Lewis Organizations: European Union, Mercosur, Argentine, Reuters, EU, Milei, Diplomats, Thomson Locations: BRASILIA, Argentina, Mercosur, Brasilia, American, Brazil, Argentine, Belen, Madrid, Jorgelina, Rosario, Buenos Aires

☆ Henry Kissinger, the towering American diplomat, dies at age 100
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Marty Steinberg | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +25 min

President Gerald Ford (left) and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger talk together in the Oval Office, February 19, 1975. In his 2001 book "The Trial of Henry Kissinger," social critic Christopher Hitchens called him a war criminal. North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho (left) and US National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger at the Paris peace talks, January 1973. Chairman Zedong of the People's Republic of China meets U. S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on Nov. 12, 1973. On a helicopter during the period of shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East, Henry Kissinger talks to his wife, Nancy.

Persons: Henry Kissinger, —, Richard Nixon's, Kissinger, Richard Nixon, Richard Corkery, Duc Tho, Gerald Ford, Benjamin E, Ford, Warren Burger, Kissinger's, Paula, Gene, Forte, Seymour M, Hersh bashed Kissinger, Walter Isaacson's, Christopher Hitchens, Greg Grandin, Niall Ferguson, Kant, Clausewitz, Bismarck, Barry Gewen, Gewen, Elizabeth Holmes, Nixon, George Shultz, Holmes, Heinz Alfred Kissinger, Louis, Walter, Hitler, Kissingers, Fritz Kraemer, William Yandell Elliott, Spengler, Toynbee, Metternich, Castlereagh, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Mike Wallace, Wallace, Kennedy, Johnson, Republican Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney, Hubert Humphrey, Democratic Sen, George McGovern, McGovern, Nguyen Van Thieu, Reg Lancaster, Tho, Thieu, Mao, Gen, Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, Nicolae Ceausescu, Zhou Enlai, Leonid Brezhnev, Andrei Gromyko, Dirck, Sen, Henry Jackson, Charles Vanik, Brezhnev, Spiro Agnew, Archibald Cox, Cox, Robert Bork, White, Alexander Haig, Anwar Sadat, David Hume Kennerly, Marxist Salvador Allende Gossens, Fidel Castro's, Martin Bernetti, Allende, Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, Pinochet, Ann Fleischer, Elizabeth, David, Nancy Maginnes, Rockefeller, Jill St, John, Candice Bergen, Shirley MacLaine, Liv Ullman, Diane Sawyer, , Napoleon, Nancy, David Rubinger, Maginnes, Moshe Dayan, Robert Dallek, Nixon's, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, Paula Kissinger, Brooks Kraft Organizations: Gould, Kissinger Associates, National Security, Waldorf, Astoria, Richard Corkery | New York Daily, Forte, Soviets, State, Chief, New York, Theranos Inc, Economic, Nuremberg, George Washington High School, City College of New, Army, 84th Infantry Division, U.S ., Hesse . Harvard, Harvard, Confluence, Foreign, Eisenhower, Republican, Republican National Convention, Rockefeller and Michigan Gov, Democratic, District of Columbia, US National Security, Getty, Paris Peace, North, Nationalist, China, Bettmann, East Pakistan, of, U.S, Soviet Union ., Ballistic, Soviet, Washington, Egyptian Third Army, Department, West, Marxist, Museum, AFP, CIA, Israeli, Southern California Quaker, White, Partners, Power Locations: New York City, U.S, Connecticut, Richard Corkery | New, United States, Vietnam, Saigon, Viet, Soviet Union, Communist China, Israel, Egypt, Syria, Chile, Pakistan, Theranos, Ukraine, Russia, Davos, Switzerland, Fuerth, Germany, Bavarian, American, Nazi Germany, London, New York, City College of New York, Ahlem, Hanover, German, Krefeld, Hesse, Cambodia, Massachusetts, Haiphong, Paris, North, China, Washington, Taiwan, People's Republic of China, Beijing, Moscow, India, East, Bangladesh, Shanghai, USSR, Soviet, Kremlin, Dirck Halstead, Ohio, Saudi, Japan, Sinai, Alexandria, Cairo, Suez, Americas, Santiago, Cuba, Chilean, America, Europe, Virginia, Southern California

☆ Cuban family business produces flour from coconut and yucca amid shortages
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Alien Fernandez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Entrepreneur Gabriel Perez, 38, poses for a photo as he checks slices of banana put to dry in his farmland in the rural outskirts of Havana, Cuba, November 22, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini Acquire Licensing RightsHAVANA, Nov 28 (Reuters) - On a small farm outside Havana, a Cuban family-run business produces gluten-free flour from banana, coconut and yucca, preferring locally-sourced ingredients to pricey imports as Cubans seek innovative solutions to a growing food crisis. His business, Bacoretto, dries and mills yucca, rice, banana and coconut into organic flour preferred by gluten-intolerant consumers, who have only recently been able to find food products tailored to their dietary needs in Cuba. Byproducts of their processes are used to make coconut oil, coconut-fiber rope, vinegar and fermented products and sweets, Perez told Reuters. It produces 6 to 8 kilograms (13.2 to 17.6 pounds) of flour a week, Perez said, in small batches, in addition to byproducts, with a staff of eight people.

Persons: Gabriel Perez, Alexandre Meneghini, Perez, Fidel Castro's, Alien Fernandez, Nelson Acosta, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Havana, Cuba, Rights HAVANA, Caribbean

☆ EU human rights envoy in Cuba to discuss aftermath of 2021 protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

European Union's Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore, speaks during a meeting with Cuban authorities in Havana, Cuba, November 24, 2023. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, on a visit to Cuba earlier this year, announced Gilmore`s visit but told reporters the EU would not "impose" demands on the island`s government. Rights groups say around 1,000 Cubans were jailed for their political beliefs following the demonstrations and several subsequent protests. "No one is convicted for their political opinions," Cuba`s foreign ministry said prior to Gilmore`s visit on social media. "We call on the Cuban government to respect the human rights of everyone, including the rights of political prisoners and those unjustly detained."

Persons: Eamon Gilmore, Alexandre Meneghini, Gilmore, Josep Borrell, Fidel Castro's, Luis Barrios Díaz, la Torre, Barrios Diaz `, Dave Sherwood, Alien Fernandez Organizations: Human Rights, Cuban, REUTERS, Rights, EU, European Union, U.S, U.S ., Thomson Locations: Havana, Cuba, Rights HAVANA, United States, EU, Cuban

☆ Cuba stages pro-Palestine march past US embassy in Havana
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Nelson Acosta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] People shout slogans during a march in support of Palestinians, calling for a ceasefire and for charging Israel with committing “genocide” in Gaza, in Havana, Cuba, November 23, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini Acquire Licensing RightsHAVANA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Cubans on Thursday marched in front of the U.S. embassy in Havana charging Israel was committing “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza. Communist-run Cuba has been a strong backer of the Palestinian cause for decades and has trained more than 200 Palestinian doctors. "We are here and it is no coincidence that we have marched in front of the United States embassy," Anet Rodríguez, a university professor, said. Since then, some 14,800 Gazans have been killed by Israeli bombardment, around 40% of them children, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Persons: Alexandre Meneghini, Israel, Miguel Diaz, Fidel Castro, Marc Frank, Anet Rios, Diane Craft Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, U.S, United, State, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Havana, Cuba, Rights HAVANA, Cuban, Palestine, Israel, Communist, United States

BRASILIA, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Brazil's Senate took the lead on Wednesday to curb what lawmakers see as judicial overreach by the country's Supreme Court and passed a constitutional amendment that limits the ability of justices to rule on issues individually. The bill passed by a wide margin of 52-18 votes in two rounds of voting required for constitutional amendments. Lawmakers have accused the Supreme Court of usurping the legislative function of Congress with rulings on social issues such as the court's decision to facilitate gay marriage. Proposals in Congress include limiting the years justices can sit on the Supreme Court and an amendment that would allow lawmakers to undo court decisions they view as unconstitutional. "Attacking the Supreme Court, changing the way ministers are appointed, shortening their tenure in office, interfering with their internal functioning are political options that are not good for democracy," he told local media.

Persons: Jair Bolsonaro, Oriovisto Guimaraes, Roberto Barroso, Anthony Boadle, Sonali Paul Organizations: Brazil's Senate, Supreme, Thomson Locations: BRASILIA

☆ Peter Tarnoff Dies at 86; Diplomat Helped Plot ‘Argo’ Escape from Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Clay Risen | More About Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Peter Tarnoff, a seasoned diplomat whose work behind the scenes for presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton included establishing a secret channel to Fidel Castro and helping arrange the escape of six U.S. Embassy officials from Iran, an escapade later depicted in the 2012 movie “Argo,” died on Nov. 1 at his home in San Francisco. His wife, Mathea Falco, said the cause of death was complications of Parkinson’s disease. Mr. Tarnoff was part of a cohort of Foreign Service officers who, inspired by the words of President John F. Kennedy, joined the American diplomatic corps in the early 1960s. Many of them cut their teeth on assignment in South Vietnam, and several — among them Mr. Tarnoff, Anthony Lake, Frank Wisner II and Richard Holbrooke — went on to play leading roles in the U.S. foreign policy establishment. But while outsize personalities like Mr. Holbrooke, a frequent contender for secretary of state, and Mr. Lake, a national security adviser under Bill Clinton, became famous, Mr. Tarnoff preferred to wield his influence out of the public eye.

Persons: Peter Tarnoff, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Fidel Castro, ”, Mathea Falco, Tarnoff, John F, Kennedy, Anthony Lake, Frank Wisner, Richard Holbrooke —, Mr, Holbrooke Organizations: Embassy, Foreign Service Locations: Iran, San Francisco, South Vietnam, U.S

☆ Help Wanted: Cuba's government turns to growing diaspora for investment
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

This migration wave includes many young people and "is having the greatest impact in history in terms of demographics, because of its composition," said Ernesto Soberon, director of Consular Affairs for the Cuban Foreign Ministry. Cuban expats have already invested in bed-and-breakfasts, eateries and other activities on the island, but Cuba would like to see more capital flow, he said. The conference is expected to attract Cubans living off island but with favorable views of their home country, including businesspeople, economists, and members of foreign resident associations. Around 2.5 million Cubans and their descendents now live off the island, Soberon said. "That will ultimately raise their standard of living so that they want to spend their lives here in Cuba and not abroad," he said.

Persons: Marco Bello, Ernesto Soberon, Soberon, Fidel Castro, Castro, Joe Biden, Dave Sherwood, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Consular Affairs, Cuban Foreign Ministry, U.S, Cuban, Thomson Locations: Cuban, Cuba, Miami , Florida, U.S, Rights HAVANA, Caribbean, Havana

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