Historic Change: Special coverage of Santa Clara, Cuba

HAVANA – Local 10 News reports from Santa Clara, Cuba, after the first commercial flight from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to the Abel Santamaría Airport since the U.S. and Cuba renewed diplomatic relations.

Santa Clara, a city of some 240,000 in the province of Villa Clara, was the site of the last battle before Fidel Castro took power.  Ernesto "Che" Guevara was buried in the city in memory of the chaotic battle of 1958. 

The series explores the revival of the private business sector, after Castro ceded control to his brother Raul Castro, who was later re-elected by the island's Communist Party.  

About five years after Cuba implemented a set of gradual economic reforms, family-owned restaurants, now known as paladares and a variety of entrepreneurial initiatives were thriving. 

PART 1

Local 10 News reporter Hatzel Vela was on JetBlue Airways Corporation's first commercial flight to Santa Clara, Cuba, in five decades. Read more here >

PART 2

 A small business owner in Santa Clara, Cuba, is taking advantage of the small freedoms he now has and hopes to one day expand his company. Read more here >

 

PART 3

The city of 200,000 residents is always bustling with activity, and that includes privately owned businesses operating out of living rooms. Read more here >

 

PART 4

Visitors to the flea market can find fruit, cooked meals and almost anything else at La Candonga. Read more here >

PART 5

Driving to Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba, feels like a trip to the Florida Keys. Read more here >

 

PART 6

The night starts with a stop by the Camilo Theater, inside the tallest building in Santa Clara, Cuba, in what's known as the Santa Clara Libre Hotel. Read more here >

 


About the Authors:

In January 2017, Hatzel Vela became the first local television journalist in the country to move to Cuba and cover the island from the inside. During his time living and working in Cuba, he covered some of the most significant stories in a post-Fidel Castro Cuba.