Biden scrambles to avoid Americas Summit flop in Los Angeles
When leaders gather this week in Los Angeles at the Summit of the Americas, the focus is likely to veer from policy issues like migration, climate change and inflation and instead shift to something Hollywood thrives on: the drama of the red carpet.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/d1vhqlrjc8h82r.cloudfront.net/04-16-2021/t_45958b1e80a347a19db356141a57272e_name_image.jpg)
Absence of Castro brothers could test Cuba’s Communist structure, experts say
Experts in Miami agree that even though Raul Castro will no longer officially lead the Cuban Communist Party, he still remains the most powerful man on the island. His partial absence will likely test the current structure.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/d1vhqlrjc8h82r.cloudfront.net/12-11-2020/t_129d7d242a464f2fb185b6f37aeb49aa_name_image.jpg)
Cuba transitions to ‘unification’ of double currency system
MIAMI – Raul Castro and his protege, Miguel Diaz Canel, the president of Cuba, announced Thursday night they are unifying the island’s double currency system to get rid of the Cuban Convertible Peso, or CUC, which was pegged to the U.S. dollar. Starting Jan. 1, the Cuban peso will be the island’s only valid currency and it will have an exchange rate of 24 pesos for every U.S. dollar. This is after more than 25 years of having two national currencies. Castro, the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, and Diaz Canel made the announcement on the government’s national TV and radio stations. Diaz Canel said the “unification” is not a magic solution to the island’s economic problems, but it will address inefficiencies.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/XOC7OHGZJ5HRLHYDYRYPSIL5ZE.jpg)
US imposes sanctions on Cuba’s Raul Castro’s son-in-law
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration is targeting the son-in-law of retired Cuban leader Raul Castro with sanctions as it steps up its campaign against the communist island’s government ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November. The move freezes any assets he may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bars Americans from doing business with him. On Monday, Pompeo announced that FINCIMEX, a Cuban state company that processes remittances and issues the American International Services debit card, had been added to the sanctions list. Trump is seeking votes from anti-Castro Cuban-Americans in Florida and elsewhere, and has sought to paint Biden as soft on the Cuban government. Biden was vice president when former President Barack Obama and Raul Castro initiated a rapprochement in U.S.-Cuban relations.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-gmg.s3.amazonaws.com/public/YDJYT2DMKBEYFDTBHQIHC2O34M.jpg)
New photo of Fidel Castro surfaces on Instagram
HAVANA – A new photo has surfaced of former Cuban president Fidel Castro meeting with the daughter of the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Maria Gabriel Chavez posted the picture on her Instagram account Monday. Castro, 87, is wearing his famous tracksuit at his home in Havana. Castro did not attend his funeral in Venezuela, but his brother and current Cuban leader Raul Castro did. Castro retired as leader of the communist island in 2008 after falling ill in 2006, and is rarely seen in public.