SANTIAGO DE CUBA

A caravan for country ended in Little Havana, with a message to Havana, demanding freedom in Cuba on this second anniversary of that historic uprising across the island.

The U.S. government is giving American Airlines permission to resume flights to five cities in Cuba outside the capital of Havana.

Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo is a protestant pastor who remains in jail in Cuba after being sentenced to seven years in prison for simply participating in the historic July 11 protests a year ago Monday.

Tropical Storm Fred intensified in the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall Monday afternoon in the eastern Florida Panhandle and hours later, Tropical Depression Eight strengthened into Tropical Storm Henri.

A Miami nonprofit organization is trying to help some of the Cubans who continue to be arrested for demonstrating against an ongoing crisis on the communist-run island. Cubans are facing shortages of food and medicines, power outages, COVID deaths, and repression.

Tropical Storm Elsa is battering the southern coasts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, downing trees and blowing off roofs as it speeds through the Caribbean, killing at least three people.

Hurricane Elsa was moving toward the west-northwest near 30 mph through the eastern Caribbean Friday evening, and the National Hurricane Center’s long-range forecast path still included Florida.

In a pre-recorded message from Cuba, José Daniel Ferrer said he and others started a hunger strike on March 20. The prominent opposition leader said about 30 people are involved in the protest. That was down from 47 on Thursday.

Location 65 miles ESE of Cayo Largo Wind 60 mph Heading WNW at 20 mph Pressure 29.59 Coordinates 80.6W, 21.2NDiscussionAt 1100 AM EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Laura was located near latitude 21.2 North, longitude 80.6 West. Laura is then forecast to move over the central and northwestern Gulf of Mexico Tuesday night and Wednesday, and approach the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday night. WIND: Tropical storm conditions are expected to spread westward within the warning area in Cuba through today. Tropical storm conditions are expected in Little Cayman and Cayman Brac today. Tropical storm conditions are also expected within the warning area in the middle and lower Florida Keys and the Dry Tortugas this afternoon and tonight.

HAVANA, Cuba - Despite U.S. efforts to limit trade, Cuba's state-run company is continuing to make deals with major alcoholic beverages market players in U.S.-allied countries to sell its premium brands of rum. Diageo's new deal will allow the multinational to exclusively market Santiago de Cuba Rum around the world, but like Cuba's Havana Club, the Santiago de Cuba Rum brand will not be distributed in the United States. "More than just a rum, Santiago de Cuba was born in the city where the history and tradition of Cuban light rum originated," said Juan Gonzalez, Corporacin Cuba Ron's president. Decades after Fidel Castro's government confiscated their assets, Pernord Ricard and Corporacin Cuba Ron co-founded Havana Club International in 1993. Corporacin Cuba Ron launched the Santiago de Cuba Rum Extra Aejo Oscuro in 2012.