International

Cuban President denounces the impact of the U.S. blockade

Photo: Estudios Revolución

October 18 |

According to the Cuban president, “the excessive migratory flows are situations that have occurred cyclically and are always related to when the U.S. government tightens the situation”.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel denounced on Monday the impacts on the population and migration, as well as the extraterritoriality of the U.S. blockade against the island.

In an interview with Cuban state television, the Cuban president blamed what he called an increased migration due to the complex economic crisis that the country is going through on the policy of maximum pressure from the US government which induces an “illegal, unsafe and disorderly” irregular flow.

According to the Cuban president, “the excessive migratory flows are situations that have occurred cyclically and always have to do with the U.S. government’s tense situation”, he stressed.

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Díaz-Canel criticized the U.S. Government’s strategy of making the new non-state sector an enemy of the Cuban Government and exemplified: “now when a group, with the best intentions, went to an event in the United States that was supposed to be a business event, a commercial event, an exchange event, not political, and they politicized it, and some of them had a terrorist at a dinner”. In that sense, he wondered “Who politicized that, the MSMEs, those from Cuba, the Cuban government? The United States politicized it”.

In his speech, the Cuban president explained that “with Trump’s measures which, among others, were also aimed at creating an unfavorable situation to seek a social outburst”, consular services in Cuba were cancelled.

He denounced that the U.S. government “has taken other measures to close off our income from tourism, such as now recently the automatic visa, the visa for European citizens: if they visit Cuba they take away the visa with which they have facilities to enter the United States.”

The Cuban president emphasized that the relations between Cuba and the United States are “relations with a tremendous asymmetry and where they are marked, above all, on the part of the Government of the United States towards Cuba as a policy of maximum pressure, as a policy of genocide, as a policy of strangulation, and it causes all those things”.

Likewise, the Cuban president wondered “When is the United States going to have to answer for the violation of human rights that constitutes the genocidal blockade it has applied for more than 60 years to Cuba?”

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International

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s Purse Stolen in D.C. Restaurant Heist

The purse of Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, was stolen on Sunday night at a restaurant in Washington, D.C., Fox News Digital confirmed through several agency sources.

The handbag, taken by a white male wearing a mask, reportedly contained $3,000 in cash along with personal documents, including her passport, keys, driver’s license, and DHS badge, according to an agency spokesperson.

“Her entire family was in town, including her children and grandchildren. She was celebrating her retirement by treating them to dinner, activities, and Easter gifts,” the spokesperson added.

Crime continues to be a significant issue in the U.S. capital, particularly theft. However, violent crime reached its lowest level in 30 years last year, according to the Office of the Attorney General at the time.

International

Pope Francis: The Quiet Architect Behind the U.S.-Cuba Thaw

When then-U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro announced the reestablishment of diplomatic relations in December 2014—after decades of hostility—there was a third figure present in both speeches: Pope Francis.

This thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations—later reversed by Donald Trump—was the result of behind-the-scenes negotiations personally encouraged by Pope Francis, who passed away on Monday at the age of 88, just over a year after becoming head of the Catholic Church.

Upon learning the news of the breakthrough, the pontiff humbly stated, “This was made possible thanks to the ambassadors and to diplomacy,” which he called “a noble, very noble job.”

In 2015, months after the announcement, Raúl Castro visited the Vatican and met with the pope. Over time, Castro developed a fondness for Francis that he never had for his predecessors, Benedict XVI and John Paul II. “If the Pope continues talking like this, sooner or later I’ll start praying again and return to the Catholic Church—and I’m not joking,” said the younger Castro, who, like his brother Fidel (1926–2016), had been educated by Jesuits—the same order to which Pope Francis belonged.

Pope Francis visited Cuba later that year. Just days before his arrival, the Cuban government announced the pardon of 3,522 common prisoners as an act of clemency.

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While in Havana, the pope met with Fidel Castro, who gave him a first edition of the book Fidel and Religion by Brazilian friar and liberation theologian Frei Betto.

Criticism from the Opposition

Francis’s diplomatic approach also drew criticism from parts of the Cuban opposition. In a 2022 interview with Univision, the pope revealed he had “a human relationship” with Raúl Castro.

International

Dominican Republic Declares Three Days of Mourning for Pope Francis

Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader has declared three days of national mourning starting Tuesday following the death of Pope Francis, who passed away on Monday at the age of 88 in his residence at the Casa Santa Marta.

In an official decree, Abinader highlighted the pope’s legacy “as a global leader who promoted significant reforms within the Catholic Church and was known for his humility, openness to dialogue, and commitment to peace among nations.”

During the mourning period, the national flag will be flown at half-staff at military facilities and public buildings.

According to a statement from the Office of the Presidency, although Pope Francis never visited the Dominican Republic during his papacy, he maintained a close relationship with the country. He expressed solidarity and empathy during difficult times, including offering prayers for the victims of the recent tragedy at a Santo Domingo nightclub on April 8, which claimed 232 lives and left more than 180 injured.