Four shot dead on US-registered speedboat by border guards, Cuba says

Four people who entered Cuban waters on a US-registered speedboat have been shot dead by border guards, Cuba's government said.

In a statement, Cuba's interior ministry said that the speedboat's passengers opened fire on a coast guard vessel that approached them.

Six additional passengers were wounded in the incident, which took place near an island on Cuba's northern coast.

The identities of those on board the vessel or what it was doing in the area are unclear, with the Cuban government saying an investigation has been launched to "clarify" the event.

In statement posted on X, the ministry said the Florida-registered vessel - with the registration number FL7726SH - was detected near Cayo Falcones, in the country's central Villa Clara province on Wednesday morning.

Are Russia and China actually doing anything to support Cuba?

 

The Pentagon released footage of the ship being boarded in the Indian Ocean. The US Defence Dpartment says the vessel had defied President Trump's so-called 'quarantine of sanctioned ships in the Caribbean'. The tanker was one of several that fled the Venezuelan coast in early January, after the United States abducted the country's leader Nicolas Maduro. Meanwhile, the US is tightening its grip on Cuba's oil supplies, and the country is beginning to feel the adverse effects. Havana has warned that foreign airlines will no longer be able to refuel because of dwindling supplies. Some airlines have already suspended flights to Cuba. Meanwhile, the UN is warning of a humanitarian crisis.

Cuba alleges trafficking ring operated from Russia | DW News

Cuba says it has uncovered a trafficking ring recruiting people to fight for Russia in Ukraine. The government in Havana believes nationals living in Russia as well as back home are being signed up under false pretenses.

 

Cuba: High prices, lines and shortages |

 

In Cuba, the socialist project begun by revolutionary hero and former president Fidel Castro is teetering on the verge of failure. The nation is sinking deeper into crisis, with many people’s daily lives marred by shortages of food, medicine and electricity.

Storm Ian: Protests as Cuba capital Havana remains in darkness

 

Protests have taken place on the streets of Havana, Cuba's capital city, after Hurricane Ian knocked out power to the entire country on 27 September.

Only parts of the city have had the lights turned back on, inspiring residents to take to darkened streets in protest at the government's response.

Outside of the capital, much of the island is also still without power, as work crews attempt to repair electricity poles that were damaged in the storm.

Cuba: A deserted revolution?

 

Cuba is witnessing an economic crisis that has taken the country back 30 years, to the so-called “Special Period”.

As then, when subsidies from the former Soviet Union vanished, Cubans are suffering hardships and acute shortages of everything, from food to fuel.

The difference is that today, many tell you that the worst shortage is of hope.

And so, a new mass exodus of Cubans is under way, the largest in four decades.

Is Cuba's approach of vaccinating almost everyone with its own vaccine working?

 

Cuba raised eyebrows when it said would manufacture its own Covid19 vaccine. Then its scientists came up with not one but several viable candidates. Two of which, Cuba says, are highly effective and in use.

Cuba: Protesters move from social media to the streets

 

As the Cuban government grapples with protests, it imposes internet blackouts and jams communications. Also, the rise of the socially conscious sports star.

Cuba is witnessing something historic – the biggest anti-government demonstrations in 60 years – and the authorities have imposed temporary blocks on the internet, making credible media coverage and reliable information that much harder to find.

Iran’s new president: What’s next for the country’s media?

 

President-elect Ebrahim Raisi’s track record is largely off limits for discussion among Iranians. Plus, the Cuban rappers demanding freedom of expression.

Iran’s new president-elect is heading into the job carrying some baggage from the past that neither he nor the country’s state-friendly news outlets care to talk about.

A new era in Cuba?

 After six decades, Cuba will not have a Castro in an official position of command.

For the first time in 60 years, Cuba will not have a Castro in an official position of command.

Raul Castro, 89, is relinquishing his position as head of the Communist Party.

This photo almost started a nuclear war

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world has ever come to all-out nuclear war, and it all started with a photo. On October 15th, 1962, Dino Brugioni, a senior analyst at the newly-formed National Photographic Interpretation Center, identified missile trailers measuring approximately 65 feet in an aerial reconnaissance photo. Those trailers were a match for the Soviet SS-4, a medium-range ballistic missile with a range that would cover a huge amount of the United States, including Washington, DC.

Cuba's Unfinished Spaces

Castro's dream for Cuba's artists and the three architects who tried to make it a reality.

Castro's dream for Cuba's artists and the three architects who tried to make it a reality.

In 1961, three young, visionary architects were commissioned by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara to create Cuba's National Art Schools on the grounds of a former golf course in Havana, Cuba.

Construction of their radical designs began immediately and the school's first classes soon followed.

Dancers, musicians and artists from all over the country reveled in the beauty of the schools, but as the dream of the revolution quickly became a reality, construction was abruptly halted and the architects and their designs were deemed irrelevant in the prevailing political climate.

History through Cuban eyes: Noticiero ICAIC

A Listening Post special looking back at a time when Cuban movie theatres delivered the news like nobody else.

This is a story of history recorded on film; a history of revolutionary Cuba; a history of the world seen through Cuban eyes.

'Noticiero ICAIC Latinoamericano' was a series of cinematic newsreels produced from 1960 to 1990 by the Cuban film Institute ICAIC. The weekly news programme, covering major local and global events, would be shown before film screenings in the capital, Havana, and in towns and villages around the island.

Many of those 1,493 newsreels could just be derided as propaganda, but they pushed the limits of news, of visual storytelling, and have left a legacy.

Guantanamo's Child - Omar Khadr

Unprecedented access and an exclusive interview with Omar Khadr during his first days of freedom.

At 15 Omar Khadr was held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Now 28 years old, after 13 years locked away, he is finally able to speak about his experiences. He was branded as a terrorist and convicted as a murderer.

"I don't wish people to love me, I don't wish people to hate me, I just wish for people to give me a chance," Khadr says.

In 2002, during a military firefight, as a young teen, Khadr was alleged to have thrown a grenade at US troops in Afghanistan, killing one soldier. After a decade at the US-run detention camp, he was transferred to a maximum security facility in Canada.

Venezuela: Protests, propaganda and self-censorship

Venezuela's competing media narratives around protests. Plus, a look at when Cuban movie theatres delivered the news.

Venezuela: Protests, propaganda and self-censorship

With Venezuela's economy poised on the brink of collapse the government's few remaining allies in the news media are replaying the familiar blame game, pointing the finger at foreign enemies. But Nicolas Maduro's hold on the narrative is slipping as journalists turn to Telegram to get the story out. 

Fidel Castro: Contested legacy, competing narratives

We analyse the competing narratives around Fidel Castro; plus, the UK's new surveillance law, the 'Snoopers' Charter'.

On The Listening Post this week: Analysing the competing narratives around Fidel Castro. Plus, the UK's wide-ranging new surveillance law that's being called the 'Snoopers' Charter'.

Remembering Castro: A contested legacy

In death, as in life, Fidel Castro presented journalists with a quandary - some considered him a revolutionary hero, others saw him as a repressive tyrant. We look at the competing media narratives around Castro's legacy.

Talking us through the story: Ann Louise Bardach, journalist and author; Fernando Ravsberg, journalist and blogger; Juan Tamayo, former reporter, Miami Herald; and Sergio Gomez, international editor, Granma newspaper.

Cuba's Fidel Castro, former president, dies aged 90

Fidel Castro, Cuba's former president and leader of the Communist revolution, has died aged 90, his brother Raul has announced.

"The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 hours this evening," President Raul Castro said.

Fidel Castro ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost 50 years before Raul took over in 2008.

His supporters said he had given Cuba back to the people. But he was also accused of suppressing opposition.

Obituary: Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro: A life in pictures

Ashen and grave, President Castro told the nation in a late night broadcast on state television that Fidel Castro had died and would be cremated on Saturday.

There would now be several days of national mourning on the island.

Despite the Bay of Pigs invasion, an economic blockade, the mafia and exploding cigars Castro remained in power.  More important the Missiles of October in 1962 he remained in power long after most world leaders had left the world stage.

Can the US and Cuba trust each other?

Barack Obama makes history with the first visit to Cuba by a US president in nearly nine decades.



A US presidential visit to Cuba was unthinkable 15 months ago.

It has been almost 90 years since the last visit by President Calvin Coolidge.

A US embargo has crippled the Cuban economy for more than fifty years.

But when President Barack Obama announced a thaw in their frozen relations at the end of 2014, he began a process of engagement he hopes will outlive his time in the White House.

Obama's historic visit to Havana is being seen as a way of cementing his diplomatic legacy.

Guantanamo's Child - Omar Khadr (Video)

Unprecedented access and an exclusive interview with Omar Khadr during his first days of freedom.
At 15 Omar Khadr was held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Now 28 years old, after 13 years locked away, he is finally able to speak about his experiences. He was branded as a terrorist and convicted as a murderer.

"I don't wish people to love me, I don't wish people to hate me, I just wish for people to give me a chance," Khadr says.

In 2002, during a military firefight, as a young teen, Khadr was alleged to have thrown a grenade at US troops in Afghanistan, killing one soldier. After a decade at the US-run detention camp, he was transferred to a maximum security facility in Canada.

The Canadian national was released on bail on May 7, 2015 and is appealing his conviction.

In his first full-length interview since his release, Khadr talks to Al Jazeera's Witness about his arrest and subsequent detention and conditions at the controversial military prison.

Guantanamo's Child - Omar Khadr (video)

Unprecedented access and an exclusive interview with Omar Khadr during his first days of freedom.

At 15 Omar Khadr was held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Now 28 years old, after 13 years locked away, he is finally able to speak about his experiences. He was branded as a terrorist and convicted as a murderer. "I don't wish people to love me, I don't wish people to hate me, I just wish for people to give me a chance," Khadr says. In 2002, during a military firefight, as a young teen, Khadr was alleged to have thrown a grenade at US troops in Afghanistan, killing one soldier. After a decade at the US-run detention camp, he was transferred to a maximum security facility in Canada. The Canadian national was released on bail on May 7, 2015 and is appealing his conviction. In his first full-length interview since his release, Khadr talks to Al jazeera's Witness about his arrest and subsequent detention and conditions at the controversial military prison.