Tag Archives: Cuba

Historic Thaw In US-Cuba Relations

Via the Associated Press: The United States and Cuba will start talks on normalizing full diplomatic relations, marking the most significant shift in U.S. policy toward the communist island in decades, American officials said Wednesday. The announcement comes amid a series of new confidence-building measures between the longtime foes, including the release of American Alan Gross and the freeing of …

Read More »

Putin Writes Off 90% Of Cuban Debt

Via the Wire: Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently on a grand tour of Latin America. His first stop is in Havana, Cuba. Ahead of arriving in Cuba, Putin decided to bestow a gift upon the Cuban government. With one swift signature, he eliminated $32 billion of Cuba’s debt, left over from the Soviet era. Cuba isn’t completely off the …

Read More »

Cuba To Host LGBT Rights Convention

Next week Cuba will host an international convention of LGBT activists for the first time.  The event will be chaired by Mariela Castro, daughter of Cuban president Raul Castro and Fidel Castro’s niece. The Washington Blade reports: The sixth International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association for Latin America and the Caribbean (ILGALAC) Regional Conference will take place in …

Read More »

RUSSIA: Gay-Basher In Custody After Being Deported By Cuban Authorities

Infamous gay-basher Maxim Martsinkevich is today in the custody of Russian police after fleeing to Cuba, where local authorities promptly deported him on the basis of fugitive warrants filed with Interpol by Russia and Ukraine. Via LGBTQ Nation: A spokesperson for the Russian Federal Security services told LGBTQ Nation that Maxim Sergeyevich Martsinkevich, also known by his street nickname “Tesak” …

Read More »

CUBA: Cops Arrest Gay-Bashing Russian Fugitive Maxim Martsinkevich

Fugitive Russian gay-basher Maxim Martsinkevich was arrested in Cuba today. Note that the following report is from the official Russian news agency RIA Novosti. Russia was informed by Cuban police of the arrest of Maxim Martsinkevich through Interpol, the Russian Interior Ministry said in a statement. More widely known under his nickname of Tesak, or machete, Martsinkevich was arrested in …

Read More »

Fugitive Russian Gay-Basher Maxim Martsinkevich Has Fled To Cuba

Wanted by Russian and Ukrainian authorities for brutally attacking and humiliating gay men and teenagers, infamous Russian gay-basher Maxim “The Cleaver” Martsinkevich has fled to Cuba. Vocativ reports: According to posts on Martsinkevich’s VKontakte social networking page, he was in Cuba as early as December 10. According to the visa agreement between Russia and Cuba, Russians are allowed to stay …

Read More »

KEY WEST: Rainbow Flags Fly As Diana Nyad Completes Swim From Cuba

Openly lesbian marathon swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, has just finished her swim from Cuba to Key West. Hundreds of people cheered Nyad’s arrival as some in the crowd waved rainbow flags. Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad became the first person to swim the treacherous waters from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage on Monday, arriving in Key West two days …

Read More »

Beyonce/Jay-Z Fallout: House Bill Would Further Restrict Travel To Cuba

Jay-Z and Beyonce took a trip to Cuba to celebrate their fifth anniversary earlier this year, prompting nasty criticism from the wingnuts, who really hate the pop superstars for backing Obama. This week the GOP took its revenge. Americans can travel to Cuba only with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s okay, and trips are generally limited to academic, cultural, …

Read More »

Mariela Castro Gets Her Visa

Cuban LGBT rights activists Mariela Castro has been granted a visa to attend a Philadelphia gay rights forum after having first been denied one by the State Department. Initially not expected to receive a visa, the official said the case was “looked at again” and “the restriction on her visa has been lifted, which will allow her to travel” to …

Read More »

Mariela Castro Denied US Visa

Cuban LGBT rights activist Mariela Castro, the niece of Fidel and daughter of president Raul Castro, has been denied a visa to attend a gay rights forum in Philadelphia. Equality Forum Executive Director Malcolm Lazin said in a press release that Mariela Castro, executive director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX,) several months ago accepted an invitation …

Read More »

Raul Castro To Step Down

In five years.

Read More »

Nyad’s Fourth Attempt From Cuba Fails

World record-holding distance swimmer Diana Nyad had to cut short her fourth attempt to swim from Cuba to the Florida Keys due to rough seas and jellyfish stings on her lips. The 62-year-old American, who battled squalls, rough seas and jellyfish, had set out from Cuba on Saturday. Nyad spent more than 60 hours in the water before she abandoned …

Read More »

Lesbian Distance Swimmer To Try Again

Diana Nyad has held the world record for non-stop distance swimming for the last 33 years. At 62 she is about to make her third attempt to swim from Havana to the Florida Keys. Last year’s attempt was cut short due to jellyfish stings.

Read More »

Mariela Castro Endorses Obama

Speaking at a San Francisco event, Cuban LGBT rights activist Mariela Castro yesterday said she would vote to re-elect President Obama, were she an American. Mariela is the niece of Fidel Castro and the daughter of current Cuban president Raul Castro. “If we don’t change our patriarchal and homophobic culture … we cannot advance as a new society, and that’s …

Read More »

Castro’s Niece Praises Obama

Cuba’s leading LGBT rights advocate, Mariela Castro, is praising President Obama for his evolution on same-sex marriage. The U.S. president delivered a message that was “humane, understanding, in which he even recognizes that he too has been changing his opinion in favor of marriage, the free union of same-sex couples,” said Mariela Castro, who is Cuba’s most prominent gay rights …

Read More »

Life Imitates Art (Film)

Playing this week at the Tribeca Film Festival is Una Noche, a Cuban film about defecting to the United States. Two of the movie’s young stars were flown in from Havana to attend the premiere. Guess what they did?

Read More »

SPANISH RADIO: Mittens Slams Swingrich

Florida’s Cuban population is one of the very few minority groups that forms a major voting block for the Republican party, although younger Cuban-Americans have been bailing in large numbers. Here’s what Mittens is telling Florida’s Cubans: “Newt Gingrich claims to be a Reagan conservative but said he would not change the failed Obama policy to allow travel to Cuba, …

Read More »

Cuba To Consider Civil Unions

Cuba continues its unexpected march towards equality. Cuba’s first daughter says island lawmakers will consider legalizing same-sex civil unions this year. Mariela Castro is the daughter of President Raul Castro and a prominent gay rights activist. She says a preliminary proposal to modify the country’s Family Code is undergoing legal study and is on the legislative schedule for 2012. Many …

Read More »

Fidel Castro’s Niece Is Blogging

The champion of Cuba’s nascent LGBT rights movement, Mariela Castro, has launched a blog. The niece of Fidel Castro and daughter of President Raul Castro, Mariela has been the public figurehead of a series of advances over the last few years. You can also follow Mariela Castro on Twitter. (Tipped by JMG reader Adam.)

Read More »

Evening View – El Siboney

It’s almost worth the trek to Key West just for the bistec pallomilla at El Siboney. No visit is complete without at least one pilgrimage.

Read More »