As reported by EFE via Fox Latino:

Washington – Julia Nuñez, wife of former Cuban political prisoner Adolfo Fernandez Sainz, was here Thursday to receive a U.S. State Department Human Rights Award on behalf of the Ladies in White, a group comprising relatives of jailed dissidents.
In a moving ceremony that Nuñez attended [...]

From an article in Baltimore's The Catholic Review Online covering the teleconference earlier this week with Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and organized by our own Alberto De La Cruz:
(Dr. Biscet) called on fellow Cubans to “act moderately, impartially, and with firmness in the defense of our principles without falling into sectarian extremism, but [...]

The story of Carmen Santana's life in exile mirrors that of so many others who left their lives behind in Cuba to seek freedom. The fact that Ms. Santana's story isn't out of the ordinary doesn't make it any less heroic, however.
The above picture from the Miami Herald's files was on the front page on [...]

Most of you have probably heard the story from Canada of 13-month-old Joseph Maraachli (Baby Joseph) who suffers from a severe neurological disorder with virtually no chance of long-term survival. A battle between Baby Joseph's family and the government, represented by the hospital, has been ongoing for weeks now, with the family wanting a tracheotomy [...]

Hello, readers! It's been a while since I've posted at Babalú Blog, and it's good to be back here posting. I hope to pop my head in here on a more regular basis.
The following is an amalgamation of several recent posts at my blog, Searching for Signs, on the Wisconsin union protests and the rights [...]

The Miami Herald's Fabiola Santiago has a good story on the expatriation to Spain of the Cuban dissident prisoners. It's worth a read, particularly for those who think that the prisoners had a real choice of whether to stay in Cuba or go to Spain.
Here's a telling section of the article:
Some of the released prisoners [...]

Those of you who live in South Florida have probably heard about the controversy surrounding last week's meeting of the Miami GOP Executive Committee in which District 25 Republican candidate Paul Crespo was confronted by local police after his 2+ minute speech.
For those of you outside of South Florida, here's a quick primer:
Paul Crespo, local [...]

We've certainly had our differences with the Estefans over certain issues and events, but on this day, Gloria Estefan deserves our praise for taking a firm and public stand for human rights in Cuba.
Go here to read about Gloria's march for solidarity with the Ladies in White.

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In thinking of today's anniversary of the Cuban Black Spring crackdown, I arrive at a very non-political concept: the concept of human suffering. Christians believe that suffering is an essential part of our human existence, not as a exercise in masochism, but as a way to reflect on our imperfections and get closer to God. [...]

As Marco Rubio continues to face heavy scrutiny over everything from his record on taxes and illegal immigration, to his use of a GOP credit card in which all charged personal expenses were paid back by Rubio, his record as a lobbyist and past associations with controversial figures like Ray Samson, it's understandable and even [...]

Although, as Val posted yesterday, the South Florida media has been largely silent on the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, its two big daily newspapers have not.
Here's the Miami Herald's editorial from yesterday. And the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's published today can be found here.

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Kathleen Hughes' Wall Street Journal article on her Cuban-American husband Daniel Bethencourt's return to his childhood home in Havana during a recent family trip to Cuba is a familiar one to many Cuban-Americans. However, no matter how familiar these stories of seeing relatives for the first time in 50 years, or seeing your childhood home [...]

OK, folks. Brace yourselves.
In an interesting and winding op-ed piece in the Miami Herald, Marifeli Perez-Stable tries to make her point on why the European Union's "Common Position" (CP) on Cuba should be eliminated. I won't bother with the back-and-forth arguments Perez-Stable lays out in trying to look at the issue from both sides (if [...]

A nice column by Myriam Marquez of the Miami Herald (yes, THAT Herald) published last Sunday reminding us that evil can't be negotiated with:

Two wise men who stood up to evil brought their seedlings of hope and peace and planted them firmly on Miami soil. Stand your ground, don't give up, keep pushing for what's [...]

Piggy-backing a little off Val's post below, I'd like to highlight a couple of telling quotes from the Herald article Val references (BTW, the Herald piece is about as balanced as we can hope for from the MSM).
Most of the article is made up of rather mundane accounts of Cuban musicians receiving under-the-table payments for [...]

(Cross-posted from Searching for Signs)
The difference between confidence and arrogance, to me, can be summed up rather simply. Confidence is walking the walk; not only trusting your beliefs but acting them out. It does not step on toes or send mixed signals because words and action intersect. Arrogance is all talk and little action; failing [...]

Cuba hasn't escaped the chilly temperatures which have invaded Florida the past several days. But that's not all that's cold in Havana.
Remember the promise of better U.S. - Cuba relations in the age of Obama? Well, according to Reuters, you can pretty much forget about that.

After a year of relative civility and cautious praise for [...]

(This is the latest revision of a Veteran's Day piece I posted back in 2005 and 2007)
Veteran's Day has always held a special place in my heart. I'm far from being alone in feeling this way, but please allow me to feel a sense of personal pride on this day. The reason for this is [...]

If there's anything that's been positive about all the pro-dialogue and openness attitude toward Cuba in the era of Obama, it's that more and more people are beginning to realize what we crazy exiles have known all along:
Dealing with castro, Inc. isn't the same as dealing with your neighbor or your local businessperson.
As further evidence [...]

Amnesty International released a report earlier this week indicating that the U.S. and its embargo is responsible for the deterioration of health in Cuba. I was going to post some personal thoughts on this, but after reading this piece by Sylvia Longmire at Dallas-based Examiner.com, I figured I'd let her explain instead:
Unfortunately, the Amnesty report [...]