The Obama administration has averted a war. The New York Times reporting: The United States and Mexico have reached a tentative agreement on cross-border trade in tomatoes, narrowly averting a trade war that threatened to engulf a swath of American businesses. The agreement, reached late Saturday, raises the minimum sales price for Mexican tomatoes in [...]

The 2013 Index of Economic Freedom is out, and Cuba remains next to last place, above only North Korea. Cuba’s economic freedom score is 28.5, making its economy one of the world’s least free. Its overall score is 0.2 point higher than last year, with a notable decline in monetary freedom counterbalanced by gains in [...]

I'll believe it when the son-of-a-bitch is in the ground. Venezuela President Hugo Chávez is now battling bone metastasis from his pelvic cancer, according to a report by Spanish newspaper ABC. Citing an unnamed intelligence source, ABC's Washington correspondent Emil J. Blasco says there has been a recurrence and spread of the tumor, which was [...]

Rush Limbaugh made a spot-on analogy on his radio program today... RUSH: I want to remind everybody, "Barack Hussein Obama! Mmm! Mmm! Mmm!" campaigned for president as the man who could fix our economy. That was the whole point of his campaign. Has anybody forgotten this? In 2007-2008, Barack Obama ran on the basis that [...]

If one million monkeys typing away for all eternity can type out the collected works of William Shakespeare, and five hundred thousand drunk monkeys typing away for five hundred years could turn out most everything written by Paul Krugman, then three post-menopausal liberal monkeys typing away for a week could turn out two Maureen Dowd [...]

HAVANA - Cuba has slapped a new customs tax on everyday goods shipped from overseas in a drive that experts say could weaken the economy and sap consumption. The levy took effect Monday and is payable in foreign currency. It targets goods imported by private citizens, often self-employed people who have started up businesses as [...]

Back in February, the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies' Cuba Transition Project held some panel discussions on "Taiwan as a Model for Cuba's Future." It wasn't until now that they posted video of the event, which featured the following speakers: Dr. Jaime Suchlicki - Director, Institute for Cuban & Cuban-American Studies Mr. Ray H.W. [...]

As we've heard so many times since Raul Castro took the helm in Cuba, the younger of two Communist dictators is a pragmatist. A reformer. He's brought changed to the island's dated, no-longer-sufficient economic system that everyone has known were long overdue. There are signs that the changes Raul has made are paying off. With [...]

NEWS Wisconsin wrestler to face Cuban opponent in opener Olympic wrestler Ben Provisor drew the No. 17 spot and will face Alexi Bel of Cuba in the opening round of the Greco-Roman 74-kilogram weight class at the ExCeL Arena on Sunday. http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/165021846.html#!page=0&pageSize=10&sort=newestfirst Cuban emigrant interdictions skyrocket The number of Cubans being stopped at sea before [...]

CUBA. DESPUÉS DEL ASESINATO DE OSWALDO PAYÁ: ¿QUIÉN SERÁ EL PRÓXIMO OPOSITOR ASESINADO POR LOS HERMANOS CASTRO. VIDEO CON TESTAMENTO POLÍTICO DE JUAN FRANCISCO SIGLER AMAYA EN CASO DE SU EXTRAÑA MUERTE http://baracuteycubano.blogspot.com/2012/08/cuba-despues-del-asesinato-de-oswaldo.html Cuban opera singer challenges "jealous" bureaucrats over closed theater http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/01/cuba-theater-reform-idINL2E8IU8AZ20120801 Opinion: What Really Happened to Cuban Dissident Oswaldo Payá? http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/08/01/opinionthe-legacy-oswaldo-paya/ Spaniard held [...]

Spaniard close to vehicular homicide charge in Cuban dissident’s death The Swedish man who survived the crash that claimed the lives of Cuban dissidents Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero has returned home. Meanwhile, his Spanish colleague remained behind to face a possible homicide charge. http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/31/2923717/spaniard-close-to-vehicular-homicide.html Havana Club rum dispute isn’t over yet The litigation between [...]

Excellent article contrasting progress or lack of in Colombia and Cuba during the past decade by the former Costa Rican ambassador to the U.S. A Tale of Two Countries by Jaime Daremblum On April 14, Latin American officials will gather in Colombia for the sixth Summit of the Americas. But the region’s oldest dictatorship will not [...]

Marta here. I started this series, Cuando Sali de Cuba, Stories of Courage and Hope on my own blog, My big, fat, Cuban family in order to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month: Cuban-Style. I asked my readers to send me their stories about how their families left Cuba and how they ended up here in the [...]

In Cuba, for those in need of home repairs, there is nothing, and you can go to prison for attempting to illegally acquire building materials. So much for the "revolution" providing. Meet Jesús Expósito Zayas, a working man living in a ruin, he communicates the following from Princelades de Cuba. (My flawed translation) “I was born [...]

Frances Martel at Mediaite has written a lengthy article interviewing CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta in Havanna, Cuba. Dr. Gupta is in Cuba to investigate for himself the facts about Cuba's healthcare system that everyone seems determined to hold up as a prime example of a successful government/state-run system. Democrats, Hollywood celebrities such as Michael Moore [...]