20 November 2020
In response (click here) to reports that members of Cuba’s San Isidro movement have been detained, had their human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of movement restricted, and been criminalized simply for peacefully exercising their human rights, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International said:
“The ongoing harassment and intimidation of members of the San Isidro movement, at the forefront of challenging Decree 349, a dystopian law that stands to censor artists, shows Cuba’s ongoing repression of human rights, including the right to freedom of expression in the country. Authorities can continue to harass, intimidate, detain, and criminalize artists and alternative thinkers, but they can’t keep their minds in prison.”
According to the legal NGO Cubalex, between 9 and 19 November, authorities arbitrarily detained and harassed multiple members of the San Isidro movement, sometimes more than once. Members of the movement, which is composed of artists, poets, LGBTI activists, academics, and independent journalists, have in recent days been protesting the imprisonment of the rapper Denis Solís González....
November 20, 2020
By Katell Abivan
Cuba is reopening its doors (click here) to foreign tourists after an eight-month shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the cash-strapped country faces an uphill struggle to woo back wary travelers.
Tourism chiefs are banking on the island's track record of keeping the virus in check to win back holidaymakers.
"This is a major challenge," said Francisco Camps, deputy general manager of Melia, a Spanish hotel chain that currently is operating only 10 of its 34 locations in Cuba.
The industry is pinning its hopes for the November-April high season on the capital Havana, the country's main tourist draw, which opened its international airport last weekend.
With its old fashioned Caribbean charm, the UNESCO World Heritage city attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.
"Havana is important because it has regular flights, which allows connections with Europe," says Camps....
South Florida was hit hard by SARS-CoV-2 early into the spread. It was allowed to enter Florida out of Brazil for months before Trump closed the airports. There were many reasons for these folks to vote for Democrats, but, they didn't. They are hooked into a lifestyle and relationships more than they are their own health.
November 19, 2020
By Jackie Sato
A famous Cuban actress was found dead this week (click here) along the shoreline in Miami Beach, Florida, authorities said.
Broselianda Hernández Boudet, 56, was discovered unresponsive by someone walking on the beach near 79th Street and Collins Avenue around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, news station WPLG reported.
The body was later identified as Hernández Boudet, who was well known in Cuba for films such as “Habanera” and “Things I Left in Havana.”
Relatives said Hernández Boudet had gone out Tuesday night to purchase cigarettes, but never returned home, WPLG reported.
The actress was born in Havana, Cuba, but had been living in Miami for five years at the time of her death, the outlet reported....
