Obama’s Historic Cuban-American Vote Opens Window for Change

While political and media attention remains focused on the unprecedented support President Barack Obama received in Tuesday’s election from Latinos, one particular subset of those voters - one with potential foreign policy clout - is drawing intense interest.

U.S.: 50th Anniversary of Cuban Missile Crisis Offers Lessons for Iran

It was exactly 50 years ago when then-President John F. Kennedy took to the airwaves to inform the world that the Soviet Union was introducing nuclear-armed missiles into Cuba and that he had ordered a blockade of the island - and would consider stronger action - to force their removal.

HAITI: Partners in Deforestation and “Slumification”

More than 100 Haitian families now have new housing, thanks to the support of two non-governmental organisations working on reconstruction following the country's devastating 2010 earthquake.

Living in the Heart of Hurricane Alley in Cuba

In Los Palacios, a farming community in the western Cuban province of Pinar del Río, local residents are still working hard to rebuild after the damage caused by two of the three hurricanes that hit this country in 2008. "It was just horrible," people here say when asked about what happened.

Community Drills Part of Cuba’s Top-Notch Disaster Response System

A well-oiled prevention system that involves the entire country, from the highest spheres of government to the most isolated rural community, makes Cuba one of the best-prepared countries in the world when it comes to preventing deaths and mitigating risks in case of disasters.

Q&A: No Single Country Can Forecast Climate Change Alone

Cuban climate change scientists have been sharing their research findings and experience over the past few years with the rest of the Caribbean islands, using PRECIS, a regional climate modelling system, to help design adaptation policies.

Cuban Activists Defend Sexual Rights as Human Rights

The Fifth Cuban Day Against Homophobia focused on recognising and including sexual rights as human rights, a cause increasingly advocated by activists demanding respect for sexual diversity in this Caribbean island nation.

Breaking the Silence on Racism in Cuba

Gloria Rolando has been revealing hidden chapters of Cuban history since the 2010 premiere of the first part of her documentary series "1912: Breaking the Silence," about the virtually unknown story about the only legal political party to promote racial equality in this country.

Q&A: Needed: Common Caribbean Strategies Against Climate Change

Subject to the double impact of the global economic crisis and climate change, the Caribbean island nations are in need of adaptation strategies in which international cooperation and citizen participation play key roles, says Cuban expert Ramón Pichs.

Women Journalists in Cuba Revive Transgressive Group

More than 15 years after the "deactivation" in Cuba of the Association of Women Communicators (MAGIN), its members remain united in an informal network that transcends any specific political situation and has become a reference for the new generations.

ECONOMY-CUBA: Latest Reform: Bank Loans

Rules allowing Cubans to buy and sell cars and homes, and now, to take out loans, are two of the latest steps taken to "modernise" the economy.

CUBA-CARIBBEAN: Forging an Alliance to Fight for Climate Action

When the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development dubbed Rio+20 convenes in Brazil next year, Caribbean leaders want to ensure that the concerns of vulnerable low-lying coastal and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) will be heard.

CARIBBEAN: Castro Comes Calling as U.S. Tries to Pull the Plug

Even the rains seemed to have joined forces against Cuban President Raul Castro.

Cuba Strengthens Regional Ties

With the recently-created Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Cuba is strengthening its regional reinsertion, while progress towards normal ties with the United States would appear to remain a distant prospect, and the return of the right-wing Popular Party to power in Spain could reopen tensions on that front.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Cuba Joins New South-South Alliances

Cuba will be attending the next round of climate change negotiations after a year that has seen a growing consensus in the developing South to put pressure on rich nations to take on firmer commitments within an international governance regime for climate stability.