"I used to work in a publishing house called Linkgua at 45 Muntaner street. I was an editor and proofreader. And one day at the door I meet a lady about 80 years old, Carme Humet Cocinero. And she asks me if I can hug her because she hasn't hugged a black person in 40 years," explains Arsenio Rodríguez Quintana (Havana, 1964). Rodríguez hugged her and asked why she had asked. "She told me that her aunt, Maria Cocinero, had married a black Cuban named Longinos Betancourt who was a doorman in a building in Urquinaona. And she added that the son of this couple had played for Barça. It blew my mind. I knew nothing, and I'm Cuban, black, and a Barça fan," he adds. "Thus began Rodríguez's investigation to publicize the figure of Francesc SiscuBetancourt y Cocinero (1913-1998), the first black player in Barça's history. "Betancourt came to find me. It was a sign. Unfortunately, his family wasn't very interested in remembering Siscu's figureand they threw away many documents. I'm very sorry. So I had to investigate," explains Rodríguez, who has just published Ciscu Betancourt, first black footballer of Barça and the Spanish league, a book to vindicate this player who defended the jersey of a lot of Catalan teams. He debuted at Fort Pienc in the 20s and in 1961 he was still linked to football at Sant Cugat, where he coached. In between, good spells at Barça, Sabadell or Badalona, even scoring a goal against Real Madrid with the blaugrana jersey.

After a three-week journey from the Baltic Sea, crossing the Atlantic Ocean, to the Caribbean, the Russian tanker Anatoli Kolodkin will finally be able to dock in a Cuban port and will break the blockade that Donald Trump has been imposing on the island since January. “If a country wants to send oil to Cuba right now, I have no problem with it, whether it's Russia or other countries. It will have no impact, Cuba is finished.”, said the President of the United States, a few hours before the vessel reaches its destination. The 730,000 barrels of crude oil that the ship is carrying – about 100,000 tons – are estimated to alleviate Havana's fuel crisis for a month. At the same time, they will offer Vladimir Putin a geopolitical victory in the dispute with Washington over spheres of influence.

More than half the country is plunged into darkness practically every day for several hours. This is the reality Cubans must live with as a result of the economic strangulation the United States maintains on the island. In addition to the already common daily partial blackouts, there are now nationwide blackouts, which are becoming increasingly frequent. Last week, the entire island was plunged into darkness simultaneously on two occasions, bringing the total to seven total blackouts in the country in the last year and a half, while the population faces one of the worst supply crises in decades.

Since Delcy Rodríguez announced a "cooperation agenda" with the White House Just over 24 hours after Nicolás Maduro's capture, Caracas has been forced to capitulate to Washington week after week. The United States governs Venezuela through the back door and has managed to get Chavismo to implement reforms to liberalize the economy, while the Trump administration has restored trade with the Latin American country in a highly restricted manner and under exceptional conditions. In the two and a half months since the attack, Venezuela has opened its doors to the US for its natural resources. Trump himself acknowledged this last weekend at the summit in Miami with Latin American leaders allied with the White House: "We are getting enormous amounts of oil out," he stated. On paper, Chavismo's opening to US investment began at the end of January. At that time, the National Assembly approved an amendment to the hydrocarbons law, confirming a pragmatic—and forced—shift by Chavismo in the face of US pressure. The Venezuelan Parliament approved a bill that reduces state controls over the industry and places fewer obstacles in the way of foreign private companies participating in oil exploration. Until now, they could only do so in joint ventures in which the state always held a majority stake, but the new legislation allows this to change. In the area of ​​trade, the government of Delcy Rodríguez has also promoted a new mining law, approved in its first reading this week in the Venezuelan Parliament. Although the text may still undergo some modifications, the intention is to establish the legal framework to provide legal guarantees to companies, with the aim of generating confidence and attracting foreign private investment. In case of conflict, the law establishes mediation and arbitration mechanisms that should resolve disputes. the doubts that some major oil companies like Exxon expressed in their meeting with Trump in January, in which they called for reforms before investing in the country to avoid exposing themselves to asset seizure.

Amid the economic suffocation the country is experiencingCuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed on Friday that several officials from his government recently held talks with representatives of the United States government to "seek solutions" to "bilateral differences." Until now, Havana had denied rumors that the two countries had begun a dialogue. Donald Trump himself... He had said that these conversations were taking place, But Havana denied it.

US President Donald Trump raised the possibility of a "friendly takeover" of Cuba on Friday, stating that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is handling the matter "at the highest level." Speaking to reporters at the White House, the president said, "The Cuban government is talking to us. They have serious problems. They don't have money. They don't have anything right now, but they're talking to us, and maybe we'll have a friendly takeover of Cuba." Trump described Cuba as a decaying country in need of change, adding that he has heard about the island's difficulties since he was a child: "They don't have money, they don't have oil, they don't have food. Right now they're a country with a lot of problems, and they want our help." For its part, the Cuban government has stated that it is not holding any high-level talks with the United States, although it has not explicitly denied media reports that US officials may be maintaining informal contact with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson of the former president. Axios reported this month that Rubio had held secret talks with Rodríguez. US officials close to Rubio reportedly met on the sidelines of the Caribbean Community regional conference held this week on the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts and Nevis, according to a report published Thursday. Miami Herald.

The Cuban Coast Guard killed four crew members of a speedboat from the United States on Wednesday. Havana claims they were Cuban exiles. Six other men on the same boat were wounded, as was one of the coast guards. The Cuban Interior Ministry maintains they were dissidents, some of whom were wanted by the regime as conspirators. They allegedly attempted to enter the country dressed in camouflage and armed with assault rifles, pistols, and homemade explosives. According to the Interior Ministry, the vessel failed to comply with orders to stop, as it was "illegally" in Cuban territorial waters. When the agents approached the American boat to identify the crew, they opened fire on the Cuban officers, wounding the commander. In a brief statement, the Cuban Ministry of the Interior detailed that the incident occurred in waters near the province of Villa Clara and that the American vessel was registered in Florida, USA, with the following identification: FL7726SH. For now, Cuban authorities have not provided details about the identities of those traveling on the vessel or their possible motives.

Cuba is becoming more strangled with each passing day. If the country's situation was already critical, in the last month Washington has further increased the sanctions it has been applying to the Caribbean island for decades. cutting off Venezuelan oil deliveries to Havana and threatening to impose tariffs on countries that supply crude oil to the Castro regimeThe measures implemented by the White House violate international law and the UN Charter, as the UN stated last Friday, and are causing an "economic strangulation" in the Latin American country, in the words of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. However, few countries have denounced the US strangulation of Cuba, and even fewer have moved to help. In this context, following the example of the Gaza Flotilla, several social and labor organizations from around the world have launched a new humanitarian flotilla, this time destined for Havana. At the moment, few details are known about the Latin American humanitarian mission. Under the name Our America, the organization has explained that the vessels will sail through the Caribbean over the next month, carrying food, medicine, and essential supplies to the island.

While US extortion has left Cuba mired in a deep energy crisis, has forced many airlines to halt flights to the country due to a lack of fuelMexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has extended an olive branch to the Cuban regime. This Friday, she declared that Mexico is willing to create an air bridge so that planes can refuel in the country and thus maintain their flights to the Caribbean island. Sheinbaum also indicated that the proposal could facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, which Mexico began sending this week and which the Mexican president assured would continue in the coming days. However, Sheinbaum also clarified that these shipments do not include oil. "If Cuba requests it, these conditions would apply, of course," the Mexican leader stated during her morning press conference, in which she made the launch of this air bridge contingent on a formal request from Havana. Furthermore, Sheinbaum noted that flights between Mexico and Cuba are continuing, and explained that aircraft can refuel in Mexican territory to maintain operations and even expand logistical cooperation. "They can load up, they can come to Mexico," the country's president pointed out. This option could help Havana mitigate the drop in tourism, a consequence of the cancellation of some flights in the country, which could have a major impact on an already severely damaged economy.

Cuba has run out of jet fuel, further proof of the effects of the US oil stranglehold on an island that It was already immersed in a serious economic and energy crisisCuban authorities informed airlines this Sunday that, starting Monday, they would not have enough fuel to fill their tanks, and companies with daily flights to the island—mainly American, Spanish, Mexican, and Panamanian—have begun taking emergency measures. Spanish airlines Air Europa and Iberia, with daily routes to Havana, have opted to maintain flights from Madrid but have announced that from now on they will include a refueling stop in the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, airlines from Canada, the island's primary source of tourism, have begun readjusting frequencies and routes, as well as offering cancellations or changes to reservations without penalty to customers. One of these companies is Air Canada, Canada's main airline, which announced on Monday that it will immediately suspend its services to Cuba due to the fuel shortage. However, it has announced that in the coming days it will send empty planes to Cuba "to pick up the approximately 3,000 customers" who are on the island and need to return to Canada. According to the notice from Cuban authorities to pilots, the restrictions affect all nine of Cuba's international airports and are currently valid for one month, from February 10 to March 11. Impact on tourism

The sector most affected by the fuel supply cut is tourism. This activity, essential to the Cuban economy, which has been under pressure for decades due to US sanctions, has experienced a sharp decline as a result of Washington's oil blockade. First, on January 3, the White House ended oil shipments from Venezuela, which was its main supplier of crude. And On January 29, he threatened tariffs on countries that supply oil to the island.This has virtually cut off the flow of Venezuelan crude and forced countries like Mexico to suspend shipments. Although he hasn't openly admitted it, Donald Trump has promoted a policy of strangling the island with the aim of economically collapsing the Cuban regime, at the expense of the poor living conditions of its population. Trump asserted that Cuba "is about to fall" and publicly stated that the Caribbean nation cannot survive without Venezuela's support, thus pressuring the Cuban government to reach an "agreement" with the United States. To cope with the lack of imports, the island's authorities have approved an emergency package that includes the objective of "reducing hotel infrastructure." As the EFE news agency has confirmed, several hotels in the country—mainly in Varadero and in the north—have closed their doors urgently and transferred tourists to other facilities as a cost-saving measure. Tourism in Cuba was already struggling due to the combination of the pandemic, US sanctions, and the country's economic crisis. In seven years, it has lost three-quarters of its visitors: last year ended with only 1.8 million international visitors, compared to 4.7 million in 2018.

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I can't see my father in the darkness. I only hear him: "Wait, we'll find somewhere with light." He guides me to his left hand, to the screen of his phone, which he hasn't used in the last 18 hours so he can make this video call. El Cerro, his neighborhood, has been without electricity all that time. We walk together through his house, and although everything is dark, I can make out the silhouette of my grandmother's porcelain vase on the living room table, the tapestry of the rearing horse hanging on the wall, the two pots with taro stalks dangling from the macramé, and the photo we took the day we were taken. It's midday, and my father is celebrating his birthday, 67, the same age as the Revolution.

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Having taken control of Venezuela, Donald Trump is now turning his attention to Cuba. The US president is aware of the island's weak and isolated situation. after the overthrow of Nicolás MaduroHe has signed an executive order imposing tariffs on countries that supply Cuba with oil. "Cuba will not be able to survive," he asserted during the presentation of a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump. The president considers the weak Cuban communist regime to be "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States" and declared "a national emergency regarding that threat" during the signing of the executive order. However, he did not specify what types of tariffs will be applied nor did he name any specific country. Trump maintains that Cuba is a "failed nation," but when asked if his intention is to "strangle" the Caribbean country, he responded that the expression is "very harsh." "You have to feel bad for Cuba because they have treated the people very badly. We have many Cuban-Americans who have been very mistreated and would like to return," he stated.

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US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he "thinks it's fine" for his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to be the next president of Cuba, after urging the island's government to reach "a deal, before it's too late." "I think it's fine!" Trump commented on his social media account, Truth Social, sharing a post on X from a user who predicted that "Marco Rubio will be the president of Cuba." Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has been a key figure in the administration's US actions against Venezuela and Cuba. Shortly afterward, Trump warned Cuba that it would no longer receive money or oil from Venezuela and stated that the island had been "living for years" off Venezuelan resources in exchange for "security services" for the "last two dictators," referring to Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro.

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The successful military operation against Venezuela to kidnap Nicolás Maduro has further enraged Donald Trump, who has spent the last two days threatening one country after another. To the recurring intimidation tactics of recent months against Greenland—which have been repeated in the last few hours—have been added threats against countries in Washington's so-called "backyard," especially Cuba and Colombia, which appear to be in the crosshairs of the US president.

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The hurricane Balm, one of the strongest ever recorded in the Atlantic, is still following its path of destruction after crossing JamaicaCuba and, early Thursday morning, the Bahamas as well. Scientists have already concluded—proven with data—that this phenomenon is a direct consequence of the climate crisis created by the burning of fossil fuels. A specific study by Imperial College London concludes that global warming has made this hurricane four times more likely. If there were no climate change, a hurricane of that intensity would have occurred only once every 8,000 years, the study says. But human-created conditions have increased wind speeds by at least 18 km/h and raised them to the 295 km/h recorded on record. Balm when it made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday, as a Category 5 hurricane.

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[If you want to explore the map in more detail, open] the high-resolution version [in another tab.]

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The Catalan imprint on the Caribbean over the centuries was so profound that some surnames are still recognized brands today, as is the case of the rum makers Facundo Bacardí and Andreu Brugal, both from Sitges, or the Havana cigar producer Jaume Partagàs, from Arenys de Mar. But these names do not end the list of Catalan entrepreneurs who left their mark, because the case of Josep Gener Batet, born in L'Arboç del Penedès and son of a boatman who supplied his products to alcohol exporters to America, is also very relevant.

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I admit it. For years I didn't understand that Guantanamera, the famous Cuban song, referred to a woman in Guantánamo. It seems obvious, but sometimes it's hard to see things. In fact, almost everyone reading this article knows the song. But if I ask what the song is about, can you tell me?

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Of the great gallant that William Levy appeared to be in the Latin American novel Coffee with the aroma of a woman (Netflix), has turned out to be an actor with pending court dates. The Cuban-born actor explained on Monday in The anthill Something that had occurred in April, when it was revealed that he had been arrested in Florida. His arrest made headlines in the United States and Europe, but until now the actor had not explained how he had personally experienced the black mark on his record.

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"Havana is sad," admits Lina, 27, upon returning from her native Cuba to Buenos Aires, where she migrated almost three years ago. She escaped for two weeks to see her mother, brother, grandparents, and two best friends, who, for now, still live on the island. She explains that "at seven or eight in the evening, people shut themselves in, there's no atmosphere on the streets like before, it seems like the time of the pandemic." She says this with a sad look, shaking her head, until she smiles: "But Havana is so beautiful," she says. "It's the most beautiful city in the world."

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