Free Republic

Pope Francis has arrived in Havana this afternoon and starts a historic 10-day visit to Cuba and the United States, according to reports. Cuban President Raul Castro welcomed Pope Francis in a long speech at the airport. In his speech, Castro said the communist government has "founded an equitable society with social justice" in Cuba and he praised the pope's critiques of the global economic system that has "globalized capital and turned money into its idol." Castro thanked Francis for facilitating negotiations that led to a detente between the United States and Cuba. Castro is also calling for the end...

After a half century of travel and trade embargoes against Cuba, American businesses will soon be able to return the island nation and establish offices there. Today, the U.S. government announced a new slate of revised Cuba-related regulations that will ease restrictions on commerce and tourism. Starting on Monday, according to the Treasury Dept.’s Office of Foreign Assets Control [OFAC], a variety of American business types “will be allowed to establish and maintain a physical presence, such as an office, retail outlet, or warehouse, in Cuba.” Among the allowed types of businesses: news bureaus; exporters of authorized goods, including agricultural...

Christianity is booming in communist-ruled Cuba, and one indication of this is the continuing inflow of tens of thousands of Bibles which are distributed to the faithful in the country's more than 1,000 churches. Last month, some 83,000 copies of the Bible poured into the country courtesy of the International Missions Board. The copies of the Bible are distributed by the Baptist Convention in Cuba. The American Bible Society, which claims to have "strong relations with Cuban churches, both Catholic and Protestant," also started its "Million Bible Mission" last year. About 60,000 Bibles were imported and distributed to the faithful...

Friday, at the U.S. embassy in Cuba flag-raising ceremony celebrating the re-establishment of diplomatic relations, Secretary of State John Kerry said he felt “very much at home” in the country ruled by the authoritarian Castro regime.

"Intelligence trafficker to the world" sets up shop in the nation's capital. “It [the Cuban embassy opening] is going to be a celebration on our part,” gushed Gustavo Machin, deputy director for U.S. affairs at Cuba’s Foreign Ministry. “Many Americans who have supported the Cuban Revolution will be among the 500 celebrants at the new Embassy.” Despite the innocuous professional title the mainstream media insists on using for Gustavo Machin, he’s actually a KGB-trained Cuban spy who was burnt and booted from the U.S. back in 2003 shortly before the invasion of Iraq. He was among 14 other Cuban spies...

The red, white and blue Cuban flag was raised over the island’s embassy in Washington on Monday for the first time since 1961 — a fluttering symbol of the historic thaw taking place between the Cold War foes. As pro and anti-Cuban protestors gathered outside the gates of the embassy chanting “Fidel” and “Justice” — the flag was was raised at about 10:35 EST. The ceremony came after the United States and Cuba reestablished diplomatic ties early Monday after a 54-year gap. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez led a delegation of 36 Cuban officials and members of Cuba’s cultural world...

Carnival Corp. is steering a course toward Cuba. The world’s largest cruise ship company announced Tuesday that it had received approval from the U.S. government to operate cruises to the island nation as a provider of cultural exchange programs.

WASHINGTON – Declaring “this is what change looks like,” President Obama announced an agreement Wednesday to reestablish economic ties with Cuba and re-open embassies in each other’s capitals. But the historic step will also touch off a new round of battles with Congress. To complete the thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations, the Obama administration still needs to get lawmakers on board to confirm an ambassador, sign off on spending millions on a U.S. embassy in Havana and soften sanctions against the communist country that has a long history of human rights violations. That's no easy task. -- snip -- Rep. Illeana...

HAVANA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Cuba are set to announce the restoration of diplomatic relations on Wednesday, the result of a two-year courtship between former Cold War rivals who severed ties in 1961. The chief of the U.S. interests section in Havana will report to Cuban foreign ministry around 9 a.m. (0900 ET) to deliver a letter from U.S. President Barack Obama to Cuban President Raul Castro. Obama will then speak at 11 a.m. (1100 ET) from the White House's ceremonial Rose Garden. It was unknown whether Castro would reciprocate with comments of his own. Following 18 months...

Dancing With Another Dictatorship The most plausible answer is that the Obama administration is once again working to save a police state that is about to collapse under its own weight. The trouble is that every time team Obama sits down at the poker table with thugs—think Russia, Iran and Cuba—it gets cleaned out. The region’s democracy advocates are right to be nervous. The rest of the aricle http://www.wsj.com/articles/dancing-with-another-dictatorship-1434922282

Christians in Cuba received more than 83,000 Bibles earlier this month from the International Missions Board. The Bibles come at a time of growth in the evangelical church in Cuba. The Baptist Convention in Cuba is distributing the Bibles to believers in more than 1,000 churches all over the island. Bibles have not been sold in Cuban bookstores for more than 50 years.

The Obama administration is expected to announce an agreement with Cuba in early July to reopen embassies and restore diplomatic relations severed more than five decades ago, U.S. sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. The two sides hope to conclude the deal by the first week of next month, clearing the way for Secretary of State John Kerry to visit Havana soon afterwards for a flag-raising ceremony to upgrade the U.S. Interests Section to a full-scale embassy, the sources said. Since a breakthrough between the two former Cold War rivals announced in December, negotiators have settled all but...

MIAMI — The priest prayed an Our Father. The president lit a candle. And while gazing together at a revered image of Cuba’s patroness, the priest reminded the president of the suffering of Cuba’s people. “Only in the United States that’s possible,” said the Rev. Juan Rumin Dominguez, rector of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Miami, as he recalled the whirlwind, unexpected visit of President Barack Obama early Thursday afternoon. The president was on his way to the airport after attending a Democratic fundraiser the night before and spending the morning at the National Hurricane Center....

Politics: President Obama removed Cuba as a state sponsor of terror Friday, forgetting the dictatorship's long record of killing, smuggling and, yes, terror. If this is the new standard, why not just scrap the list entirely? The lifting of Cuba from the list of nations that support terrorism was a farce that may well come back to the haunt the United States. After all, the ruling Castro regime that benefits from it in the name of normal relations with the U.S. and new access to World Bank loans is the same regime that once tried the first 9/11, aligning itself...

In writing about his beloved Cuba, Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo asserts that "totalitarianism is as much about tyranny as about [the] manipulation of time." He knows only too well how the Castro brothers have destroyed the hopes and dreams of the Cuban people for more than a half century. And now in a devastating blow and under the guise of rapprochement, Barack Obama continues to support this communist tyranny. And the Cuban people continue to suffer and weep for true freedom. While sadly, we Americans continue to squander it. A 2013 poll revealed that "40 percent of Americans said the...

Two relatively recent photos of Barack Obama with foreign leaders reveal much about his deep-dyed leftism. The first features President Obama and democratically elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of one of America's most loyal friends. Obama looks strained. His face is stiff, and his eyes are veiled. The second is a snap of Obama at the recent Summit of the Americas in Panama. He's seated with "President" Raul Castro, leader of a bitter enemy, who has never received a single free vote. Obama is grinning, his eyes dancing with pleasure. In contrast to the bitterness with which Obama addresses...

Just four short months after "normalizing" relations with Cuba and just days after meeting with Dictator Raul Castro in Panama, President Barack Obama will reportedly strip the country of its terrorism sponsor status. It was just last year when the Center for Security Policy publishing the detailed connection Cuba has to Venezuela and Iran in its support for terrorism around the globe. It should be noted that Iran is the world's most prolific state-sponsor of terrorism through Hezbollah, the world's largest terror organization responsible for more American murders than any other group before 9/11/2001. Iran, Cuba and Venezuela have developed a close...

Obama’s ‘Historic’ Meeting with a Terror SponsorPosted By Humberto Fontova On April 13, 2015 @ 12:30 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | No Comments While hyperventilating pundits wet their pants commenting on the “historic!” meeting and handshake [1] between President Obama and Cuban dictator Raul Castro in Panama City during the Summit of the America’s this weekend, one veteran “diplomat” just laughs.“The so-called re-establishment of relations (between the U.S. and Cuba) is really no big deal, “laughs Nikolai Leonov. “These relations were already in place.”Leonov is described today as a Russian “history professor.” But all during the Cold War Lieutenant Colonel...

“I’m not interested in having battles that frankly started before I was born,” Obama said. “The Cold War’s been over for a long time.”Cuban President Raul Castro on Saturday expressed remorse that President Obama had inherited the hostile relationship between Cuba and the U.S. during his time in office. The Lebanon Daily Star reported that the Communist leader apologized to Obama during the seventh Summit of the Americas in Panama City. He also absolved the president of any role increasing tensions between the two nations during his remarks. “I apologize to President Obama and the others here,” Castro told an...

Twenty-four hours before coming face to face with Cuban President Raul Castro, President Obama on Thursday continued to extend an olive branch from Washington to Havana — but analysts say there are real questions about whether Mr. Castro truly is interested in friendly relations with the U.S. At a town hall in Kingston, Jamaica — the president's last stop before heading to the Summit of the Americas in Panama — Mr. Obama praised the "extraordinary" Cuban people and said it's time for the two nations to put the Cold War behind them. Also Thursday, the State Department completed its review...