Cuba is proud of its government-run health care system and its skilled doctors. But even with a raise two years ago, the highest paid doctors make $67 a month, while nurses top out at $40. That leaves many feeling demoralized — and searching for ways to improve their lives.

“There’s something young happening here,” DJ Walshy Fire says late into the sprawling, inspiring concert documentary Give Me Future. [...] They’re talking with reverent awe about Cuba’s music scene, and how rapidly it’s changing. A little over a year after President Obama eased the 54-year trade sanction against Cuba, Major Lazer went to Havana for an unprecedented mega-scale outdoor concert. 

Representatives of seven Cleveland cultural and educational institutions met Cuban counterparts face to face and saw firsthand evidence of the rapprochement with Cuba started under President Barack Obama in 2014. The visit also provided a snapshot of Cuban life at an unusual point after the death of the country's longtime president, Fidel Castro, in November, and the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, who could freeze or reverse the normalization started by Obama.

There are three possible Cuba scenarios in a Trump administration. The first is the uninterrupted continuation of Obama’s policy that has increased the scope of U.S.-Cuban commerce, allowed for expanded travel of U.S. citizens to the island, and normalized diplomatic relations. The second is rolling back all of the Obama changes, returning policy to the time of President George W. Bush, which would not only halt all U.S. 

Cuba's Roberto Gomez had a single night free on his first trip to San Francisco, part of a short performance visit in his role as lead guitarist for singer-songwriter Carlos Varela, often referred to as "The Bob Dylan of Cuba," and "The Poet of Havana." Gomez might have chosen to head to any number of clubs, restaurants or other social gathering places in one of the most vibrant and culturally rich cities in the U.S.

The second annual Conch Republic Cup/Key West Cuba Race Week set for Jan. 22-to Feb. 3 is the only triangle race to Cuba [...] “We include buoy racing in Havana which allows Cuban racers to take part,” said Karen Angle, the event’s executive director. “Also, there is built-in down time to allow the participants to enjoy Cuba in this ‘Cultural Exchange Through Sport.’”

In addition to his work empowering and uniting skateboarding communities, Williams is chairman of Cuba Skate, designed to create people-to-people exchange between communities in Cuba and the U.S. “Cuba Skate is our nonprofit that's based in D.C. and here in L.A. and what we do is we bring boards back and forth to the kids that are in Cuba and we also promote educational exchange between the skaters that are here, skaters globally and the skaters that are in Cuba.

Students from Cuba's top music academy will present a free concert of big band jazz with a Cuban accent in New Orleans on Thursday (Jan. 5). The nonprofit group Horns to Havana says the 14-member high school jazz band from Havana's Conservatorio Amadeo Roldan will be in town Monday through Jan. 10 for a jazz and cultural exchange program with the Preservation Hall Foundation.