havana
We are on the threshold of an historic opportunity to mend a badly broken relationship with our Caribbean neighbor, but Cuba is much more than a neighbor - she is a long lost relative, a source of wonderful culture, incredible artists and musicians, and several civic examples that we could all learn from. She could also become one of our greatest allies in the Western Hemisphere.
Besides the opportunities to play with and learn from Cuban musicians, Jaffe says that the PHJB plans to share their New Orleans musical history – “People in New Orleans still dance to jazz. We play jazz at our funerals” – with their hosts.
Dr. Eusebio Leal, Cuba’s leading preservationist who is lauded for saving the country’s Habana Vieja district, will give a talk on his lifelong endeavors at Flagler College on Sunday, Oct. 11.
U.S. Marines raised the Stars and Stripes over the newly reopened American Embassy in Cuba on Friday as Secretary of State John Kerry made an unprecedented nationally broadcast call for democratic change on the island ruled by a single party for more than five decades.
The Minnesota Orchestra traveled to Havana, Cuba last week, marking both their first performance in the island nation since 1930, and the first performance by an American orchestra since the U.S. and Cuba began normalizing relations in December 2014.
Bermudez is one of the two Cubans recently chosen by the National Institute for International Education (NIIE) for a six-month scholarship at Namseoul University. Along with Lorena Care Lim, who’s also from the capital of Havana, Bermudez is enrolled in a Korean language program for international students at the school in Cheonan, South Chungcheong. The scholarships are part of NIIE’s effort to promote the Korean language and invite foreign students willing to develop a deeper understanding of it to come to Korea.
This past weekend, Sen. Patrick Leahy led a special congressional delegation to Cuba. It’s part of an effort to normalize relations between the two countries – relations that were severed in 1961 when Fidel Castro came to power. Leahy’s was the first congressional delegation visit since President Obama announced his intentions last month of ending the current restrictions between the United States and Cuba.
A lot of my diplomatic counterparts in Havana look completely bemused when I talk to them about Twitter or tell them what my last blog was about. That’s not because they don’t know what Twitter or blogging is but because they don’t really see social media as playing a role in their daily diplomacy.