TheRepublic.com - Cuba News

Cuban dissident: Repression forced family to flee

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:07:04 -0400

MIAMI - One of several Cuban dissidents recently allowed to visit Europe and the U.S. after Cuba changed its travel laws said Tuesday she decided to seek refuge in Miami after facing continued repression on the island.

Red Cross' Guantanamo reports sought in 9/11 case

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:49:55 -0400

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - The International Committee of the Red Cross urged a military judge Tuesday to refuse a request to open its confidential communications with U.S. officials about conditions at Guantanamo Bay to the lawyers for the prisoners charged in the Sept. 11 terror attack.

Judge urges new approach for Gitmo detainee cases

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:19:28 -0400

WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court judge Tuesday called on the president and Congress to consider a different approach to the handling of legal cases of Guantanamo Bay prisoners.

Rookie Fernandez a rare bright spot for Marlins

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:42:41 -0400

MIAMI - The Miami Marlins were savoring a rare victory, thanks to pitcher Jose Fernandez's latest gem. A team official attempted to engage the rookie in a discussion as highlights of his performance began showing on the clubhouse television.

US collegians to host Cuba in July

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:51:31 -0400

DES MOINES, Iowa - The U.S. collegiate national baseball team will host its Cuban counterpart next month in a five-game international "friendship" series.

Dissident's family to discuss leaving Cuba

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:43:33 -0400

MIAMI - The daughter of a prominent Cuban dissident who died in a car crash says her family decided to seek refuge in the U.S. after facing continued repression on the island.

US names prisoners slated for indefinite detention

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:31:07 -0400

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - A list released by the U.S. government Monday identifies several dozen Guantanamo Bay prisoners who have been designated as too dangerous to release but who can't be prosecuted.

WikiLeaks trial focuses Army email list

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:40:28 -0400

FORT MEADE, Maryland - A huge database of troop names and email addresses an Army private allegedly downloaded to a personal computer could be used by foreign adversaries to launch cyberattacks on service members, a government witness said Monday as the trial of Pfc. Bradley Manning entered its third week.

Comment: Who's Hispanic? Gabriel Gomez faces litmus...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:18:34 -0400

By RAUL REYES - Gabriel G�mez is having his moment in the spotlight. The son of Colombian immigrants made Massachusetts history in April when he became the first Hispanic to win a major Republican primary there.

AP source: US, Cuba to resume talks on direct mail

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 06:40:07 -0400

WASHINGTON - The United States and Cuba will resume talks this week on restarting direct mail service despite a deadlock between Washington and Havana over detainees that has largely stalled most rapprochement efforts, a U.S. official said Monday.

Longtime gov't lawyer to lead Gitmo closure effort

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 03:05:17 -0400

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has chosen a high-powered Washington lawyer with extensive experience in all three branches of the government to be the State Department's special envoy for closing down the military-run prison at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

Obama chooses lawyer as Guantanamo closure envoy

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 16:03:14 -0400

Amid Gitmo strike, ex-detainee tells of force-feed

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 19:17:43 -0400

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - For more than three months, the U.S. military has faced off with defiant prisoners on a hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay, strapping down as many as 44 each day to feed them a liquid nutrient mix through a nasal tube to prevent them from starving to death.

Guantanamo court held in secret without accused

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:12:19 -0400

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - Prosecutors and defense attorneys emerged Friday from a closed session of the Guantanamo war crimes court so shrouded in secrecy that the defendant was barred from the room and none of the parties could even disclose the subject of the hearing.

House passes sweeping $638 billion defense bill

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:52:46 -0400

WASHINGTON - The House overwhelmingly passed a sweeping, $638 billion defense bill on Friday that imposes new punishments on members of the armed services found guilty of rape or sexual assault as outrage over the crisis in the military has galvanized Congress.

Defected Cuban dancers adjust to U.S., seek work

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:01:31 -0400

MIAMI - They practice in the back of a dance studio next to a Wendy's restaurant in a strip mall. Six ballet dancers leap across the floor, hidden from view from the mothers watching their daughters in pink leotards in a front room.

Guantanamo court goes into secret session

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:43:38 -0400

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - The war crimes tribunal for the Guantanamo prisoner charged in the attack on the USS Cole is going into a closed session dealing with a subject so secret even the defendant can't hear it.

Failed Cuba-to-Florida swimmer won't try again

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:19:48 -0400

KEY WEST, Florida - The Australian who gave up her quest to swim from Cuba to Florida because of painful jellyfish stings said Thursday that she will not make another attempt.

Cuba girds for climate change by reclaiming coasts

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:26:51 -0400

CAYO COCO, Cuba - After Cuban scientists studied the effects of climate change on this island's 3,500 miles (5,630 kilometers) of coastline, their discoveries were so alarming that officials didn't share the results with the public to avoid causing panic.

White House threatens veto of defense policy bill

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 17:43:05 -0400

WASHINGTON - The White House is threatening a veto of the House version of the defense policy bill over limits it places on President Barack Obama's authority to handle terror suspects at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Florida editorial roundup

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:01:49 -0400

Recent editorials from Florida newspapers:

Ambrose: Is privacy going poof in America?

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 14:50:30 -0400

President Barack Obama is more right than wrong in his embrace of massive data collection to help prevent terrorist attacks, but watch out, fellow Americans. Privacy in our land is going poof, this particular program has potential for grave abuse, and here is an administration that too often wanders off the ranch as ideology urges it forward and incompetence says OK. - The program in question grew out of the George W. Bush-era Patriot Act that used to leave liberals trembling, and still affects some that way -- although not Obama. While once publicly anxious about the surveillance it permitted, he signed its reauthorization. He also accepted indefinite detention, grew lax on closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and continued sending terrorist prisoners overseas.

Charges sought for Iraqi held at Guantanamo

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 20:46:56 -0400

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - U.S. military prosecutors announced plans Monday to add another case to the docket of the war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo amid efforts by President Barack Obama to move the proceedings to the United States and shutter the detention center.

Australian McCardel eyes swim from Cuba to Florida

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 19:08:12 -0400

HAVANA - Australian Chloe McCardel will battle exposure, swift sea currents, stinging jellyfish, sharp-toothed sharks and her own physical limits when she attempts a record swim from Cuba to Florida this week.

Officials renew call for closing Gitmo after visit

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 19:43:07 -0400

WASHINGTON - White House chief of staff Denis McDonough and two leading senators on national security reaffirmed their support for closing the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after visiting the facility on Friday.