May 20 marks 110 years of Cuba’s independence from Spanish rule and America’s temporary occupation of the island. It also marks more than 53 years since Cuban revolutionaries—led by Fidel Castro (1927– ) and his brother Raul (1930– )—toppled the Batista regime and installed a one-party, Communist dictatorship on the…
The Heritage event 'Cuba Needs a (Technological) Revolution' with Sen. Rubio is discussed on Miami's WFOR. …
The Cuban people, living within the constricted space permitted by the 53-year-old Cuban Revolution, have not benefited from the remarkable leap forward in communication technology over the past few decades. Havana’s repressive regime wishes to shift censorship’s traditional fault lines to the electronic sphere, severely restricting its population’s ability to…
The tragic death of Cuban dissident Wilman Villar after a 50-day hunger strike should make clear that the Cuban people seek freedom and are increasingly willing to defy a repressive regime to get it. They deserve outside moral support, which is best expressed by a…
On January 8, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lands in Venezuela to start a brief but highly symbolic Latin American visit. The Iranian leader aims to bolster ties with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and some of the region’s most strident anti-American leaders. For the Obama Administration, the Iranian visit reflects a continuing…
Heritage hosted House Foreign Affairs Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) to discuss President Obama's performance on matters beyond U.S. borders. We spoke to her about the Obama Doctrine, her concerns about U.S. policy toward Cuba and Israel, and why she is trying to reform the United Nations. Read more…
Last week, just outside Cuba’s holiest Catholic shrine, government thugs attacked in plain daylight a group of opposition women -- beating them, stoning them and stripping them naked to the waist. The women, mostly black and middle-aged, suffered this public humiliation because they were trying to find a dignified way…
Between March 19 and 23, President Obama will embark on a rapid visit to Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador. This is his first visit to South or Central America as President. Despite considerable fanfare, the trip comes at an awkward time, when global attention is riveted on the tragedy in…
As Muammar al-Qaddafi clings to power by ordering his troops to shoot on their Libyan compatriots, across the globe in the Caribbean one of his last remaining global buddies is doing his best to keep the lid on his own victims. Fidel Castro, presiding over the wreckage of what was…
When i was a child and the communist authorities would send a volunteer worker to inquire why I had not yet joined the Pioneros or generally was not going along with the rhetoric of the Cuban Revolution, my grandmother would react in a way I found puzzling. She would show the…
This month, several individuals detained as "enemy combatants" will make their appeals for freedom to the highest court in the land. Perhaps now, more than any other time in recent memory, the eyes of the world are intensely focused…
Introduction With the end of the Cold War and collapse of the Soviet Union, there has been a growing chorus of cries for the United States to lift the economic embargo on Cuba. This chorus has included even such responsible anti-communist voices as those of former President…
Abstract: The U.S. officially designates four countries as state sponsors of terrorism--Iran, Syria, Cuba, and Sudan. It is high time to add Venezuela to the list. Far from being merely a populist showman and bully, Hugo Chávez is a reckless leader who collaborates with Colombian narcoterrorists and Islamist terrorists, pals…
Abstract: Since World War II, U.S. international broadcasting has been a major tool for breaking information barriers and blockades constructed by totalitarian and similarly closed authoritarian regimes. Today, the United States continues to open new doors to individual and media freedom, and to advance…
The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg recently went to Cuba at the bidding of that island’s dictator. The results weren’t pretty. The tone of the first two articles by our man in Havana makes clear that he was intent on presenting Fidel Castro as a charming old…
WASHINGTON, JAN. 20, 2010--The 29 economies in the South and Central America/Caribbean region performed better than the world average in four of the 10 components of economic freedom measured in the 2010 "Index of Economic Freedom," published annually by…
America’s response thus far to the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12 has been far too mute, creating an unexpected vacuum of leadership in a critical region. Haiti is the most impoverished nation of the Americas. The government under President Réne Préval is weak and literally now in…
Since June 28--when the Honduran military placed Manuel Zelaya on an aircraft bound for San Jose, Costa Rica--massive media coverage, diplomatic maneuvering, and political theater have accompanied efforts to restore Zelaya to the presidency of his Central American nation. In the aftermath of his exile, Manuel Zelaya's shift from the political center toward both foreign…
On June 3, as many recalled the 20th anniversary of China's crushing of a fragile democracy movement in Tiananmen Square, 34 hemispheric leaders convened in Honduras for the annual gathering of the Organization of American States (OAS). There they repealed a 1962 resolution that suspended communist Cuba from membership. The repeal reportedly…
On Saturday night, blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng arrived in Newark, N.J., after escaping seven years of...…
The U.S. State Department has decided to grant a visa to Mariela Castro Espin, daughter of Raul Castro, the country's...…
On April 13–15, President Obama participated in what will likely be the last Summit of the Americas in Cartagena,...…
On March 28, Pope Benedict XVI completed his six-day visit to Mexico and Cuba. In both stops, the Pope sought to...…
The society that Pope Benedict XVI will find when he lands in Cuba next week will be a destitute one, prostrate in every...…
On March 24–26, Pope Benedict XVI will visit Cuba. This is the first papal visit since Pope John Paul II visited in...…
They call themselves “las Damas de Blanco” (“the Ladies in White”). They are a prominent group of courageous Cuban...…
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On learning of the death of Kim Jong-il, Cuban authorities immediately declared three days of official mourning. Their...…
In this week's Heritage in Focus, expert Ray Walser discusses the increasingly anti-U.S. policies in Latin...…