The Cuba of the “Special Period,” as the deep economic crisis into which the island fell after the collapse of the socialist camp in the 1990s is euphemistically known, is the one captured by U.S. photographer Tria Giovan with her camera and which now appears in the book The Cuba Archive. For the artist living in New York, this 167-page book with landscape format and in full color which she presented in Miami last weekend is “a historic documentation” of “one of Cuba’s most difficult moments,” she said to EFE in an interview. Photo by Tria Giovan The Cuba Archive is the result of six years of work. It includes images of the 12 trips she made to Cuba between 1990 and 1996, during which she visited spots never photographed before by a foreigner because of the lack of an apparent tourist attraction. “It also includes intimate and informal moments,” Giovan indicated, very excited about presenting her work in Miami, the city outside Cuba where more Cubans live. “I know that during those years it was very difficult for an American to travel to Cuba, that’s why I feel lucky to have been allowed to be present during the moment...

Cuba will become a market of close to a billion dollars for U.S. airline and cruise companies, according to the projections of 2017, 2018 and 2019 of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. According to a report published this Monday, the cruise lines will register net incomes of more than 761 million dollars during these three years by transporting more than 570,000 passengers, while the airlines will bring in another 228 million dollars. The Council pointed out that at present there are some 335 cruise itineraries to the island by Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian, important companies mainly based in Florida, as well as other smaller lines, and forecast that these trips could increase. This report updates previous estimates based on data collected up to October 25. At the time the projections spoke of some 455,000 passengers and more than 623 million dollars in incomes for the U.S. cruise companies. However, despite the restrictions announced by the Trump administration, the current panorama is still more favorable for that travel modality. The Council recalled that in 2016 the profits of Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian had registered a total of 28.8 million dollars for their trips on 144 vessels to their...

This week main course is, of course, the International Havana Film Festival in its 39th edition already. Time flies right! Well, during the Festival we’ll be in more than 12 movie theaters so you can see more and more movies. The opening will be tonight and a Brazilian film was the chosen one for the occasion. Get an invitation… if you can. Meanwhile here you’ll have an update, check our Facebook profile too. Just follow us until the 17th and beyond. You know! Because we don’t want to leave anything out, further down you’ll find much more to do. In Music, the “Elito Revé and Van Van megaconcert”, Athanai in Mella Theater, and more. In Visual Arts, tribute to Wilfredo Lam due to his 115 birth anniversary, and some “Miradas” from France. Finally a lot of FAC proposals as usual, but this time is also in Festival. The film already begins Today, at 8 p.m., will be officially inaugurated the 39th International Havana Film Festival in Karl Marx theater. This time presenting the motion picture “El filme de mi vida”, directed by Selton Melo. Watch the trailer here and if you don’t have an invitation run to get it. Here...

The U.S. Delta Airlines is satisfied with its presence in Cuba and wants to increase to two the daily flights it offers between Havana and Miami given the high demand for this route, sources from this airline company reported this Saturday to the island’s state-run media. Delta’s director for South America, Central America and the Caribbean, Rodrigo Bertola, announced that the company is waiting for the permits from the U.S. authorities to add that new frequency, while they are studying the new restrictions imposed by that country’s administration on its citizens’ travel to Cuba in order “to comply with them.” “It must be recalled that when we started there were also restrictions, the 12 travel categories, now we only have new regulations,” he said. The United States and Cuba resumed on August 31, 2016 commercial flights from the U.S. after more than half a century in which there were only charter flights. Americans are still banned from traveling to Cuba as tourists, but the previous administration presided over by Barack Obama approved 12 categories to facilitate travel to the island, which shot up the arrivals of visitors from that country. The new U.S. president, Donald Trump, who is against the...

  Barely a year after the U.S. secretary of health and human services affirmed in Havana that she was “optimistic about the steps being taken,” medical institutions linked to the new government of that country banned its scientists from traveling to Cuba. An article published by Science reveals how a group of U.S. scientists have canceled their participation in a conference organized by the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK) for next week. “All of them except for one have withdrawn,” said IPK virologist María Guadalupe Guzmán. Some, she says, were concerned about the recent affirmations that U.S. diplomats suffered in Cuba what the Department of State has described as “attacks against their health.” Two researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said to the IPK that they had to suspend their trip to Cuba because officials from that institution forbid them from coming. The “new hostile policy toward Cuba undermines the trust” of the United States in joint research, said Luis Montero-Cabrera, a chemist from the University of Havana. The Trump administration, adds John Van Horn, a neuroscientist from the University of South California (USC) in Los Angeles, “has probably closed the door to many...

To open this week FIART will start next Tuesday 5th. Just a few days left for Pabexpo to be crowded, colorful, involved in the best Cuban trade of stuff. Its XXI edition will be dedicated to Santiago de Cuba and to the glass, so between the hit and weakness you’re officially invited. We all enjoy stopping by and wait in line until eventually we get in. But don’t you stay just with that because we have Music and Visual Arts here and there. Also there will be Dance with a premiere by Lizt Alfonso, and in Literature is already here the APulpso number 2. You’ll see movies in Cinemas and in FAC, although there you know they’ll have much more. So you already know something. Now is time to choose ‘cause you can’t stay at home. And we don’t lack on suggestions. See you around!   The XXI International Handcraft Fair FIART 2017 will be from December 5th to 17th as parts of the activities of the Ibero-American Handcraft Year. It will be dedicated to Santiago de Cuba province and those who work with the glass, that’s why there will be many pieces in reference to the eastern city, and...

  President Donald Trump’s message to the nation on the occasion of Thanksgiving Day: Look at all I’ve done for you. In his Tweet on the night before the holiday Trump wrote: “your country is starting to do really well.” He went into details: jobs are “coming back, highest Stock Market EVER, Military getting really strong, we will build the WALL, V.A. taking care of our Vets, great Supreme Court Justice, RECORD CUT IN REGS, lowest unemployment in 17 years…!” Trump is celebrating the holiday in his private Mar-de-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. He plans to soon thank the armed forces through a videoconference. Record of unpopularity The U.S. president’s popularity is at its historic lowest a year after the electoral victory that put him in the White House, from where he has concentrated on undoing the legacy of his predecessor, Barack Obama, although citizen perception is that he has not achieved much. According to a recent Wall Street Journal and NBC channel poll, in October 38 percent of the citizens backed the president, while 58 percent rejected his administration. The caravan of cars of President Donald Trump arrives at the Trump International Golf Club on November 22, 2017,...

Hey there! We have a lot going on this week. One of the interesting events is the exhibition by Albert Oehlen, a recognized postwar German artist getting to Cuba and Latin America for the first time. You can’t miss it! We also have the Cuban interpreter Osdalgia in concert this Sunday, singing all the Classics with the Cuban National Symphonic Orchestra. Last but not least, Danza Contemporánea will have two world premieres on weekend. So you know…click on every banner and choose what to do. 1st class German art German painter Alber Oehlen opened his personal exhibition Ö in the National Museum of Fine Arts. Even though Oehlen is not well know in Cuba, he is one of the most influential and valued of last decades. He refers to his own work as a autistic, and in did it burst with abstract, expressionism and surrealism. With this exhibition Oehlen’s work arrives to Cuba and Latin America, and will be open until September 11th. Albert Oehlen. Foto: EFE. Octopus and calamari in town! Artist Ibrahim Miranda will open today his exhibition Kraken at 7 pm in Orígenes Gallery of the Great Theater of Havana. Miranda uses the kraken in order to...

Every summer starts in Havana the most expected fair: Art in the Ramp, in Pabellón Cuba. This XVIII edition will last until September 3rd. More than one hundred artist and cultural institutions will exhibit and sale their work for more that 51 days. Also there will be the usual concerts, debates and more. The fair will be open Tuesday to Friday from 2 pm to 8 pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 8 pm. Today at 4 pm will be released the CD Sabes que te quiero by Vocalité (Cubadisco 2017 nominee). Also at 5 pm Silvio Alejandro will play in La Pérgola. Telmarys in concert Telmary and Habanasana will perform tomorrow July 8th at 8:30 pm in Avellaneda Hall of the National Theather. Some of the guests will be Alexander Abreu, William Vivanco, Luna Manzanares, Interactivo, Emilio Frías (El niño) y el grupo Rumbatá, from Camagüey. https://www.facebook.com/carteleraoncuba/videos/244373442731826/ Vanito’s latin funky Vanito Brown will perform today at 10 pm in CubaOcho Museum and Performing Arts Center of Miami. For the occasion Vanito said to OnCuba readers: “I will be there surrounded by the Cuban art of XIX, XX and XXI Centuries, and my band will joined me...

Silvio: 84 times and more into the neighborhoods Today at 7 pm will begin Silvio Rodriguez’s concert in San Francisco de Asis Square, Old Havana. Trovarroco, Niurca Gónzalez, Jorge Reyes y Oliver Valdés will join Silvio together with Frasis Group. This will be the 84th neighborhood concert. Descemer’s Intimate concert in Miami Tomorrow at 10 pm Descemer Bueno will perform in Habana 1957 Cuban Cuisine in Miami. According with the Cuban musician this will be "a concert to enjoy, very intimate, acustic. It will be something to remember and to have an unforgettable time listening tracks such as: "Tus luces sobre mí", "Bailando", "Ella", "Súbeme La radio", "360 grados", "Loco", "Mátame and more"." Pedro Luis Ferrer in concert The very well known singer-songwriter Pedro Luis Ferrer will offer a concert next Sunday, July 2nd at 8:30 pm in Mella Theater. This time his daughter Lena will join him as well as other musicians. https://oncubanews.com/cultura/pedro-luis-ferrer-en-concierto-todos-por-lo-mismo/ Issac Delgado Special Concert Tomorrow at 10 pm in Don Cangrejo nightclub Issac Delgado will present his “Special Concert” along with the Arce Project. Eliades Ochoa in concert Today at 9 pm the Cuban Tres player Eliades Ochoa will perform in the Habana Café room at...

Kelvis in Miami Tomorrow June 24th at 9 pm the Cuban singer-songwriter Kelvis Ochoa will perform at the Flamingo Theater Bar. Kelvis’s guest will be Descemer Bueno. Silvio in the neighborhoods Next June 30th at 7 pm Silvio Rodriguez will have another concert as part of his neighborhood tour. This one will take place at San Francisco de Asis Square in Old Havana. https://oncubanews.com/cultura/silvio-rodriguez-tengo-ganas-de-seguir-yendo-a-los-barrios/ Cuban Group Frasis will be the guest and trio Trovarroco, Niurka Gonzalez, Jorge Reyes and Oliver Valdés will also join them. Gente de Zona tours in EE.UU. Randy Malcom and Alexander announced their first USA tour for August-September 2017. The opening concert will be at The Hollywood Bowl in L.A on August 9th and the last one is schedule for September 10th at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. The tour includes 20 concerts in 13 states. We will keep you posted about this tour. Life changed Diana and Gente de Zona Today, Cuban artists release their new clip together "La vida me cambió". The theme was filmed at the Casino Deportivo, La Havana, and is directed by Alejandro Pérez. Pa conectar sentimientos with Peace Raúl Paz closes today at 8:30 p.m. in the Staircase of the University...

On Monday, rice with black beans, cassava with mojo and roasted pork were declared by the World Association of Chefs Societies (WorldChefs) as Intangible Heritage at world level. Although the recognition corresponds to Cuban cuisine in general, the association highlighted these foods from the Cuban dinner table, their particular taste and the influence of different cultures in our gastronomy, as essential elements of the appointment. Claudio Ferrer - WorldChefs Continental Director of the Americas and Caribbean Islands – said, at the meeting held at the restaurant Artechef in Havana, that the decision also influenced the fact that Cubans have been able to transmit from generation to generation their culinary knowledge, "the form, the knowledge, the taste and the techniques of your cuisine". A commission from this organization that visited Cuba a few days ago also highlighted the taste, the quality of our food and how the traditional dishes are applied to different manifestations, whether festive, social or religious, always using typical products of the Island. "We want to support Cuba in its endeavor to dignify its cuisine with different actions, helping the Cuban food and enhancing it, and making Cuban cuisine to transgress the barriers of other nations," Ferrer added....

"You do not have to use tricks to take photographs. You do not have to pose anyone in front of the camera. The photos are there, waiting for you to take them. Truth is the best photography, the best propaganda", said once the Hungarian photojournalist Robert Capa, who was actually named Endre Ernő Friedmann and he used that nickname to sign his photos and his wife’s, Gerda Taro, making it difficult to distinguish which was of each one. Actually, there is no interest of knowing who was expressing himself there; what really matters is their painful images on the Spanish Civil War or the Arab-Israeli War in 1948. Truth is the best photography and today it is not a mere aesthetic resource. Since a long time ago, it has been gaining autonomy in Journalism and diminishing its role of only a complement to the text. On the occasion of OnCuba 5th anniversary, we propose this selection of photographs published by the magazine, which speak about the things we look at and how we look at them from their contrasts.  

Thousands of American cars from the 50s and 60s run daily through Havana, with a public transportation license for Cubans or as a tour service in CUC for foreigners. Most of them have grafts from other cars, especially oil engines in order to lower the price of the fuel they use to move. For Cubans, "almendrones" hardly compensate the insufficiencies of public transport, while tourists enjoy museum objects circulating on an Island that seems to be stopped in time. For them, non-Cubans, strolling in the well preserved convertibles is a party that costs around 30 CUC per route (more than 30 dollars). Chevrolets, Fords and the Buicks are the most circulating in Cuba, although Cadillacs, Mercurys and Pontiacs can be found in a lesser extent. All of them are considered pieces of cultural heritage by the Cuban State; hence they have no legal permission to leave the country.

Before its 10 cities tour in the United Kingdom, starting this February 14, the Cuban Contemporary Dance Company offered, during four nights at the beginning of this month, a farewell program in the García Lorca Hall of the Great Theater of Havana Alicia Alonso. The performances were: Theo Clinkard's The listening room; Matria etnocentra, by George Céspedes, The walls go away, by Julio César Iglesias and Reversible, by Annabelle López Ochoa. In Reversible, by Belgian-Colombian choreographer Annabelle López, "the movements of the dancers are strong, acrobatic, sensual and meaningful. Ochoa develops a very own body language, where she skillfully fuses contemporary dance and Cuban elements", said the German critic Bernhard Hartmann after the company's show in Bonn. Meanwhile, The Walls Go Away, by Cuban Julio César Iglesias, proposes, according to his words, a look at freedom, at the pursuit of goals and unconformity; a gesture to Mario Benedetti in his Poems of the soul: "The walls go away, the night remains, nostalgias are gone, nothing remains."

This is another story... Teatro Karl Marx. Foto tomada de LaHabana.com. The comedy show "This is another story", performed by Luis Silva (Pánfilo), Mario Sardiñas (Chequera), Andy Vázquez (Facundo) and Kike Quiñones, will be on Karl Marx Theater's stage on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 at 9:00pm, and also on Sunday 29 at 5:00pm. Foto: Tomada del facebook de Luis Silva Laughs with no signal This weekend, the comedy group "La leña del humor" will perform the show "Laughs with no signal" at Mella Theater on Línea Street. The performances, with the art direction of Maikel Cerraval, will be on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 at 8:30pm and also on Sunday 29 at 5:00pm. Teatro Mella. Foto tomada de LaHabana.com. Waldo at the Café Songwriter and singer Waldo Mendoza will perform this Saturday 28 at National Theater's Café Cantante Mi Habana, from 5:00pm to 9:00pm. Waldo Mendoza. Foto tomada de Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJYxwnuIwt0 Let's have fun with the National Symphonic Orchestra The Cuban National Symphonic Orchestra will present a series of concert in honor of German composer, director of orchestra and pianist Ludwig van Beethoven's 190th death Anniversary. Beethoven has been considered one of the most important composer in music History...

At 8:59 am today, December 1, 2016, Delta Air Lines’ first regular flight took off en route to Havana. Out of the eight airlines authorized by the U.S. Department of Transportation to travel to Cuba, Delta is the only one that had operations with the island before 1961. It was also the last U.S. carrier to leave the Cuban market with the suspension of its service from Havana to New Orleans. With three daily flights to the Cuban capital, from Miami, Atlanta and New York, the company is resuming its operations with Cuba, a destination it considers strategic because of its geographical position. The inaugural flight was sold from travel agencies, the web page and the recently inaugurated office in Havana, José Zapata, marketing manager for Central America and the Caribbean, said to OnCuba. Photo: Osvel Concepción “We are delighted, until now sales have had a good performance, according our expectations. The flight from New York already left at 8 in the morning, and this flight from Miami has more than 100 passengers,” commented Zapata, the only Delta official that accompanied the inaugural flight. Regarding the possibility of flying to other cities on the island he said that this is...

By Yisell Rodríguez Milán I am in Caimanera. Behind me, on one side of the long, semi-deserted highway is the biggest salt mine from Cuba and a “Restricted Access” sign that announces the entry to the town closest to the U.S. military base that the world calls Gitmo. Here they simply call it “The Base.” “Your pass, please,” an official tells me at the entrance to the community, and I hold out the paper that states my date of arrival and exit, who I am and whom I am coming to see. My friend’s husband is waiting for me. If he weren’t there I wouldn’t be able to enter. That’s what they tell me, although I already knew. Who doesn’t? In Guantanamo they teach you from childhood that in Caimanera no one gets in without a pass, that someone always has to meet you (unless you work there), and that it is a special area, so special that its inhabitants earn 30% extra on top of their salary, and receive extra benefits from butchers and warehouses. All this is explained by the danger, the proximity, the foreign militarization of a small fragment of the land. I inspect the two main streets....

By: Diona Espinosa She is no longer the cute girl backup singer of Sintesis group or the singer Carlos Varela. She continues beautiful, natural and simple, even sweeter after motherhood. However, at the age of 29, we can see in her a mature woman, personally satisfied and in another facet as an artist. After her stay in Puerto Rico, with her husband Eduardo Cabra (El Visitante of the group Calle 13), the launching on the international scene or her inclusion in the catalog of Sony Music Latin in 2012, she returns home laden with enthusiasm. She decided to restart her career here with the second album Planeta Planetario, a salad of Afro-Cuban, Caribbean, and Latin American sounds with electronic music, hip hop, boleros, pop... Fuentes can feel herself close. She is one of those public figures who have used the Facebook page to share her career with more than 33,700 followers. Thus, some have remained aware of her relationship with El Visitante or her success in Chile , Venezuela, Argentina and other countries. She arrived on the island on Monday and fastly ensures encounters with the press because in just a week she will begin a string of concerts in...

By: Ruben Ramirez del Alma   Solveig Font is one of the specialists in plastic arts of the Cuban Art Factory. Previously he has ventured into conservatorship; his most famous works are ¨ Somos la misma cosa, ¨at UNEAC´s Villena Hall, and collateral to the development of the 11th Havana Biennial, the curatorial work and production of American photographer Michael Dweck's personal sample on the photographic library of Cuba in 2012. Besides being a specialist for four years of Villa Manuela gallery. The Cuban Art Factory (FAC by its Spanish acronym) opened its doors a few months ago in the space of the former El Cocinero oil factory, an evident appointment to the Tate Modern in London although its spirit is far from this, but that may be due to a intention to combine industrial character with art, and also a certain sense of genesis, that is, a space where artistic and cultural processes are generated and accompanied. My first question goes over here. Is FAC a space where young people can aspire to obtain financing for their projects, develop new works, or gestate creative process under the guidance of specialists; or you just choose some works within the already...

Following the recent news on the decision of the Cuban and American governments to restore relations, quite a few officials have commented that of the US ¨blockade only the shell is left¨Those sanctions, that started 53 years ago, are closer to their end. Obama promised he would urge Congress to start a debate on the issue since, he as a president, cannot individually decide on lifting the embargo, however he is advancing in several aspects by decree.The potential end of the blockade has many people pending on the Cuban economy from Cuban-Americans who want to send remittances to their relatives to great businesses considering investments.In that regards, OnCuba suggests ¨The 5 great economic effects of the US-Cuba¨ and article by Kim Gittleson, BBC business correspondent:RemittancesNowadays remittances from the US are estimated at 2 billion dollars a year, according to the US Treasury Department. Now Obama´s measure actually multiplies by four the authorized amount up to 2000 dollars every three months, mainly from Cuban-Americans to their relatives in the island. This could be a great boost for Cuban economyMore important, it has the potential to change the nature of foreign investment in the island as well as its recipients. Essentially, the...

By: Isabel Alfonso   The news of the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States on December 17 by President Obama has brought countless reactions within the Cubanologists. We can say in general, both within the conservative circle or among the liberal majority, this step by the Presisnt have been considered as positive. Curiously, such a policy-change event had to take place for part of the community to agree on two quite obvious truths: the embargo does exist and it is harmful for the Cuban people. However, many of the opinions expressed exhibit the sinuosity of an ambiguous rhetoric and in some cases, even guilty, for accepting those changes as positive. Some have a sentimental approach, familiar, that takes into account the perspective of the historical exile, which see changes as an insult. Thus, Ruth Behar, in a beautiful article published in the Washington Post, acknowledges the symbolic charge of the announcement on December 17, St Lazarus Day, and along it, the positive of the change without leaving out his father´s reaction: Get ready for another 50 years of tiranny”. Endless joy. Joy but without leaving out the other´s pain. Meanwhile, achy Ovejas is concerned about the...

The Cuban government returned to the Church some dozen properties as part of a devolution process started at the end of 2009, reported the Associated Press Among the confiscated estate after the 1959 revolution triumph and returned in 2014, they mentioned the chapel of the former Santo Tomas de Villanueva University in Havana ¨Discreet and gradual¨, according to Ap, has been the devolution process in favor of former owners of temples, parochial homes, land and edifications. Most of them were confiscated during the nationalization of education in 1961, when the State took over all education centers run by private legal or natural persons, as well as all the goods, rights and stock that belong to the said centers. In January 2013, reports the website of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Cuba, the Granma Provincial Management Council agreed to return of a former college, a chapel built in the 1950s and two lots for the building of the temples for the Dioceses of the Santísimo Salvador de Bayamo-Manzanillo, an ecclesiastic demarcation located in the Cuban Southeast. The decision was taken at the end of 2012. Also, at the beginning of 2013, two temples were returned (San José Obrero y San Benito)...

By: Armando Javier Díaz To my right, under a cup of coffee, there is a bunch of papers printed on both sides. Each of them shows, in its way, postcards of a sad and stuttering history: the history of Cuban soccer. I will not go to the limit in each review, chronic or article, because there is no thread , no order, no keywords, or anything, and because understanding the life of Cuban soccer as a compact and not as a scattered anecdotal record is work for fossils trackers. However, a brief analysis of specific issues puts me in terms of conclusions. First: Cuban soccer has a lot to say as it began being officially practiced nine years after the emergence of the Real Madrid and seven after FIFA. Second: each podium obtained by Cuban squads is connected 80-85 percent with multiple events. Therefore, and third: the Cuban s occer, especially after 1959, has strived to compete for things that mean little in the world of soccer. I follow my thought: from 1959 the Cuban sport, for reasons that everyone knows, gave a remarkable leap. In soccer, discipline supported by Spanish societies set an important base in Cuba during the...

Por: Féliz Contreras   Today, he is crowned with the Cuban National Prize for Literature and the siege of Brazilian and Spanish tourists (airport´s readers?). The author of The Man Who Loved Dogs, cordial, answered this questionnaire. As curriculum: "Writer, Industriales team fan, from Mantilla town and journalist". What place defines Havana? The harbor. What flavor identifies you with Havana? The frit. What is the smell of Havana? The smell of gas in the street. What corner of Havana do you keep going back to? The Pre-university of La Vibora; but I always come back to the ¨pre¨ in my memory. What place to look (feel) Havana? Acosta and Compostela: the Arc of Bethlehem. What time of Havana prefer? The sunset in the winter. What historical event in Havana? The arrival of my great great grandfather Padura ... I do not know when it was. The most important woman in Havana? Lucia, my wife, of course. What song reminds you of Havana? All by Jose Antonio Mendez. Your character in Havana? Hemingway at the Floridita. What monument? Cerro Stadium. What place for love? La Vibora parks. What is Havana missing? Loving the Almendares River. What book identifies you with Havana?...