Bogotá, June 2 (Prensa Latina) The Cuban popular dance music orchestra Los Van Van is today among the groups that will perform in this capital as part of the Concert of Hope, organized by the Colombian Public Media System.
The event will take place on June 8 in the central Plaza de Bolívar under the slogan ¡Latinoamérica Migrante Resiste! (Latin America Migrants Resist!), and aims to convey a message of unity, resistance, and a hopeful future to attendees, according to its organizers.
In addition to the Caribbean island group, recognized here as one of the most important and influential in the region with its salsa, tropical, and son music, other performers and orchestras from Latin America will be performing.
The Spanish folk metal band Mägo de Oz will be there, and from Chile comes the group Inti-Illimani and drummer and singer Miguel Tapia, known for having been part of the rock group Los Prisioneros.
Bersuit Vergarabat will arrive from Argentina with its rock proposal, and representatives of Colombian culture will include rap artists Motilonas RAP, Denis Cáceres and Sol Ortega, Alí AKA and Mind.
The Santander-based group Velandia y La Tigra, cultivators of the rasqa style (a fusion of peasant, rural, urban, and modern rhythms), and llanera music with the artist Joseíto Oviedo, will also be heard as part of the show.
The Concert of Hope will be held for the sixth time, and the third time it has been held by RTVC Public Media System.
The event, which is free, seeks to be a musical, cultural, and popular gathering for social transformation, a culture of peace, and the defense of human rights.
Former Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) died this week at 94. A member of Congress for almost half a century representing Harlem, Rangel advocated for the normalization of relations with Cuba for decades. He last visited Havana in 2016 during Obama’s historic visit to the island.
Caracas, June 1 (Prensa Latina) The governments of Venezuela and Cuba reviewed their health cooperation agenda in Caracas, official sources reported today.
“We had a pleasant meeting with the Cuban Minister of Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, with whom we reviewed our health cooperation agenda within the framework of the comprehensive Cuba-Venezuela agreement,” Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez revealed on her Telegram account.
The Vice President of the Economy Sector stated that, on behalf of President Nicolás Maduro, “we reaffirm the commitment” of the Bolivarian Republic to health as a fundamental right of our people.
He also reaffirmed his willingness to continue expanding strategic alliances with sister countries.
Rodríguez was accompanied by Gabriela Jiménez, Vice President of the Science, Technology, Ecosocialism, and Health Sector of Venezuela, and Magaly Gutiérrez, Minister of Health.
HAVANA, Cuba, May 30 (ACN) Cuba will once again compete with the elite of continental baseball during the 1st Copa America Baseball, Juan Reinaldo Perez Pardo, president of the Cuban Baseball Federation, confirmed today to the Cuban News Agency.
The event, scheduled to be held from November 13 to 22 in Panama and Mexico, will gather the twelve best teams of the continent according to the ranking of the World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC), in a competition that aspires to become a reference in the international calendar.
Cuba, ranked sixth in the area, will be part of Group B in Mexico along with the United States, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Canada and the host country, where they will battle for one of the three spots offered by the tournament to the Super Round.
In key A, to be played in Panama, the locals will face Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Brazil and Curacao.
The tournament will grant tickets to the four best teams to the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo 2026 and is also being considered to distribute places to the Pan American Games in Lima 2027, which increases the strategic importance of each clash.
For the Cuban Baseball Federation, this Cup represents a key opportunity in its goal of inserting the country’s players -both residents and contracted abroad- in tournaments of the highest competitive level. The aspiration is not only to reach the podium, but to reaffirm Cuba as a historic power in the sport in the Americas.
The WBSC Americas is hopeful that this first edition will mark a before and after in the organization of professional tournaments in a continent that, like few others, breathes and lives baseball to the fullest.
State Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Alando Terrelonge (second right), greets scholarship recipient for accounting, Capeech Watkins (second left); scholarship recipient for veterinary medicine, Saunshay Smiley (left); and scholarship recipient for nursing, Cassandra Davy (third left). Looking on is Cuba’s Ambassador to Jamaica, Fermín Quiñones Sánchez (right). The interaction took place during the awards ceremony for the Cuba-Jamaica Bilateral Scholarship Programme, held on Wednesday, May 28 at the Embassy of Cuba in Kingston.
May 31, 2025 — The Gleaner
Fourteen Jamaican students have been awarded full scholarships to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Cuba under the longstanding Cuba-Jamaica Bilateral Scholarship Programme.
The students, who will begin their studies in August, will be enrolled in programmes, including medicine, nursing, dental services, veterinary medicine, accounting, and ophthalmology.
All costs associated with tuition, accommodation, and living expenses will be fully covered.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, held at the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba in St Andrew, on May 28, Cuba’s ambassador to Jamaica, Fermín Quiñones Sánchez, praised the awardees as “talented and dedicated young Jamaicans with excellent academic qualifications and a vocation of service to their communities and their country”.
He said the scholarships reflect the strength of the relationship between the two countries, noting that “these scholarships, offered under the Cuba-Jamaica Bilateral Scholarship Programme for the 2025–2026 academic year, are a symbol of the humanist and solidarity-based character of the Cuban Revolution and of Cuba’s cooperative relations with sister nations of the Caribbean, including Jamaica”.
Ambassador Quiñones Sánchez highlighted the impact of the initiative over the years. “The dreams of those receiving their scholarships today are the same dreams that guided approximately 700 Jamaican students graduating in Cuba through 2024 … Today, more than 300 young Jamaicans are studying in different Cuban universities,” he added.
The ambassador noted that the programme continues to contribute to human development across the region.
“Our duty of solidarity has transcended the training of professionals committed to the efforts of the nations to achieve development. Our humanistic work supports the need to train their young people,” he added.
CONTINUED COLLABORATION
For his part, State Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Alando Terrelonge commended the government and people of Cuba for their commitment to education and regional partnership.
“The journey that you will embark on is not just a journey of self. It is a journey of community. It is a journey of solidarity. It is a journey of the friendship of two countries that have lasted more than five decades,” he told the recipients.
State Minister Terrelonge encouraged the students to return home and contribute to Jamaica’s growth. “You will have your own roles to play in these refurbished and renovated hospitals and health centres when you come back to Jamaica,” he said.
“This journey is also about building a stronger Jamaica, a Jamaica with better healthcare facilities and doctors and nurses who understand patient care as well,” Terrelonge said.
One of the awardees who will pursue a degree in medicine, Ajani McFarlane, shared his excitement about the opportunity.
“I am very elated. I am very, very happy. I am also excited, a little bit nervous about going and leaving my family, but I am sure I will overcome that. The overarching feeling is that I am excited,” he said.
McFarlane noted that his programme will span six to seven years – one year of language and foundational studies, followed by six years of medical training.
He encouraged others to take advantage of the scholarship.
“Put your best foot forward, go for it if you have the feeling, do research, and you know, the Cuba-Jamaica Bilingual Scholarship is there for everyone who wants such an opportunity. I say, go for it, do your best, and apply,” he emphasised.
The scholarships stand as a testament to the continued collaboration between Jamaica and Cuba, strengthening educational, cultural, and professional ties between the two nations.
Washington, May 31 (Prensa Latina) U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters said today that President Donald Trump is demonstrating the utmost racism by attempting to expel 500,000 legal immigrants from the country.
Waters, the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, condemned the administration’s policy following the Supreme Court’s decision allowing the Trump administration to end humanitarian parole for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
“I am appalled that the Supreme Court is allowing Trump to proceed with these racist deportation plans targeting legal, law-abiding immigrants who work, raise families, and contribute positively to their communities,” he said in a press release posted on his website.
The affected individuals followed a legal process to apply for and receive parole, which has allowed them to enter the United States and live and work here legally for two years, argued Waters, a representative from California since 1991.
He also considered it “absolutely cruel that Donald Trump would interfere in that process,” revoke their parole with virtually no warning, uproot them from their families, sponsors, and communities, and deport them.
He recalled that, during his election campaign, and even after his election, Trump “held rallies with racist and derogatory comments and outright lies about immigrants, especially Haitians, in an attempt to sow fear among the American people.”
He warned that their baseless attacks “caused irreparable damage to communities across the country and further tarnished America’s image around the world.”
The congresswoman also criticized Trump for “the false narrative about the genocide of white South Africans,” noting that the president “lied to the American people and the world by perpetuating a narrative” and then “used these lies to justify the arrival of white South Africans to the United States as refugees.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the US intelligence community, and the international community have confirmed that Trump lied about South Africa, he concluded.
Havana, May 30 (Prensa Latina) “Humor cannot be blocked” is the title of the exhibition held at the International Press Center in Havana, against the United States’ economic, financial, and commercial blockade policy toward Cuba.
Participating in the exhibition are artists Arístides Hernández, Ismael Lema, Adán Iglesias, Enrique Lacoste, José Luis López, Osvaldo Gutiérrez, Alfredo Martirena, and José Alberto Rodríguez.
At the inauguration, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío emphasized that this is an artistic and humorous expression, a manifestation of the Cuban people’s rejection of U.S. aggression for more than six decades.
“It’s not something new in our history. It’s been a tradition in our country, during the revolutionary process, to express in multiple ways, including through graphic humor, the population’s rejection of such a persistent and ruthless war against the Cuban people.
He stressed that the United States’ aggression against Cuba “is ruthless; it is not a military aggression, but it is destructive, as it has been for more than 60 years against the entire Cuban people.
He added that if there were any doubt, it would suffice to look at the recent statements, from last week, by the Secretary of State (Marcos Rubio), which leave no room for doubt, that in the problems between Cuba and the United States, there is one country that is the aggressor, which is the United States, and there is another country that is the victim of US aggression.
“Our people have been able, by their nature, their culture, their idiosyncrasy, to use humor to express even the strongest repudiations, the most resolute rejections, against imperialism, and these cartoons are an expression of that.
Cossío stated that the Cuban people, “stoic as they are, optimistic as they are, have been able to show humor even in the most dramatic moments, and in the moments when the most heroic acts are carried out, so it should not be surprising that even in the face of the economic war against Cuba, they express themselves in this way, in graphic expressions by our artists.”
Havana, May 30 (Prensa Latina) The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Mike Hammer today to reprimand him for his interventionist and unfriendly behavior, which he has displayed since arriving in the Caribbean country.
In a statement, the Cuban Foreign Ministry emphasized that Hammer’s conduct is unbecoming of a diplomat and disrespectful to the Cuban people.
The director of Bilateral Affairs at the U.S. Directorate General, Alejandro García, delivered a verbal note of protest to the diplomat expressing his firm rejection of his behavior, according to the statement.
It was also stated that these actions violate the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and contradict the Agreement on the Restoration of Diplomatic Relations signed between the two governments.
García emphasized, as outlined in the verbal note delivered, that by inciting Cuban citizens to commit serious criminal acts, attack the constitutional order, or encourage them to act against the authorities, or to demonstrate in support of the interests and objectives of a hostile foreign power, the diplomat is engaging in provocative and irresponsible conduct.
He added that the immunity he (Hammer) enjoys as a representative of his country cannot be used as cover for acts contrary to the sovereignty and internal order of the country to which he is accredited.
The verbal note delivered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the Chargé d’Affaires’ public and insulting manipulation of the National Hero José Martí and emphasized that the diplomat demonstrates his ignorance of the fact that independence and anti-imperialism are pillars of the nation, based on the Apostle’s conviction and warning against the United States’ desire for domination.
In this regard, the director of Bilateral Issues took advantage of the meeting to give the diplomat copies of excerpts from José Martí’s unfinished letter to his Mexican friend Manuel Mercado.
The Trump administration killed Chevron’s license extension for its operations in Venezuela in order to secure the votes of three Cuban-American politicians from South Florida on Trump’s “big, beautiful” spending bill last week, Marc Caputo reported for Axios.
Trump special envoy Richard Grenell had announced that Chevron’s license would be given a 60-day extension following a deal with Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro that secured the release of Joe St. Clair, a U.S. veteran imprisoned in Venezuela for six months.
But Cuban-American politicians, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, were not happy about the deal.
Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart, María Elvira Salazar and Carlos Giménez, all Republicans from South Florida, threatened to vote against the bill if the deal went through. Rubio eventually announced the license would expire, and in turn, the three Cuban-American members of Congress voted for the “big, beautiful bill.”
The bill passed the House by a single vote.
In February, the three legislators took a similar stance on the same issue, when they pressured Trump into cancelling the 2022 Biden deal that allowed Chevron to operate in Venezuela.
Their threats at the time led House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to dub them the “Crazy Cubans” during a Miami fundraiser they attended, to which Giménez and Díaz-Balart “chuckled approvingly.”
The three Cuban-American members of Congress are allies of Rubio, who has long advocated for harsher sanctions on Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
In a recent interview with former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, Grenell said that the Trump administration’s Latin America policy is to keep the Chinese away through “engagement” in the region, as opposed to sanctions that “penalize American companies.”
Rubio’s hard-line policy on Cuba and Venezuela is the antithesis of engagement.
So far, the White House has favored Rubio’s approach.
Calla Walsh, a 20-year-old activist and U.S. citizen, said in a statement that she was detained for hours, interrogated, harassed and had her phone seized at Miami International Airport upon returning from Cuba. Other Cuba solidarity activists have reported similar experiences at Florida airports this year following visits to the island.
