Two key, interconnected figures in the story of the Cuban Five are in the news. Guistino Di Celmo, 94, died in Havana on September 2, 2015. An Italian-born businessman, he relocated to Havana after his son, Fabio, was murdered by a terrorist bomb set off in the Copacabana Hotel on September 4, 1997. The terrorist behind the 1997 bombing […]
Havana, September 4, 1997, 11:00 a.m. Fabio Di Celmo was apologetic. Another day perhaps, he suggested into the telephone. The person at the other end of the line was a representative of Biconsa, a division of Cuba’s Ministry of Domestic Trade with whom he hoped to make a deal. But not today. Their appointment was for noon, […]
In the sweet afterglow of last month’s historic rapprochement between the United States and Cuba, much has been made of the pivotal roles played by Pope Francis, the Canadian government, New York Times editorialists, various American politicians and their aides, even “sperm diplomacy.” All that is true, of course, but there are other narratives in […]
On December 17, 2014, the United States and Cuba reached an historic deal. The United States agreed to return Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino and Antonio Guerrero — the remaining three members of the Cuban Five — to their families and homeland in exchange for a previously unknown Cuban national who has spent much of the […]
Even as they slowly, reluctantly come around to the notion that swapping the three remaining members of the Cuban Five for Alan Gross could be an acceptable solution to an otherwise intractable problem, Gross’s media supporters continue to repeat the long-since discredited argument that Gross was a “humanitarian do-gooder” who just happened to end up […]
There was the opening two-day conference focusing on the future of US-Cuba relations and featuring participants from around the world… a kick-off press conference at the National Press Club that generated interviews with the Washington Post, NPR and CCTV, not to forget lots of coverage in international media… a concert headlined by the well-known political […]
Pop quiz: Who is José Mujica and why should you care? If the answer doesn’t trip off your tongue, I sympathize. Until recently, I had no idea. I discovered him, in fact, serendipitously and circuitously. My most recent book, What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five, unravels the tale of a […]
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