HAVANA — Reggaeton boomed in a neighborhood bar in Old Havana on a recent night, when, suddenly, the music stopped and everything went dark. The customers groaned. Another blackout. A U.S. blockade on oil shipments to Cuba has plunged the island into its worst energy crisis in modern history. The country’s already cratering economy now teeters on…
During President Obama’s first term, when the U.S. and Cuba initially made attempts to thaw our icy relationship, I visited the island country as part of an educational delegation. We met with government officials including Mariela Castro, the daughter of then-President Raul Castro, as she was working on pro-LGBTQ+ legislation. We visited the burial site…
MEXICO CITY — For more than six decades, communist Cuba thwarted every destabilizing measure Washington aimed its way — assassination plots, a trade embargo, sabotage, travel bans and, most notoriously, the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, when Fidel Castro’s revolution was still young and the Cold War raging. Now, many are wondering: Is the death knell…
WASHINGTON — After two weeks of war with Iran, the Trump administration is being forced to temper its expectations of a swift end to the conflict, with U.S. intelligence and defense officials expressing doubt it can achieve the overthrow of Iran’s government and the destruction of its nuclear program through military means. It was an outcome forewarned…
MEXICO CITY — Cuba has begun direct talks with the United States in an effort to solve “bilateral differences” between the two countries, Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel said Friday. The comments, broadcast nationwide in Cuba, are the first confirmation of bilateral talks between two governments that have been fierce adversaries for almost 70 years, since Fidel…
MEXICO CITY — In the last year, Mexican troops have been deployed across the country to quell narco-violence, arresting legions of cartel operatives, seizing tons of illicit drugs and busting hundreds of clandestine laboratories. Skipping the usual extradition process, Mexico shipped scores of cartel suspects to the United States to face justice, an unprecedented step. And, in…
WASHINGTON — Cuba’s top diplomat in Washington says Havana is prepared to enter diplomatic talks with the United States, reiterating the country’s willingness to engage even as tensions escalate with President Trump asserting that the island nation’s government could soon collapse. “We are ready to engage with the U.S. on the issues that are important for the…
Closed schools. Work-from-home demands. Price caps. Asia’s governments are scrambling to manage a fuel shortage caused by high oil prices and a closed Strait of Hormuz. Asia is particularly dependent on oil exports from the Middle East; Japan and South Korea respectively source 90% and 70% of their oil from the region. The energy crunch…
TEHRAN — The elevation of Mojtaba Khamenei to the mantle of supreme leader brings to Iran’s top job a hard-line figure who is most firmly his father’s son in charting a defiant path for the country. “Mojtaba Khamenei’s elevation is not just a succession, it is a provocation — a blunt middle finger to Trump,” said Ali…
As the U.S. and Israel continue their bombardment of Iran, Iranian Angelenos are turning to a patchwork of communication apps, social media and cable news for updates on their loved ones some 7,500 miles away. The Times spoke with several people in the “Tehrangeles” area of Westwood this week — the epicenter of L.A.’s sprawling…