Staff at the U.S. Transporation Security Administration (TSA) Systems Integration Facility, one playing the role of a airline passenger demonstrate the use of Millimeter Wave technology for passenger security screening in Washington, Dec. 30, 2009. (Jason Reed/Reuters)
Pat-downs for Nigerians, Pakistanis ... and Cubans
Cuba is hardly a bastion of Islamic fundamentalism. So why the extra TSA security checks?
HAVANA, Cuba — Travelers from this island making the 90-mile trip to the United States already face a gauntlet of roadblocks.
First there are the bureaucratic hurdles — a visa from the U.S. government, and permission to travel from Cuban authorities. Then there is the cost of the 45-minute flight to Miami, which, at more than $500, can feel like a galling rip-off. Hefty...
Recent on Cuba:
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In Cuba, Christmas makes cautious return
Nick Miroff - Cuba - December 25, 2009 09:35 ET
Island gets festive spirit as a result of reforms to Marxist state.
The rise of a southern axis
Nick Miroff - Cuba - December 17, 2009 10:55 ET
How a socialist alliance outlived a free trade agreement and helped cement Hugo Chavez's status as the new leader of the Latin American left.
Havana's old cinemas
Nick Miroff - Cuba - December 16, 2009 09:13 ET
Will ordinary Cubans reap the spoils of American tourism?
Nick Miroff - Cuba - December 2, 2009 14:52 ET
Who will benefit if the US lifts travel restrictions to Cuba — the Cuban government or ordinary Cubans?
Cuba tries to keep the lights on
Nick Miroff - Cuba - November 20, 2009 06:55 ET
Cuba gets plenty of oil from Venezuela. So why is it adopting "extreme measures" to avoid blackouts?
Yoani Sanchez vs. the state
Nick Miroff - Cuba - November 11, 2009 18:42 ET
How will Cuba deal with a 34-year-old blogger with spotty internet and a massive global following?
Common ground, out at sea
Nick Miroff - Cuba - November 2, 2009 19:25 ET
Cuba and the US share a marine ecosystem. Can they work together to protect their reefs and sea creatures?
Debating the daddy state
Nick Miroff - Cuba - October 27, 2009 05:54 ET
As the economy slides, Cubans have been asked to rethink socialism.
The dark, haunting world of Belkis Ayon
Nick Miroff - Cuba - October 25, 2009 11:16 ET
Cuba's tragic and mysterious printmaker
Nick Miroff - Cuba - October 23, 2009 06:03 ET
Belkis Ayon explored the secretive world of the all-male Abakua tradition. Her suicide is still a mystery.
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Cuba: No deal with US telecoms
Nick Miroff - Cuba - October 19, 2009 08:01 ET
Cuba rebuffs key Obama initiative that would have opened the island to better cell phone and internet service.
Planet Health Care
Thomas Mucha - Commerce - October 10, 2009 11:19 ET
As debate rages in Washington, the answers are out there. You just need to know where to look.
Embargo over Beethoven?
Nick Miroff - Cuba - October 5, 2009 06:19 ET
US blocks New York Philharmonic trip to Cuba, and cultural diplomacy stalls.
No free lunch in Cuba's “new socialism”
Nick Miroff - Cuba - September 30, 2009 06:09 ET
A trial program that will give each worker a cash stipend instead of a hot lunch portends deeper reforms.
Cuba's Coney Island
Nick Miroff - Cuba - August 27, 2009 10:12 ET
Havana's Cuatro Caminos market a slice of Cuba
Nick Miroff - Cuba - August 18, 2009 10:07 ET
At Cuban resorts, the end of tourism apartheid
Nick Miroff - Cuba - August 11, 2009 07:29 ET
Cubans can now check in as guests at beach resorts, creating a boom for local tourism.
Castro urges Cubans "back to the land"
Nick Miroff - Cuba - July 27, 2009 10:24 ET
On Cuba's national holiday, Raul Castro says higher production will help the economy.
Cuba's Craigslist
Nick Miroff - Cuba - July 26, 2009 18:13 ET
From sex toys to old Chevys, Revolico.com takes communist Cuba's black market to the web.
Global Blogs:
What Would de Tocqueville Do?
Contributor, "The Havana Note" blog - Cuba - January 8, 2010 13:03 ET
Alexis de Toqueville There are two models that America -- our nation, not necessarily the government -- can use to support the development of civil society in other countries. One is through sharing the knowledge we have come by honestly through decade after decade of...
Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know (event!)
Melissa Lockhart, Author, The "Cuba" blog of the Foreign Policy Association - Cuba - January 8, 2010 04:31 ET
Dr. Julia Sweig, the Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin American Studies and Director for Latin American Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, will be at a Foreign Policy...
Reporter's Notebook
There's an interesting postscript to the article we did this week about the rise of ALBA, a Latin American socialist alliance started by Hugo Chavez...Read more >
A day after Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez published an online interview with President Barack Obama, her husband and fellow blogger Reinaldo Escobar...Read more >
Landing an interview with President Barack Obama would be a big deal for any journalist. For Cuba's Yoani Sanchez — who doesn't have travel...Read more >
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Landfills aren't all bad news. The methane they produce can be harnessed as a source of fuel.
