Book Review: Open for Business
It can be difficult to document a historic moment while it’s still unfolding, but Richard E. Feinberg has taken to the task with his book, Open for Business: Building the New Cuban Economy. In exploring how President Barack Obama’s opening to Cuba “fits squarely within a broader theme of his foreign policy,” Feinberg has provided … Read more
AQ Top 5 Latin American Academics: Agustín Lage
See the rest of the AQ Top 5 When the world’s first therapeutic lung cancer vaccine was announced in 2011, it may have appeared to come from one of the least likely places: Cuba, whose access to investment and goods has been restricted by more than a half-century of harsh U.S. sanctions. But to anyone … Read more
Telmary Díaz Demands That You Listen
This article is part of AQ’s debut culture supplement, Cultura. To see the rest of the issue, click here The worldwide influence of Cuban rhythms such as son and rumba can make it easy to overlook how music continues to evolve on the island itself. Telmary Díaz’s 2013 sophomore release, Libre, is a showcase for this … Read more
Ibeyi Is Ready for the World. Is the World Ready for Them?
This article is part of AQ’s debut culture supplement, Cultura. To see the rest of the issue, click here It wasn’t long after they released their eponymous debut in 2015 that the French-Cuban duo Ibeyi was catapulted into pop music consciousness by none other than the Queen B herself, Beyoncé. The reigning queen of pop … Read more
“I Was Destined to Be a Percussionist”
This article is part of AQ’s debut culture supplement, Cultura. To see the rest of the issue, click here This interview originally appeared in Spanish in OnCuba magazine. Music flows through Yissy García’s veins. The daughter of drummer Bernardo García, founding member of the popular band Irakere, García was born in Cayo Hueso in Havana, … Read more
Clara Porset: Revolutionary by Design
This article is part of AQ’s debut culture supplement, Cultura. To see the rest of the issue, click here Legend has it that the idea for Cuba’s national arts schools was born over beers and a round of golf between Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara in the early days of the Communist revolution. Walking … Read more
El Bote/The Dump
This article is part of AQ’s debut culture supplement, Cultura. To see the rest of the issue, click here El Bote ¿El detritus algo importa? ¿Tampoco la luminosidad por estos páramos? Dondese instalarían las depuraciones. Y polvo en el camino, o fango. ¿Hurgan los moradores? El humo desasido. Moscas. Porque se ha visto revolotear al ave carroñera, y perros, … Read more
Miami, Beyond the Palm Trees
This article is part of AQ’s debut culture supplement, Cultura. To see the rest of the issue, click here The following is an excerpt from Andrés Neuman’s How to Travel without Seeing: Dispatches from the New Latin America, available August 30, 2016 from Restless Books. Guatemala airport. Preboarding zone. American Airlines counter. When the agent … Read more
All Eyes on Cuba in AQ’s New Culture Issue
Americas Quarterly is proud to unveil Cultura, a new twice-yearly supplement featuring contributions from established and emerging voices in Latin American arts and letters. Building on the Americas Society’s 50-year history at the forefront of artistic exchange, we hope to offer a window into the unique energy of our hemisphere. In the inaugural issue, we … Read more
Lift the Cuban Embargo
In the new issue of Americas Quarterly, we asked people, “What would you tell the next U.S. president about Latin America?” To see other authors’ responses, click here. Dear Mister / Madam President, Stepping off the plane in Havana carries with it a touch of history. But being part of the bipartisan congressional delegation that … Read more
Far From Silicon Valley, Cuba Cultivates Startup Scene
The barriers to founding a tech startup in Cuba are high. For starters, hardly anyone has access to internet connections faster than dial-up. But that’s not stopping a generation of young entrepreneurs on the island, where a nascent tech community is challenging the idea that tech innovation has to come from places like Silicon Valley. Two of those … Read more
How Obama’s Havana Trip Signals a ‘New Normal’ in U.S.-Cuba Relations
For all the pomp and circumstance surrounding U.S. President Barack Obama’s trip to Cuba last week, the visit had a simple goal: to make the administration’s opening to the island impossible to reverse, no matter who wins the White House in November. After spending the week of Obama’s visit in Havana, it is clear to … Read more
Top 10 Plays in U.S.-Cuba Baseball Diplomacy
Cuba and the U.S. have not always seen eye-to-eye. But the two countries have long shared a love for baseball, which each claims as its national pastime. Similar to how Ping-Pong diplomacy broke the ice between the U.S. and China in the 1970s, baseball helped thaw relations with Cuba ahead of President Barack Obama’s historic … Read more
Castro Still Unlikely to Play Ball With MLB
In the latest game of U.S.-Cuba baseball diplomacy, Raúl Castro has home field advantage. The Cuban president on March 22 hosted the first Major League Baseball game in his country since 1999, a potent symbol of MLB’s efforts to take advantage of U.S. President Barack Obama’s diplomatic opening with the island. So far, however, Castro … Read more

