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Sen. Rubio hits the Sunday talk shows to criticize Jay-Z in Cuba
DestinationsFlorida senator Marco Rubio doubled-down on his criticism of Jay-Z and Beyoncé on Sunday, describing the couple as “hypocritical” for visiting Cuba, which is still under US embargo. [Video below] Rubio, a Republican being tipped as a potential 2016 presidential candidate, said Jay-Z should have made the effort to become better informed about Cuba’s political [...]
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Jay-Z responds to Cuba travel flap with a pretty good rap
DestinationsJust days after his trip to Cuba with wife Beyonce, rapper Jay-Z released Open Letter, a song about the controversy surrounding the trip. TMZ reported Thursday that Jay-Z’s song includes an implication that President Barack Obama bent the rules to allow the trip, which some criticized as being illegal. Among the lyrics: “Politicians never did [...]
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U.S. politicians up in arms over Beyoncé’s “illegal” Cuban holiday
DestinationsShawn Carter could have been any American visitor strolling through the streets of a Caribbean town, dressed in standard-issue tourist fare of blue T-shirt and shorts, fedora on head and fat cigar in mouth. His wife, Mrs Carter, as she likes to be addressed, did that other classic tourist thing: she slung a large and [...]
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Cuba tourism ban doesn’t keep Beyonce and Jay-Z away from Havana
DestinationsBeyonce and Jay-Z caused a big stir in Havana as they marked their fifth wedding anniversary Thursday. R&B’s power couple was mobbed by dozens of well-wishers at the renowned restaurant La Guarida on Wednesday night, and police had to step in to keep the crowds at bay. La Guarida staffers showed The Associated Press pictures [...]
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Most visited Caribbean countries and how they stack up during spring break
DestinationsBlocking American tourists from visiting Cuba has done little to thwart its tourism industry. The island was the second most-visited Caribbean island in 2012, according to the latest statistics released by the Caribbean Tourism Organization. More than 2.83 million overnight tourists arrived in Cuba in 2012, a 4.5 percent year-over-year increase led by the Canadian [...]
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Cuba could be taken off U.S.’s banned list in next few weeks
DestinationsA normally routine bit of Washington bureaucracy could have a big impact on U.S. relations with Cuba, either ushering in a long-stalled detente or slamming the door on rapprochement, perhaps until the scheduled end of the Castro era in 2018. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry must decide within a few weeks whether to advocate [...]
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Flying to Cuba from the U.S.: Tampa airport navigates politics and economics
DestinationsCuba lies just 300 miles away. It was 50 years, though, that really separated it from Tampa. That ended in 2011 when Tampa International Airport was allowed to resume commercial flights to Havana for the first time since the trade embargo took effect in 1962. The city coveted the route, which boosted the airport’s international [...]
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Cuban dissident blogger starts tour in test of travel policy
DestinationsCuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez set off on a three-month, dozen-nation world tour Sunday, after a new law eliminated the exit permit that had been required of islanders for five decades and was denied to her around 20 times in recent years. Pulling a blue rolling suitcase emblazoned with the logo of her “Generation Y” [...]
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Cuba’s lack of hotel supply may kill any travel resurgence
DestinationsEven as U.S. administration considers fully lifting Cuba travel ban, lack of hotel supply might not satisfy that pent-up demand. “They already have a problem accommodating in Havana, Varadero and Cayo Largo…(The) travel ban will be lifted, and they’re not ready for it.” For their part, foreign parties who have invested in the hotel sector..are reluctant [...]
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Cuba-U.S. ties in for a reboot towards normal, which means big tourism boost
DestinationsThe nominee for U.S. Secretary of State, Sen. John Kerry, once held up millions of dollars in funding for secretive U.S. democracy-building programs in Cuba. Defense Secretary hopeful Chuck Hagel has called the U.S. embargo against the communist-run island “nonsensical” and anachronistic. Both men are now poised to occupy two of the most important positions [...]
