Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is a retired Cuban politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state, from 2011 to 2021, and President of Cuba between 2008 and 2018, succeeding his brother Fidel Castro.
The Mariel boatlift was a mass emigration of Cubans who traveled from Cuba's Mariel Harbor to the United States between 15 April and 31 October 1980. The term "Marielito" is used to refer to these refugees in both Spanish and English. While the exodus was triggered by a sharp downturn in the Cuban economy, it followed on the heels of generations of Cubans who had immigrated to the United States in the preceding decades.
A Cuban sandwich is a variation of a ham and cheese sandwich that likely originated in cafes catering to Cuban workers in Tampa or Key West, two early Cuban immigrant communities in Florida centered on the cigar industry. Later on, Cuban exiles and expatriates brought it to Miami, where it is also very popular. The sandwich is made with ham, (mojo) roasted pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard, and sometimes salami on Cuban bread. Salami is included in Tampa, where there is a large Italian population, but is not usually included in South Florida.
Little Havana is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. Home to many Cuban exiles, as well as many immigrants from Central and South America, Little Havana is named after Havana, the capital and largest city in Cuba.
Rolando Arcadio Masferrer Rojas (1918–1975), was born on July 12, 1918, in Holguin, former Oriente Province, Cuba, better known simply as Rolando Masferrer, was a Cuban henchman, lawyer, congressman, newspaper publisher and a political activist. He was killed in Miami, United States, on October 31, 1975.
Alina Fernández Revuelta is a Cuban anti-communist activist. She is the daughter of Fidel Castro and Natalia Revuelta Clews. She is one of the best-known Cuban critics of the government of Cuba and her father's and uncle's rule, where she lived until 1993.
Huber Matos Benítez was a Cuban military leader, political dissident, activist, and writer. He opposed the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista from its inception in 1952 and fought alongside Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos and other members of the 26th of July Movement to overthrow it. Following the success of the Cuban Revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power, he criticized the regime's shift in favor of Marxist principles and ties to the Popular Socialist Party (PSP). Convicted of treason and sedition by the revolutionary government, he spent 20 years in prison (1959–1979) before being released in 1979. He then divided his time between Miami, Florida, and Costa Rica while continuing to protest the policies of the Cuban government.
The Cuban exodus is the mass emigration of Cubans from the island of Cuba after the Cuban Revolution of 1959. Throughout the exodus, millions of Cubans from diverse social positions within Cuban society emigrated within various emigration waves, due to political repression and disillusionment with life in Cuba.
Cuba and the United States restored diplomatic relations on July 20, 2015, after relations had been severed in 1961 during the Cold War. U.S. diplomatic representation in Cuba is handled by the United States Embassy in Havana, and there is a similar Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C. The United States, however, continues to maintain its commercial, economic, and financial embargo, making it illegal for U.S. corporations to do business with Cuba.
Ninoska Pérez Castellón is a prominent member of the Cuban exile community in Miami, and outspoken opponent of Fidel and Raul Castro. In relation to this mission of hers, she was one of the founding members of the Cuban Liberty Council with her husband Roberto Martin Perez.
Cuban immigration has greatly affected Miami-Dade County since 1959, creating what is known as "Cuban Miami." However, Miami reflects global trends as well, such as the growing trends of multiculturalism and multiracialism; this reflects the way in which international politics shape local communities.
Luis Enrique Aguilar Leon, J.D., Ph.D. was a Cuban journalist, professor and historian. He was a professor to Bill Clinton and a classmate of Fidel Castro.
Triumph of the Revolution also known as Liberation Day is a celebration in Cuba of the anniversary of the victory of the revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959 which established the present government in Cuba. The previous president, Fulgencio Batista fled the country on 31 December 1958. The holiday is celebrated on January 1 every year.
Polita Grau was the First Lady of Cuba, a Cuban political prisoner, and the "godmother" of Operation Peter Pan, also known as Operación Pedro Pan, a program to help children leave Cuba. Operation Peter Pan involved the Roman Catholic Church and Monsignor Bryan O. Walsh from 1960 to 1962, which were involved in encouraging Cuban parents to send their children to live with U.S families to rescue them from Communism.
Ricardo Miguel Montero Duque is a Cuban exile who was a military battalion commander in the invading forces of Brigade 2506 during the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba in April 1961.
Ann Louise Bardach [A.L. Bardach] is an American journalist and non-fiction author. Bardach is best known for her work on Cuba and Miami and was called "the go-to journalist on all things Cuban and Miami," by the Columbia Journalism Review, having interviewed dozens of key players including Fidel Castro, sister Juanita Castro, anti-Castro militant legend Luis Posada Carriles, CIA and Watergate plumber E. Howard Hunt, anti-Castro militant Orlando Bosch and CIA operative Felix Rodriguez, who was present for the assassination of Che Guevara.
Antonio Veciana Blanch was a Cuban exile who became the founder and a leader of the anti-Castro group Alpha 66.
The Cuban thaw was the normalization of Cuba–United States relations that began in December 2014 ending a 54-year stretch of hostility between the nations. In March 2016, Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge, in 1928.
María Elvira Salazar is an American journalist, author, and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 27th congressional district. She is a Republican assistant whip. Before entering politics, Salazar worked for the Spanish-language network Telemundo for three decades after serving as a news anchor for Miami-based WSBS TV. She has also worked for CNN Español and Univision.
Rafael José Díaz-Balart, was a Cuban politician and mayor of the town of Banes. With his wife América Gutiérrez, he was the father of Rafael Díaz-Balart and progenitor of the Díaz-Balart family, an American political family. He was briefly the father-in-law of Fidel Castro through Castro's marriage to Díaz-Balart's daughter, Mirta Diaz-Balart, but after the Cuban Revolution, he became a major anti-Castro figure living in exile in Miami, Florida.
