Cuba

Cuban officials said they had begun to restore some power Wednesday after Hurricane Ian knocked out electricity to the entire island.

Ian hits Cuba with a life-threatening storm surge as the storm strengthens, causing a large stretch of Florida's coast to now be under a hurricane watch.

The Matanzas oil facility blaze promises even worse energy hardship for Cubans — and their regime is criticizing the U.S. for not doing more to help put it out.

Between last October and May, Customs and Border Protection officials have found and detained about 1,000 Cubans arriving in Florida.

Cubans had never confronted their communist regime as boldly as they did on July 11, 2021. But officials have cracked down harshly — prompting a mass exodus.

Gen. Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, a top communist party boss, led the military-controlled corporation that accounts for most of Cuba's economy.

Cuba this week is reporting its worst sugarcane harvest in more than a century. It could exacerbate the island's economic crisis — and the flight of migrants to the U.S.

Most Cuban-Americans in South Florida backed Trump's tougher Cuba strategy — and they feel Biden is throwing the regime a lifeline when it's at its weakest.

"Doing this is not a matter of politics. This is human lives," says Niubis Robaina.

He said the effort "is not going to help the people of Cuba realize freedom.”

The White House plans to make it easier for families to visit relatives in Cuba and increase visa processing on the island, reversing some of former President Trump's policies.

The new law will be observed on Nov. 7 and will honor “the 100 million people who have fallen victim to communist regimes” across the world.