The political thaw would eliminate the dangerous back channels of defection. The impact on the sport could be immense and, in the words of one team official, "drastic."
Despite the unusually close diplomatic ties between Caracas and Havana (even their intelligence services are interlinked), President Nicolás Maduro appears to have been caught completely off guard by this week's dramatic announcement.
As shipping executive Jay Brickman was leaving for Miami International Airport for his 50-minute charter flight to Havana, he had no clue the earth was about to shake under his feet.
Among the sharpest memories Guillermo "Bill" Vidal has of being sent from his childhood home in Cuba was waiting in the airport. There he was in 1961, he and his two brothers and so many other kids, distraught, excited, scared, separated from their parents by glass.
PARIS – Pope Francis led a chorus of global plaudits for Wednesday's breakthrough in U.S.-Cuban relations, hailed as "historic" in Europe and South America and prompting celebrations on the streets of Havana.
VERACRUZ, Mexico – Cuban President Raúl Castro kept a summit of Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese leaders wondering if he would show up until the last moment Tuesday, only to send his deputy instead.
LIMA, Peru – Ministers and the U.N. chief fly into Lima this week to bolster negotiators in a final push for consensus on key elements of a world pact to curb potentially disastrous global warming.
Along with the principles of freedom and democracy, the force of reason has prevailed throughout Costa Rican history. The abolition of the military is one of those exceptional steps that led Costa Rica to become a fairer, more educated society able to meet the most pressing needs of its population, focusing on human development rather than strengthening its military capabilities.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Costa Rica has been without a U.S. ambassador for a year and a half, but it doesn’t look like Stafford Fitzgerald Haney – whom President Barack Obama nominated for the job back in July – will be relocating to San José anytime soon.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Guatemala’s Eduardo Stein Barillas vowed to “clean up the mess” at the Organization of American States if he’s elected secretary-general of the politically divided, cash-strapped regional body.
