Topic: Cuba
A look back at the year that was
The year 2018 was an eventful one for the Cayman Islands.
After breakdown, Cuban vessel drifts from Brac to Little Cayman
Twenty-six Cuban migrants are being held on Cayman Brac after their boat broke down and landed in Little Cayman last week.
Cuban migrant vessel lands in Cayman Brac
Nine Cubans who landed in Cayman Brac on Saturday have chosen to stay in the Cayman Islands and will likely apply for asylum.
Government argues against Cuban migrant appeals
The appeal hearing involving seven Cuban migrants seeking asylum in Cayman continued into late Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, with the Cubans’ attorney, Alastair David, and Crown counsel Michael Smith arguing over whether the Immigration Appeals Tribunal was correct in denying the migrants’ applications for asylum.
7 Cubans appeal asylum denials
Seven Cuban migrants who were denied asylum by government have appealed their cases to the Grand Court, where a two-day hearing began on Tuesday.
Cuban migrant wires mouth shut
A Cuban man who landed Friday with 10 other migrants in Cayman Brac has reportedly wired his own mouth shut.
Vessel carrying 11 Cuban migrants lands in the Brac
The Immigration Department announced on Friday that 11 Cuban migrants are in the care of its Cayman Brac officers after being spotted near the Brac around 10 a.m. that morning.
‘Luna’s Ring’ crowdfunding campaign
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and in the case of local film “Luna’s Ring,” shot entirely in Cuba, the filmmakers are hoping a village will fund them to bring their project to life.
End of Cuba’s Castro era is an opportunity for Trump
The Castro family will probably continue to play a big role behind the scenes. But the packaging matters, because it provides the cover for Trump to change course.
Noriega: Castro’s survival plan may be crumbling
Today, only a few U.S. diplomats remain in Havana after suspicious “health attacks” did physical damage to two-dozen Americans – likely with the complicity of the regime.
Cuban migrants step up appeals, despite barriers
A Cuban asylum seeker detained in George Town for more than a year will take his case to the Grand Court, contesting what he believes to be a legally flawed rejection of refugee status by the Immigration Appeals Tribunal.
$6 million impact: CAL cutback of Cuban flights reduces revenue
Cayman Airways has taken a $6 million annual hit from the opening up of the Cuban market to U.S. airlines, prompting reevaluation of the national carrier’s strategy.
Cuban migrant granted asylum after year-long detention
A Cuban migrant detained in the Cayman Islands since December 2016 was granted asylum Wednesday by the Immigration Appeals Tribunal, concluding a year-long legal battle in Cayman’s legal system.
Cuban migrants wreck boat, land on Brac
A small group of Cuban migrants came ashore Monday in Cayman Brac after their vessel crashed and was destroyed, Immigration Department officials reported.
Tropical system could affect Cayman in next few days
A broad, low-pressure weather system in the western Caribbean Sea is slowly moving northward, bringing with it widespread cloudiness and showers.
New US-Cuba trade rules delayed, possibly until 2018
The 90-day period in which U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to alter trade regulations with Cuba expired in mid-September, and private industry and State Department officials have no indication when changes will be announced.
Cayman Airways cancels 20 Florida flights, offers ‘evacuation’ fares
Cayman Airways has announced cancelation of 20 flights on Friday, Saturday and Sunday related to the projected path of Hurricane Irma. To get people out of Florida before Hurricane Irma strikes, the airline is offering flights on Friday, Sept. 8, for $69 one way.
LETTER – Human Rights Commission: Our efforts to help Cuban migrants
Ordinarily I would not trouble to respond to inaccurate stories in the press; however, on this occasion you have unfairly maligned the staff of the Commissions Secretariat and undermined the work of the Commission. The record should be set straight.
LETTER – Human Rights Commission: Our efforts to help Cuban migrants
Ordinarily I would not trouble to respond to inaccurate stories in the press; however, on this occasion you have unfairly maligned the staff of the Commissions Secretariat and undermined the work of the Commission. The record should be set straight.
EDITORIAL – Cuban migration: Cayman’s conundrum
At its most basic, Cayman’s Cuban migrant problem is this: Our tiny territory does not have the resources, population or infrastructure to accommodate hundreds of political refugees.
Cuba to Cayman: One migrant’s saga
All Yoel and the 38 other Cuban migrants can do is wait, passing the time by undertaking essentially volunteer work, engaging perhaps in the occasional protest, and allowing themselves to indulge in what they felt was forbidden in their “madre patria” of Cuba, that is, to hope.
50 years ago: Cuban plane violates Cayman’s airspace
In the July 12, 1967 edition of the Caymanian Weekly, a precursor of the Cayman Compass, the following news story appeared on the front page:
EDITORIAL – Cuban tourism’s biggest threat: Big government
Cuba’s ponderous government bureaucracy bears the lion’s share of blame for the lack of resources and substandard infrastructure that has dulled American travelers’ interest – offering a cautionary tale that the Cayman Islands should heed.
Cuba Southwest Airlines
Today's political cartoon
Trump’s new Cuba travel rules have winners and losers
President Donald Trump’s new policy on Cuba travel has winners and losers: Group tour operators hope to sell more trips, but bed-and-breakfast owners in Cuba say they are losing business.
Correcting Obama’s wrong turn on Cuba
U.S. President Donald Trump announced his Cuba policy in Miami last week. I commend him for many of his efforts.
Cuban Ambassador visits Cayman premier
Cayman Premier Alden McLaughlin welcomed Cuban Ambassador to Jamaica Bernardo Guanche Hernandez to the Cayman Islands on Friday, June 23.
New US-Cuba limits lead to uncertainty in some business sectors
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday thrust the U.S. and Cuba back on a path toward open hostility with a blistering denunciation of the island’s communist government, clamping down on some commerce and travel but left intact many new avenues President Barack Obama had opened, the Associated Press reported.
Barbadian writer launches book in Cayman
Barbadian author Sharon Marshall launched her book chronicling the migration of Barbadians and other British West Indians to Cuba at St. George’s Anglican Church Hall in Cayman on Feb. 24.
Gov’t responds to migrant processing concerns
Cayman has refuted statements by Cuban detainees who say their asylum petitions have been subject to excessive delays. A statement from the government , however, does not specify processing times or confirm whether there are migrants who have been held in detention for six months to a year or longer.
Felder to export electric cars to Cuba
This month, Cayman Islands auto dealer John Felder and his Premier Automotive Export Ltd., a subsidiary of Cayman Automotive, will become the first U.S. car company to ship American-built vehicles to Cuba.
Cuban detainees renovate immigration detention center
Cuban migrants are helping to renovate the immigration detention center and building a new checkpoint and walkway at the neighboring women’s prison. Prison Director Neil Lavis said some of the migrants are skilled tradespeople and had volunteered to assist with the much-needed upgrades.
Cuban detainees react to new ‘wet-foot’ policy
A senior Fire Service Department official who was acquitted last week of careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident, in which two brothers were injured, will return to work this week, according to the department.
BREAKING: Obama ends ‘wet foot, dry foot’ policy for Cubans
President Barack Obama is ending a longstanding immigration policy that allows any Cuban who makes it to U.S. soil to stay and become a legal resident, a senior administration official said Thursday.
EDITORIAL — Year in review
Today we are featuring excerpts from some of the most interesting, compelling and entertaining editorials that have appeared in the Cayman Compass in 2016, on some of the most important issues facing our country.
Officer sues over dog bite during Cuban breakout
A police officer is attempting to sue a local security firm, claiming she was bitten by one of its dogs amid chaotic scenes as a group of Cubans tried to escape from the Immigration Detention Center.
Fidel Castro, who defied US for 50 years, dies at 90
Fidel Castro, who led a rebel army to improbable victory, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 U.S. presidents during his half century rule of Cuba, has died at age 90.
Cuban boat lands at Barkers
A boat from Cuba landed in Barkers over the weekend. The Immigration Department did not respond to questions about the migrants who landed on the West Bay beach.
Cuban migrant boat remains where it ran aground in January
Twenty-five people from Cuba landed at Beach Bay on Jan. 31 aboard El Arca. The migrants were traveling to Honduras when their boat ran into trouble and landed on the beach in Bodden Town. Those men and women have all since been taken back to Cuba, but their boat remains grounded on the rocks and sand in Beach Bay.
‘Devastating’ Matthew maintains strength as it pounds Haiti
The powerful Hurricane Matthew made landfall in near Les Anglais, western Haiti, as the storm batters the country with life-threatening rain, wind and storm surge.
Post: Profits for the Castro regime
If you think the president’s policy will “empower” the fledgling Cuban private sector, as opposed to the overbearing state, think again.
More than 80 Cuban migrants housed in Cayman
Eighty-two Cuban migrants are now being housed at various locations on Grand Cayman.
Cayman Airways unconcerned by Cuba competition
The introduction of scheduled flights between the U.S. and Cuba for the first time in more than 50 years is not expected to have a negative impact on Cayman Airways in the short term, according to the airline’s chief executive officer, Fabian Whorms.
11 Cuban migrants land in Cayman islands
Eleven Cuban migrants who landed in the Cayman Islands over the past week and a half are being held in Immigration custody.
Six Cubans repatriated
The Cayman Islands Department of Immigration repatriated six Cuban migrants, three males and three females to Havana, Cuba, on Monday, according to a government statement.
Cuban migrants land in East End
Five boats carrying Cuban migrants have passed through Cayman waters this week, according to the Immigration Department, including seven men who landed in East End Friday morning.
Cubans pass through Cayman Brac
A 20-foot boat with 13 Cuban migrants aboard passed through Cayman Brac on Monday evening.
Cuban migrant charged with assault seeks asylum
A Cuban migrant charged with assaulting a security guard has applied for asylum, Magistrate Valdis Foldats was told on Tuesday.
JOURNAL: Easing of US-Cuba relations could hit Caribbean tourism
Since the U.S. started loosening Cuba travel restrictions in January 2015, the opening up of Cuba to U.S. tourists spelled potentially bad news for other vacation destinations in the Caribbean.
Cuban migrants repatriated
The Department of Immigration repatriated 43 Cuban migrants to Havana, Cuba, over the past two weeks, officials said this week.
Cuban migrant charged with assaulting guard
A Cuban migrant detained at the Bodden Town Civic Centre was brought to Summary Court on Tuesday, charged with assaulting a guard.
Police use pepper spray on Cuban migrant
One Cuban migrant was hospitalized and several others reported being sickened after they inhaled pepper spray that was used by police to help quell a disturbance at Bodden Town’s community center Tuesday.
Government spends $5.3M on migrants
The amount the Cayman Islands government spends for the detainment, care, housing and repatriation of illegal migrants has increased from an estimated $270,000 in the 2013/14 budget year to $3.6 million this year.
Cuban boat remains in South Sound
The wreck of a makeshift Cuban watercraft that was beached in South Sound on May 6 remained there Wednesday, after officials had pledged to remove it.
EDITORIAL – Return to sender: Cayman’s policy on Cuban migrants
The photograph of the Cuban boat on the front page of Tuesday’s newspaper is an image of a dream deferred.
Immigration: Cuban boat in South Sound will be moved
An abandoned Cuban boat that has been beached in South Sound since May 6 will be removed within a few days, Cayman Islands Immigration Department officials said Monday.
Cuban migrants overflow detention center
Cayman Islands Immigration Department officials have a total of 116 Cuban migrants in custody at various locations, with a little less than half now being kept at various community centers on Grand Cayman.
Cuban boat beaches in South Sound
A rickety boat with Cubans seeking to eventually go to the United States beached in South Sound near Walkers Road. Immigration officers said Friday that a boat carrying 43 migrants had washed up in Grand Cayman after experiencing technical difficulties.
How to spot counterfeit cigars in Cuba (and everywhere else, too)
So how do you spot the fakes? Number one rule: If it’s too good to be true, then it probably is not true.
First US cruise in decades arrives in Havana
The first U.S. cruise ship in nearly 40 years crossed the Florida Straits from Miami and pulled into Havana Harbor on Monday, restarting commercial travel on waters that served as a stage for a half-century of Cold War hostility.
More Cubans pass through Cayman Brac
The second boatload of Cuban migrants in the past week was spotted Friday in Cayman Brac and were allowed to continue with their journey.
Boatload of Cubans lands in Brac
Some 21 Cubans landed in Cayman Brac on Sunday and were taken into custody by authorities prior to their pending transfer to Grand Cayman.
Western Union allows cash transfers to Cuba
People in Cayman can now transfer cash to Cuba, officials with Western Union and GraceKennedy Money Services announced Thursday.
12 Cuban migrants repatriated
A dozen Cuban migrants were repatriated from the Cayman Islands to Havana last week.
13 Cuba migrants who landed on Little Cayman now in custody
Immigration authorities announced Thursday they had taken into custody a new group of Cuban migrants on Saturday, sending nine men and four women to the Fairbanks detention facility.
Cubans out of community centers, immigration officials confirm
An acute overcrowding situation involving dozens of Cuban migrants who were forced to temporarily live in various community centers on Grand Cayman has subsided, at least for the time being, Immigration Department officials confirmed Wednesday.
Rahn: Tracing pathways to success and failure
Why is Hong Kong rich, Cuba very poor, and Puerto Rico struggling?
No local cases; Zika continues to spread across the Americas
Thirty-one countries in the Americas have documented local cases of Zika, the mosquito-borne virus that has been linked to causing birth defects in babies of infected women.
Security concerns persist amid recent Cuban migrant influx
Cuban migrants arriving on Cayman’s shores in the highest numbers experienced in the past decade are creating a security headache for immigration enforcement officials.
32 Cuban migrants sent home
The Cayman Islands government on Tuesday sent home 32 Cuban migrants who were part of a wave of men and women who showed up on Cayman’s shores in the first months of the year.
Civil service reform: ‘Seeing is believing’
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