Assoc. Prof @UMiamiHistory | Cuban Studies Chair @univmia | Dir. Academic Programs @UMCHC | Cuban Memory Wars '21 | The Rev. from W/in '19 | Opinions my own.
Miami, FL
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Michael J Bustamante, Ph.D. retweeted
US-Cuba tensions hit new boiling point, my story. edition.cnn.com/2026/10/28/a…
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Michael J Bustamante, Ph.D. retweeted
The essential FIU Cuba poll is out. Lots to say on the Cuba front, but for the midterm watchers: no sea-change among Cubans in Miami-Dade. There is some Trump discontent & signs the vote could return to '20 levels, but party ID is stable since '24.
ics.fiu.edu/research/fiu-cub…
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Ultimate outcome of Cuba's UN embargo resolution vote never in doubt, though increase in abstentions and no votes is noteworthy over last two years.
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US pressure & (for W Hemisphere nations) Donroe Doctrine dynamics of course big part of picture.
Also wonder if some nations have just decided to stay out of a fracas that, 34 years in, has done little to either permanently shift US policy or resolve Cuba's internal problems.
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Amid Mike Walz's denunciations today at the UN of Cuban government officials/insiders living high on the hog, it's notable what Castro family member he left out.
Not Sandro. Not Antonio.
It's a me:
usatoday.com/story/news/worl…
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Grateful to all who participated in New Directions in Cuban Studies 2026 @umchc last week.
Especially @Lillian_Guerra, for her stirring keynote about her years of research on the island, & the power of true intellectual partnership to reveal inconvenient historical truths.
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I'd like to know what this spectacle (on all sides) did to make it easier for my cousin's pension to get her to the end of the month.
The answer? Nothing.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz clashed with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla during a UN General Assembly session on Tuesday.
Rodríguez approached the podium and accused Waltz of lying as he discussed Cuba’s real estate holdings, prompting Waltz to shout, “You understand who you’re dealing with? This is America. Back up!” x.com/elnoticiero_6/status/2…
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Excellent reporting on new opportunities and worsened inequalities in Cuba's squeezed economy now opening begrudgingly to deeper private sector expansion.
Video is a must-view—especially interview w pensioner at the end who refuses to stay on script.
wsj.com/world/americas/we-we…
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Michael J Bustamante, Ph.D. retweeted
Excellent thread @MJ_Busta on the "eye-popping" boom in trade between US and #Cuba, especially oil to private sector, in midst of Washington's campaign to throttle the regime in Havana.
The motto: if you can't change the politics, at least you can seize the market.
Recent coverage of US oil sales to Cuba has produced whiplash: a new private-sector opening, eye-popping numbers revised down, measurable relief but no macro fix—and a US govt enabling the trade while taking steps that may make it harder.
Abro 🧵
(Image: N Perez for Reuters.)
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Just wrapped my favorite Cuban history class: discussing Memorias del subdesarrollo.
Students never agree on its meaning.
As Titón later reflected, overcoming “underdevelopment” means learning to think for oneself.
Still relevant, aquí y allá.
youtube.com/watch?v=YjObbSH4…
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Cubanos deportados se las arreglan para sobrevivir en Bangui, República Centroafricana. Increíble.
revistaelestornudo.com/sobre…
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Amid max pressure, Sherritt and its potential U.S. buyers (including major Republican donor) appear to be making headway toward restarting Cuba business.
Surprising b4 midterms. Makes you wonder: who is the Trump-connected lobbyist that made this happen?
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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Interesting new work on Cuba's crypto-based gaming economy. Apparently, this is a thing.
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…
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The amount of ugliness this thread has generated is depressing.
Digging in partisan heels, on one side. Blanket insults of all "Miami Cubans" on the other.
What a world.
For non-Miamians, let me invite you into the locura of our election silly season.
So, Hakeem Jeffries comes to town to campaign w D candidate for FL-27 Elliot Rodriguez. Surprising no one, they do a lazy stop at a local bakery for the ritual cafecito.
nbcmiami.com/elections/hakee…
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The lead-up to the annual UN Cuba embargo vote has turned into an uglier spectacle than usual.
miamiherald.com/news/nation-…
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Realidad como tragedia.
A nation for all, diría Martí, where the island's citizens are capable of peacefully navigating disagreements on their own terms, seems so painfully far off.
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Wrote this 4 years ago.
Much has changed, & there are heightened stakes for the vote given US administration's unprecedented pressure campaign since January.
But my diagnosis of false either/or debates the exercise reliably generates still holds.
hypermediamagazine.com/socie…
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