The popular Habano Cigar Festival to be held online next week has raised the interest of the world cigar markets, which have been traditionally represented by over one thousand participants from 70 nations.

Cuba marched against the US blockade and sanctions. Photo: Enrique González (Enro)/ Cubadebate.In the stillness of a Havana night, the only sounds are the hum of a generator at a distant hospital and the murmur of a family gathered by candlelight. For them, “US national security” is not an abstract concept debated on American cable news; it is the tangible reality of a 20-hour blackout, the smell of spoiled food, and the fear for a child’s refrigerated medicine. This is the face of a policy that the United States government characterizes as a response to an “extraordinary threat.” The real threat, however, is not military. It is the 67-year-old defiance of a small island nation that has refused to relinquish its sovereignty.

The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, held a fruitful and cordial telephone exchange on Thursday with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi Jinping.