Alternative and electronic music artists such as DJ Dany, group Karamba, Mama estoy brillando, DJ Wikiri, and Glens, all under the direction of actress Maria Laura German, delighted the audience amidst a chilly night and early morning in this western province.
Music transforms and awakens emotions, and this was felt in each performance, with a vibe that reached its climax with the young artist Mama estoy brillando, an exponent of urban music who enjoys great popularity in Cuba.
Today, the closing day of the Festival, promises a diverse, visually stunning, and contemporary evening with performances by, among others, Jotabarrioz, Adrian Berazain, and Abel Gerones.
The fifth Athens Fusion Festival is a call to lovers of new sounds with a program that prioritizes musical experimentation, audience interaction, and collective enjoyment.
Hovering just above the relegation zone, a point against an in-form City side would have moved Forest six points clear of West Ham in 18th.
But Cherki crushed their hopes as he slammed home a half-volley, drilling the ball from the edge of the box through the legs of Gibbs-White.
Forest players were quick to complain to referee Jones, arguing that Gibbs-White had been knocked over by Nico O’Reilly and prevented from blocking Cherki’s strike.
“Morgan Gibbs-White quite clearly gets pushed to the floor and the same player is involved in blocking the ball,” Dyche said.
“But he can’t block it because as he jumps up, it goes through the bit of his body which he would have blocked it with. Whichever way you look at it it’s a foul.”
The VAR checked the goal, but ultimately allowed Jones’ on-field decision to stand.
Dyche added: “They’ll say, ‘Yeah, the ball wasn’t there’. And you go, ‘OK, so if the ball’s not near the keeper and you push the keeper to the floor, is that going to be a foul then?’
“We all know it is. I can’t work it out. And then they score from it, which is the double whammy.
“I’m a big fan of VAR – I can’t work out how you can’t get that right.”
Former official Darren Cann told BBC Match of the Day: “The video assistant referee naturally checked the goal and concluded that no ‘clear and obvious’ error was made. I agree.
“This was a decision that will split views – some will agree it’s a good goal and others will think it was a foul. Therefore the ‘referee’s call’ of goal should stand.”
In a solemn ceremony at Miraflores Palace, the seat of government, the head of state decorated the Cuba-Venezuela International Brigade, which for several weeks helped repair the damage in the island’s provinces that were struck by Hurricane Melissa.
The Venezuelan specialists in the electrical, transportation, and public works sectors received the Antonio Jose de Sucre Order of Merit for Builders of the Homeland.
Maduro noted that the brigade carried out “very inspiring” work and emphasized that the brotherhood between Caracas and Havana “is beyond question,” the Presidency reported.
He also emphasized that both countries are driven by the power of solidarity, and in the case of Cuba, it is the “world champion of solidarity” because “for more than 60 years, Cuba has gone to Africa, Asia, all of Latin America and the Caribbean, to show that mutual support is the future of humanity.”
The dignitary asserted that both nations have the task of demonstrating that the future of our hemisphere and the continent “cannot be war, military threats, colonialism, or slavery.”
The brotherhood between Cuba and Venezuela is an unbreakable bond, capable of overcoming all adversities so that victory always prevails, he affirmed.
Liverpool and Wolves paid tribute to Diogo Jota on an emotional day at Anfield as his two former sides met for the first time since his death.
The Portugal forward, 28, was killed in a car crash in Spain in July, alongside his 25-year-old brother Andre Silva.
Jota joined Liverpool in 2020 after three seasons with Wolves.
Dinis and Duarte, two of his three children, joined the matchday mascots on the pitch before their Premier League game on Saturday.
Jota’s sons, along with other young family members, led the Liverpool team out of the tunnel, walking out ahead of captain Virgil van Dijk.
Jota’s wife, Rute Cardoso, was also in attendance.
A banner which read ‘Diogo Jota, forever in our hearts’ was held aloft in the Kop stand before kick-off.
Chants of “Diogo, Diogo, Diogo” rang out from the Wolves fans in the away end before all of Anfield stood and applauded as Liverpool supporters sang in tribute to Jota in the 20th minute.
Dutch midfielder Ryan Gravenberch scored Liverpool‘s opener and dedicated it to Jota – recreating the shark-style celebration that the Portugal forward sometimes used.
The socio-cultural project, located in the popular neighborhood of San Isidro in Old Havana, was created by Cuban actor and filmmaker Jorge Perugorria, winner of the 2023 National Film Award, who has also explored visual arts techniques.
Titled “Tenth Anniversary Assembly,” the exhibition includes works by artists who have exhibited individually at the gallery throughout its decade of existence, including Roberto Fabelo, winner of the 2004 National Visual Arts Award, Eduardo Abela, Levi Otra, May Reguera, and Jorge Perugorria himself.
The opening of the exhibition brought together numerous figures from the national culture, underscoring the gallery’s central role in the city’s artistic life.
Founded in December 2015, Gorria Gallery Workshop has become a vital hub for promoting art and community integration in one of Havana’s most vibrant neighborhoods.
The exhibition will remain open to the public until March 2026.
Guardiola believes City have rediscovered their groove after digging out a crucial victory.
They were frustrated by Forest and bullied by centre-backs Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo to the extent Erling Haaland barely had a sniff.
Gianluigi Donnarumma was wound up by the imperious Milenkovic, while Josko Gvardiol avoided a yellow card for kicking the ball away.
It was not a classic performance but City have won 24 out of the past 27 points available – the blip being a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle in November.
Guardiola said: “It’s more important how you suffer, how you defend, accept you’re not playing good and can be better and be in the game, otherwise there is no chance. That game last season was lost 10 for 10.
“For a long time the team has wanted to do it and it’s the last game of the first leg of the season, so it’s good to finish with an important three points.
“They are three points but a massive three points mainly for the quality of the opposition. Sean Dyche has created a proper team – this team a few months ago were fighting for the Champions League.
“It’s a top side. I know the momentum is not good but it does not change the quality of the side.”
Former City goalkeeper Joe Hart – who won two Premier League titles with the club – also felt it was a crucial victory.
He told TNT Sports: “Look at the way they celebrated – they know they’ve had a tough afternoon. It was an absolute battle but it was a championship-winning performance. When your back’s against the wall you find a way.”
Last season City finished third, 13 points behind leaders Liverpool, having won the previous four titles.
It was a body blow for Guardiola and he revealed heart-to-heart talks with the squad during the Club World Cup in the summer re-established their focus.
“The critical moment changed in the USA at the Club World Cup. We looked at ourselves and talked and many things changed from there,” he said.
“Now it is a process. When we won a lot of titles at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and here, you had a lot of games of this type.
“The body language, the connection of how we are with the fans – they love the keepers, the strikers, the people, because they feel the team wants to do it, want to fight for each other.
“The fans accept playing badly, but if you don’t put the heart and your commitment for the people who adore the club more than we love it…”
From Panama’s canal ports to El Salvador’s megaprison, the Trump White House and Marco Rubio are reshaping U.S.-Latin ties. Tariffs, sanctions, and Caribbean strikes test sovereignty, dividing leaders from Brazil to Colombia while Venezuela looms in 2025’s hemispheric power struggle.
Americas First, with a Short Fuse
In January, Marco Rubio took charge at the U.S. State Department and pushed an Americas First reset, arguing in The Wall Street Journal that the hemisphere would no longer be sidelined. In February, his first official trip touched five countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. The tempo soon became unmistakably Donald Trump: allies get favors, critics get pressure. Javier Milei in Argentina and Nayib Bukele in El Salvador have embraced the MAGA wavelength.
That pressure was formalized when the White House marked the Monroe Doctrine anniversary with a Trump corollary stressing U.S. control of the Western Hemisphere. In Latin America, such language triggers institutional memory. Work in Latin American Research Review and Journal of Democracy warns that external tutelage can harden polarization by turning policy disputes into sovereignty crises.
In January, Colombian President Gustavo Petro reversed his stance on accepting U.S. deportation flights after Trump threatened punitive tariffs. The lever was immediate: Colombia is the biggest exporter of cut flowers to the United States. For workers who pack stems into boxes, a tariff threat is not theory; it is fewer shifts, less cash, and another reminder that borders are managed through livelihoods.
Video still taken from a White House broadcast of U.S. President Donald Trump. EFE/ The White House
Ports, Prisons, and Political Loyalty
In Panama, leverage arrived through geography. After Rubio’s February visit, Panama moved to meet U.S. demands that CK Hutchison, a Hong Kong conglomerate, relinquish its stake in two ports tied to the Panama Canal. Analyst Christina Guevara argues that Washington often blurs Chinese commerce near the canal with control of the canal itself, a blur Panamanians read through a long history of intervention.
El Salvador shows the reward side. Nayib Bukele offered to detain migrants deported from the United States, pairing deportation with his mass-incarceration agenda and a massive prison opened in 2023. The White House later sent planeloads of migrants there despite court resistance and reportedly paid $6 million. Noah Bullock of Cristosal warns that weak safeguards invite abuse. For families, the policy question narrows to one fear: whether a loved one can be traced once detention begins.
In Argentina, the administration chose a carrot. The United States promised $20 billion in support if Javier Milei’s party wins midterms, a pledge that analysts like Keith Johnson say looks more political than systemic, especially compared with Mexico in 1995. The symbolism is deliberate: Milei headlines CPAC and even handed a gilded chainsaw to Elon Musk. In the region, it reads as a price tag on ideological alignment.
Brazil has tested the opposite lesson. In September, its Supreme Court convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro and seven associates for plotting a coup, sentencing Bolsonaro to 27 years. The case unfolded amid U.S. pressure, including sanctions on a Brazilian justice and higher tariffs. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva refused to bend, making sovereignty central to his politics. Yet polarization persists; surveys show a slight majority distrust the court, a risk flagged in Latin American Politics and Society.
Caribbean Strikes and the Caracas Shadow
Then came the sea. In September, U.S. forces began striking boats in the Caribbean, saying they were targeting suspected drug smugglers while offering no public evidence and no authorization from Congress. The toll has passed 100 dead. For coastal communities, the policy is not abstract counter-narcotics strategy; it is the fear that a routine crossing ends in fire. Many analysts see a possible runway toward harder action against Venezuela.
The fallout hit Gustavo Petro. After condemning the strikes, he and members of his family were sanctioned in October. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent framed the move as a response to cartels, and Trump later attacked Petro from Mar-a-Lago, accusing Colombia of operating major cocaine factories. Petro answered by invoking territorial history, arguing Texas and California were taken by invasion. In the Andes and beyond, such arguments land as both provocation and reminder.
Now attention turns to Caracas, where Venezuela’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning opposition leader backs Trump’s military posture. Some in Washington reportedly cite the 1989 invasion of Panama, but former vice minister Carlos Ruiz-Hernández says the analogy breaks: Venezuela lacks the basing and treaty rights the United States had then, and its scale and terrain raise the costs of force. International Security has long warned that coercion can deliver short-term compliance while deepening backlash, especially when China and Russia can sell the story as imperial relapse. In 2025, Latin America is pushed to choose, and ordinary people pay in ports, prisons, flower fields, and dark water. The hemisphere feels smaller, and more brittle.
Latam Argentina folded in 2020, citing an unfriendly business climate
Argentina’s Libertarian Government of President Javier Milei has granted Chile’s Latam Airlines a full license to operate any domestic flight the company wishes to offer with the aircraft of its choice, thus making it an internal competitor to other carriers serving the market.
Under Milei’s Open Skies policies, Transport Secretariat Provisions 46/2025 and 47/2025 appearing in Friday’s Official Gazette mark a potential return to a market the company exited five years ago.
The new regulatory framework grants the Chilean-Brazilian airline broad ninth freedom rights, which allow a foreign carrier to operate flights between two points within Argentine territory without requiring a local subsidiary.
Hence, Latam is now permitted to transport passengers and cargo on regular and non-regular domestic routes with no restrictions on flight frequencies, destinations, or aircraft size, it was explained.
Provision 47/2025 specifically mentions a strategic fifth freedom route connecting Santiago with Buenos Aires and on to Rio de Janeiro, allowing the airline to pick up passengers in the Argentine capital and fly them to Brazil, thus strengthening regional hubs.
Under the new rules, Latam has fulfilled all legal requirements under bilateral treaties signed between 1996 and 2024, lifting bureaucratic hurdles so that the airline no longer needs new clearances for each new route, provided safety and operational protocols are met.
Latam issued a statement noting that despite the legal green light, an immediate comeback to Argentina’s skies will not happen shortly. Latam Argentina folded in 2020, citing an unviable economic and regulatory climate during the pandemic. At that time, it held a 20% share of the local market.
The move has been construed as an end to state-protected monopolies. While Latam currently operates in Argentina only via foreign subsidiaries, the way is now cleared for a rentrée should commercial conditions improve.
Speaking to Vzgliad online newspaper, Enriquez noted that the choice of the famous resort by Russian tourists is primarily due to its well-developed hotel infrastructure and its extensive white-sand coastline.
“Varadero is Cuba’s main beach, recognized as one of the five best in the world, and is the most famous and popular destination among Russian tourists,” Enriquez stated, adding that the resort boasts more than 20 kilometers of white sand beaches and turquoise waters.
Besides Varadero, Russians actively choose Jardines del Rey resort, in central Cuba, and the islands of Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo, and Cayo Santa Maria are also popular.
Holguin province also stands out together with Cayo Largo del Sur, off Cuba’s southern coast, and of course, Havana, the capital of the country, is also among the most popular destinations.
The MINTUR representative noted that Cuba offers a variety of recreational options for Russians, not limited to beaches.
The country offers opportunities for water sports, ecotourism, and cultural itineraries, including trips to the Vinales Valley; Topes de Collantes, a nature reserve park in the Escambray Mountains range, and excursions to sites associated with US writer Ernest Hemingway.
