Raul Castro

Dutch food and cosmetics giant Unilever will begin operations in Cuba in 2017 after communist officials authorized a joint venture with state firm Intersuchel, they said on Jan. 11.

Cuba and the United States can normalize ties only after Washington ends its trade embargo and returns the Guantanamo U.S. naval base to Cuban control, President Raul Castro told the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 28.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras continued his high-profile meetings in the “Big Apple” on Monday, with UN Chief Ban Ki moon and Cyprus President Nikos Anastasiades next up on Tuesday.

Tsipras’ Monday “highlights” included a brief conversation with Raul Castro, Cuba’s “Commandante No. 2″, who invited him to the island nation, as well as with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

Pope Francis met on Sept.20 with Fidel and Raul Castro, the brothers who have ruled Cuba since its 1959 revolution, after celebrating an outdoor mass attended by hundreds of thousands.

Pope Francis exhorted Cuba and the United States on Sept.19 to set an example for the world by deepening the recent rapprochement that he helped secretly broker between the former Cold War foes. 

Retired Cuban President Fidel Castro celebrated his 89th birthday on August 13 with two of his country's closest leftist allies from Latin America, a day ahead of a historic visit by the U.S. secretary of state. 

Top US diplomat John Kerry will meet with Cuban dissidents during his historic trip to Cuba, he said on August 12. 

The Cuban flag flew proudly over Havana's newly restored embassy July 20 as the US and Cuba relaunched diplomatic ties but swiftly cautioned that sharp differences lingered after five decades of enmity.

Good news out of Washington on Monday, as a thaw in relations between the United States and Cuba saw a Cuban flag formally raised over Havana’s embassy in the US capital for the first time in 54 years.

The United States and Cuba quietly ushered in a new era of post-Cold War relations on July 20, formally restoring diplomatic ties severed more than five decades ago and re-establishing embassies in each other's capitals.