My latest for NYT, on the Cuban stalemate that has turned into a purgatory, and is likely to last for the foreseeable future, in my view. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/17/o...

Opinion | Cuba Is Out of Time (Gift Article)

Governments can afford to keep playing the waiting game. Ordinary Cubans cannot.

nytimes.com

The State Department released a report accusing Cuba of masterminding movements like the George Floyd protests and the Black Panthers. @mjbusta.bsky.social highlights the report’s missing historical context about why these movements arose at all: on-the-media.visitlink.me/82Gd2-

On the Media

The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.

on-the-media.visitlink.me

Forgot to share here: Last week I appeared on NPR's Code Switch to discuss the past and present of Cuban migration. Grateful for the invite to reflect on material from my recent Public Books piece. www.npr.org/2026/02/18/n...

The U.S., Cuba, and the people caught between : Code Switch

The U.S. has been deporting people from Cuba in record numbers. That has come as a shock to many Cuban American communities, who had long enjoyed special protections that don't apply to most other imm...

npr.org

Really insightful article on Cuba's political prospects from @mjbusta.bsky.social www.journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclu... 🗃️

With Maduro Gone, Is Cuba Ready to Fall? | Journal of Democracy

The Trump administration is ratcheting up the pressure, and the island dictatorship is in deep crisis. But what is the plan for picking up the pieces?

journalofdemocracy.org

For @jodemocracy.bsky.social, I pull back the presumptions of inevitability and ask what, if anything, is really this administration's Cuba strategy, what are its blindspots, and what are its likely costs. www.journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclu...

With Maduro Gone, Is Cuba Ready to Fall? | Journal of Democracy

The Trump administration is ratcheting up the pressure, and the island dictatorship is in deep crisis. But what is the plan for picking up the pieces?

journalofdemocracy.org

We've extended the deadline for the 2026-2027 Goizueta Graduate Fellowships @umchc.bsky.social to Feb 20. If you're a grad student in the US working on Cuba-focused or Cuba-adjacent topics, apply! mailchi.mp/miami.edu/li...

DEADLINE EXTENDED: Call for Applications | The Goizueta Foundation Graduate Fellowships 2026-2027 | Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami Libraries

Apply online by February 20, 2026

mailchi.mp

A Cuban migrant held in solitary confinement at an immigration detention facility in Texas died after guards held him down, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday that ruled the death a homicide. n.pr/49xRXVf

Autopsy finds Cuban immigrant in ICE custody died of homicide due to asphyxia

A Cuban migrant held in solitary confinement at an immigration detention facility in Texas died after guards held him down, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday that ruled the death a homicide.

n.pr

"He has repatriated > 1,600 Cubans in 2025. Legal immigration has also been cut. Trump enacted a travel ban, including Cuba, & ended a family reunification program. Officials are rejecting visa applications. The admin paused all Cuban immigration cases: naturalization, residency & asylum."

“When Trump claimed that Biden had misused parole authority many Cubans reassured themselves: Trump isn’t talking about us. He’ll target the criminals and the gangs for deportation. We still have the Cuban Adjustment Act. He owes Cuban Americans our votes.”

Will Cuban Americans Choose Trumpism, or Solidarity? - Public Books

Voting overwhelmingly for Trump, Cuban Americans are now mostly silent as the new administration cracks down on all migrants, including Cubans.

publicbooks.org

My new essay for @publicbooks.bsky.social on the Cuban-American community's response so far to the current administration's crackdown on historic numbers of recent Cuban migrants with irregular or provisional status. www.publicbooks.org/will-cuban-a...

Will Cuban Americans Choose Trumpism, or Solidarity? - Public Books

Voting overwhelmingly for Trump, Cuban Americans are now mostly silent as the new administration cracks down on all migrants, including Cubans.

publicbooks.org

Michael J. Bustamante (@mjbusta.bsky.social) explores the past and present of the Cuban Americans who voted overwhelmingly for Trump—and who are now mostly silent as his administration cracks down on all migrants, including Cubans.

Will Cuban Americans Choose Trumpism, or Solidarity? - Public Books

Voting overwhelmingly for Trump, Cuban Americans are now mostly silent as the new administration cracks down on all migrants, including Cubans.

publicbooks.org

My new essay for @publicbooks.bsky.social on the Cuban-American community's response so far to the current administration's crackdown on historic numbers of recent Cuban migrants with irregular or provisional status. www.publicbooks.org/will-cuban-a...

Will Cuban Americans Choose Trumpism, or Solidarity? - Public Books

Voting overwhelmingly for Trump, Cuban Americans are now mostly silent as the new administration cracks down on all migrants, including Cubans.

publicbooks.org

What does US intervention in Venezuela mean for Latin America and how did we get here? Authors unpack the history, policy, and implications in this must-watch discussion. Watch it here👇 youtu.be/VGlfGplYdm4

Authors on US–Venezuela Intervention: History & Context

YouTube video by UNCPress

youtu.be

In Foreign Affiars, a must-read piece from Michael Bustamante @mjbusta.bsky.social on Cuba: “Cuba’s cascading problems are now so severe that even a more dynamic private sector would be insufficient to fix them” www.foreignaffairs.com/cuba/cuba-br...

Cuba on the Brink

Where will the island’s crisis end?

foreignaffairs.com

Michael J Bustamante@mjbusta.bsky.social · 9mo ago

My new essay for Foreign Affairs. “On the brink…”, not of political change, but of citizens' tolerance and patience. That has not happened overnight. This crisis has been acute and sudden (especially since the pandemic), but also a slow moving train. www.foreignaffairs.com/cuba/cuba-br...

Excellent article from @mjbusta.bsky.social that summarizes Cuba’s current (not that recent) economic and political crisis. www.foreignaffairs.com/cuba/cuba-br...

Cuba on the Brink

Where will the island’s crisis end?

foreignaffairs.com

My new essay for Foreign Affairs. “On the brink…”, not of political change, but of citizens' tolerance and patience. That has not happened overnight. This crisis has been acute and sudden (especially since the pandemic), but also a slow moving train. www.foreignaffairs.com/cuba/cuba-br...

Cuba on the Brink

Where will the island’s crisis end?

foreignaffairs.com

Join us this afternoon!

My department is hiring! TT Modern US history, Reconstruction - Civil Rights Era. I'm late to sharing, but the window is admittedly short, due to a later budget cycle that we would have liked. Review of applications begins Dec 1. networks.h-net.org/jobs/69444/u...

We've also just launched an artist residency. Program and application info here. We're treating "artist" as an expansive category. Please help us spread the word. mailchi.mp/miami.edu/li...

Call for Applications: The Roberto C. Goizueta Distinguished Artist-in-Residence Program | Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami Libraries

Apply by December 2, 2025

mailchi.mp

Hi bluesky. Been a minute. Or several months. Dropping in to share the link to the program & registration info for our 2025-2026 Seminar in Cuban and Cuban Diaspora Studies at U Miami's Cuban Heritage Collection. Great line-up. It's all virtual. Hope you can join us. mailchi.mp/miami.edu/li...

Join the Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami Libraries online for the “Seminar in Cuban and Cuban Diaspora Studies”

Fall 2025 and spring 2026 | Multiple dates

mailchi.mp

Deadline extended! Still time to get your applications in.

Attention grad students in the US! Deadline for the Goizueta Graduate Fellowships Program @umchc.bsky.social is tomorrow.

Reminder: Applications for Goizueta Graduate Fellowships @umchc.bsky.social are due 2/28! Pre-dissertation & dissertation stage awards for graduate students at US institutions. Support 1-3 months of research in largest archive dedicated to Cuba outside of the island. mailchi.mp/miami.edu/li...

Call for Applications | The Goizueta Foundation Graduate Fellowship 2025-2026

Apply online by February 28, 2025

mailchi.mp

Great convo last night @umchc w Fabien Pisani & CM Álvarez after screening “En la caliente.” A film about not just *the* little known pioneer of reggaeton in Cuba, Kandyman, but the irrepressible nature of popular culture and Santiago de Cuba as a crucible of Caribbean sounds.

Happy to interview FIU alum Andrew Gomez about his book “Constructing Cuban America: Race and Identity in Florida’s Caribbean South, 1868-1945” from @utexaspress.bsky.social 🇨🇺 newbooksnetwork.com/constructing...

Some thoughts on today's bombshell 🇨🇺 news. 🧵 t.co/M8NpYJPfAa

New year, new slew of @UMCHC updates: First, the call for the 2025-2026 class of Goizueta Graduate Fellows is out. Deadline: 2/28. Eligibility: Doctoral students at U.S. institutions. Pre-prospectus (1 month) and post-candidacy (up to 3 months) awards. https://buff.ly/3WgPfMy

Call for Applications | The Goizueta Foundation Graduate Fellowships 2025-2026

Apply online by February 28, 2025

mailchi.mp

Bring on the Vivaporu Endowed Professorship in Latino Studies.

As President Carter is honored with a state funeral, re-upping my two-part piece from 2020 on fraught memories/ legacies of the 1979 "viajes de la comunidad," made possible by his administration's back channel negotiations with Cuban authorities. Part 1: https://buff.ly/40rrjsu

Enfrentar el retorno: las “visitas de la comunidad” de 1979 - OnCubaNews

Parte I: El tenso comienzo de un reencuentro

oncubanews.com