The beaches are open, news to be greeted with joy by visitor and resident alike. From November 15, Cuba’s border gates will swing wide open. Cultural and sporting events will restart. Restaurants, cinemas and theaters will be regulars in our lives again.

Here on the largest of the Antilles, as elsewhere in the world, we will continue to live with the coronavirus. Mask-wearing will remain mandatory on the streets and we will all need to take care.

But Cuba has now fully inoculated two thirds of its population with 90% having had at least one dose. It achieved this with its homeproduced Abdala and SOBERANA 02 vaccines, making the island the safest place to visit in the Caribbean.

So it seems the perfect moment to celebrate Cuba’s wonderful natural environment. This is why we have chosen to focus on Cuba’s beaches in this issue, those wonderful stretches of sand where we can escape our worries (and those from colder climes can escape winter).

In this issue you will also find articles on Caguanes National Park, in the central province of Sancti Spíritus, and the Limones Tuabaquey Ecological Reserve, near the city of Camagüey.

Someone who will need a bit of time on a warm Cuban beach is Laura Castro de la Guardia. She is the first Cuban woman to visit the North Pole, and we interview her.

Also in this issue, we look at the evocative portraits of the painter Iris Leyva, the award-winning work of photographer José (Tito) Meriño and talk to Michel Herrera, the superb jazz saxophonist. It’s party time.

You’ll find the usual insights into health and industry. And of course we have to celebrate the incredible achievements of the Cuban team in the recent Olympics, where the island came an astounding 14th in the rankings.

It’s been a tough year for everyone and as we look forward to the next one, we thought it only right we offer up the definitive recipe for that most Cuban and refreshing of cocktails, the mojito.

So please raise a glass with us on New Year’s Eve as we hope to finally see the back of COVID-19 and start a fresh year full of hope and projects for the good of all.

Cordially

Dominic Soave

Articles in this edition:

• Cuban beaches, among the safest and most beautiful in the world
• A paradise for ecotourism lovers
• A Cuban at the North Pole, a dream achieved
• Caguanes National Park: a subterranean paradise
• Havana Club, innovation as a premise for development
• The Sea Urchin Fountain, uniquely beautiful
• The unique stone fauna of eastern Cuba
• Bridges, culture and traditions in one name: Matanzas
• The sun giving health
• An encounter with the essential
• Natural products for a healthy life
• UEB Pharmaceutical Supplies, assured guarantee and efficiency
• Ventipap, the route to technological independence
• To think, to create, to save
• Iris Leyva: an artist who captures the senses
• Tito Meriño: the wisdom of a sports photographer
• Moldova / Cuba, two sources of inspiration
• Michel Herrera breathes jazz
• Exportable products of San Cristóbal Agricultural Company
• Industrias NEXUS S.A., your investment opportunity in Cuba
• CEDAI, automatically at your service
• ESAE. Diversifying production, an essential task
• MINERVA for a sustainable future
• Cometal. A solution within your reach
• Derivados del acero. First class value
• The life of crops
• The factory for factories, for sustainable development
• Efficiency and quality demonstrated
• Cuba made its Olympic mark in Tokyo 2020
• The mojito, a very Cuban cocktail
• Café del Oriente RESTAURANT
• Traditional New Year’s Eve Grand Dinner in Plaza Vieja with live music show