Headlines

MIAMI, Nov. 19.– DEFENSA CD, a new independent organization dedicated to monitoring repression in Cuba, celebrated its official launch last night at the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA) – Building II at Florida International University (FIU). Before an audience composed of academics, journalists, community leaders, activists, and members of the Cuban diaspora, the institution presented its governing structure, its new lines of work, and unpublished data on repression patterns, the situation inside prisons on the island, and attacks on religious freedom.

As part of this new phase, DEFENSA CD announced the consolidation of its institutional independence, separating from the Pan-American Foundation for Democracy, and the creation of a Religious Freedom Observatory, which will expand its capacity for documentation and analysis on one of the most persecuted sectors in Cuba.

The event featured the participation of the Rapporteur for Cuba of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Commissioner Stuardo Ralón; the former political prisoner and coordinator of UNPACU, José Daniel Ferrer; and the founder of Cuba Decide and IACHR elected commissioner, Rosa María Payá.

During his intervention, Juan Carlos Vargas, Director of DEFENSA CD, outlined the strategic priorities of the organization:

• This is a civilian target far away from the front lines.

Dnipro, Nov.18.— A city of 1.1 million, Dnipro (also known as Dnipropetrovs'k) sits on the banks of the Dnieper River in Eastern Ukraine. It’s 650 miles from the Polish border at Chelm. On the northwest approaches to this city, which is the country’s fourth largest and a six-hour drive from the capital, Kyiv, a car can speed down a road which in many ways is more pleasant than I-95 between Washington and New York. From this modern, divided highway, huge fields of plowed black earth alternate with even more massive fields of wheat alongside tidy farmhouses. Until you reach the little town of Tsybulivka in Poltava Oblast, it all looks remarkably like the flat steppes of eastern Kansas.

At that point, however, you turn right and south off the main road and into a landscape every bit as agriculturally rich but more visibly post-Soviet. The road becomes potholed and rough (though perhaps not as rough as some of the country roads back home in Oklahoma), and the developed highway and periodic truck stops that could pass for a Wawa give way to little towns and villages of houses built of painted cinderblock and tin roofs and workshops made of corrugated iron. 

Tel Aviv, Nov. 2 (DPnet).– Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel’s Ministry of Defense completed development of the Iron Beam high-power laser air defense system following a series of tests in southern Israel, the company announced last October in a statement.

The trials, conducted in collaboration with the Israeli Air Force and facilitated by Elbit Systems, aimed to demonstrate the system's capacity to effectively intercept projectiles, including rockets, mortars, uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), and manned aircraft across various operational scenarios, as outlined in the statement. This testing phase represents the final stage prior to the delivery of initial units to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), with operational deployment anticipated by the end of the year, as reported by the company.

Iron Beam is designed as a ground-based system to complement existing layered defenses that include Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow. Regarding USA air defenses, the US DoD seeks out contract bids for its ambitious, yet controversial Golden Dome aerial defense shield, and the Israeli defense firm Rafael CEO Yoav Turgeman thinks his company’s “Iron Beam” would make a great addition. 

San Juan, PR. Nov.1 (DPnet).– In late August 2025, the United States initiated a naval buildup in the southern Caribbean, citing the intention to address the issue of drug trafficking. US President Donald Trump authorized the United States Armed Forces to employ military force against specific Latin American drug cartels, labeling these smugglers as narcoterrorists. The Trump administration has accused Nicolás Maduro, the President of Venezuela, of facilitating the trafficking of drugs into the United States. Earlier in August, the administration also increased the bounty for Maduro's arrest to $50 million, alleging his involvement in drug trafficking activities.

On 30 September, President Trump told reporters his administration would "look very seriously at cartels coming by land" and he formally declared to Congress on 1 October that the US was in a "non-international armed conflict" with "unlawful combatants" regarding drug cartels operating in the Caribbean. Trump said on 22 October that he planned to also order strikes on land targets.

The Trump administration announced in October 27 that the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group (CSG) will deploy to the Caribbean to help “dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the Homeland.” The CSG had been in the Mediterranean for exercises with allies and to respond to potential hostilities around Israel, Gaza, and the Red Sea. This task force includes 1 Carrier, 2 Cruisers, 7 Destroyers, 3 amphibious ships and one submarine.