A Russian vessel laden with 730,000 barrels of oil has docked at the Cuban port of Matanzas, the first time in three months that an oil tanker reached the island. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump allowed the shipment to proceed despite its ongoing energy blockade.

The United States has formally reopened its embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, after the restoration of full diplomatic relations with the South American country. It follows the Trump administration's ouster of then-President Nicolas Maduro in early January.

President Donald Trump says he has "no problem" with a Russian oil tanker off the coast of Cuba delivering relief to the island, which has been brought to its knees by a U.S. oil blockade. When asked if a New York Times report that the tanker would be allowed to reach Cuba was true, Trump said: "I told them, if a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem whether it's Russia or not."

Violence erupted in the central Haitian town of Petite-Rivière de l'Artibonite early Sunday morning as a powerful gang warred with a vigilante group.

A U.S. judge pressed the Trump administration Thursday about its basis for barring Venezuela's government from paying former President Nicolás Maduro's legal fees in the drug trafficking case that has put him behind bars in New York.

Former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro heads to court again this week. The judge overseeing this case is longtime federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein. At 92 years old, Hellerstein is older than the average age of a federal judge by more than 20 years.

The U.S. and Cuban governments have been at odds since the conclusion of the Cuban Revolution 67 years ago. From my perspective as an expert on Havana-Washington ties, however, this moment seems different.

The U.S. and Cuba have been at odds — economically and sometimes militarily — since the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959. But the current crisis is among the most difficult Cuba has faced since then.

It's a major source of revenue for the island. And it's controversial. Now countries are sending Cuban doctors home in response to pressure from the Trump administration.

The crisis in Cuba, driven by systemic mismanagement and intensified by a U.S. oil blockade, spurred a group of liberal activists to travel to the country. But some commentators and conservative politicians denounced the trip as performative and said the activists mocked the Cuban people by staying in luxury hotels and traveling in air conditioned buses.