Black lawmakers headed to Cuba over the weekend and met with President Raul Castro and former President Fidel Castro. The delegations discussed opening trade, travel and getting cooperation to combat drug and human trafficking. Click for more.

As much of the world observed the end of 2008 this week, Cubans also observed the 50^th anniversary of their revolutionary independence. Fidel Castro assumed leadership of the nation Dec. 31, 1958. He took the reigns of government previously held by dictator Fulgencio Batista, who fled to the United States. Castro went on to win praise for his relentless pursuit of independence from the likes of Malcolm X and various other Black revolutionaries of the 1960s. Today, Cuba remains among the strongest nations in the Caribbean.