Venezuelan cuisine is a vibrant melting pot of its cultural influences, where Indigenous roots, African heritage, and Spanish flavors come together to create rich, satisfying dishes packed with character. Venezuela's food scene shares many similarities with those from other Latin American countries, but focuses more on building layers of sweet, savory, and tangy depth rather than turning up the heat with bold spices.
It makes me feel proud, simply because of the specific time we're in right now. It definitely takes a lot of courage for kids my age to represent their culture. Anthony Benitez, an 18-year-old violin student born in the United States to Mexican immigrants, expressed how the academy provides a meaningful outlet for cultural expression amid punitive immigration enforcement affecting Latino and immigrant families across the country.
Bad Bunny was the most-streamed artist on Spotify for four years. He headlined the Super Bowl, singing in Spanish, challenging long-held ideas about what it means to be mainstream. His career highlights how streaming platforms, diaspora audiences, and shifting cultural power now determine global relevance.
Michelle Paulin dances while instructing youth at the Dulce Tricolor Venezolano dance group at the Ariel Dance Studio in Campbell on Jan. 25, 2026. Dulce Tricolor, a Bay Area Venezuelan dance group founded in 2019, teaches children traditional folk dances while preserving culture, building community and offering a sense of home amid Venezuela's ongoing political and economic crisis. (Josie Lepe for KQED)
Cuba has long been under the effects of a perfect storm that shows no signs of abating. In addition to constant power outages, the high cost of living, persistent unsanitary conditions in the streets, and a tangled economic crisis that Cuban authorities seem incapable of resolving, there are now direct threats from Donald Trump's administration, aimed at the Castro regime which has been in power for nearly 70 years.
I vividly recall watching Saved By the Bell as a little girl and being drawn to the character of Zack Morris. My grandfather Tati, however, would repeatedly mention AC Slater and the fact that a Latino cast member on an American TV show was amazing. After renting Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet on VHS and gushing over Leonardo DiCaprio, I would listen to my grandfather point out John Leguizamo in the cast.
When your plane descends into Puerto Rico's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, it will likely fly low over the colorful buildings of Santurce, a sprawling district famous for its creative residents and Afro-Caribbean influences. Neglected for decades, Santurce is rapidly reclaiming its title as one of San Juan's most exciting quarters - a transformation that has earned it the nickname "The Brooklyn of Puerto Rico." And if you're looking for Afro-Caribbean cuisine, you're coming to the right place.
Otherworldly forms greet you at the entrance to the exhibition, transporting you into a kaleidoscopic, dream-like space. A voice speaks in the background as projected images dance across the forms, animating the space. "It's been really beautiful to see her work come alive, become a landscape ... where you can traverse and kind of get lost," curator Fabiola R. Delgado says of Lisu Vega's "The Uncertain Future of Absence (El Futuro Incierto de la Ausencia)" (2025).
In the just-named Grammy Album of the Year, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS-which Bad Bunny has declared his " most Puerto Rican album " to date-the supernova reggaetonero painted an evocative portrait of the Caribbean island, while declaring to a whopping 8.6 million listeners: "VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR" (I'm going to bring you to Puerto Rico). And he did. Last year, a record-breaking number of tourists-7,486,000 to be exact-visited Puerto Rico's tropical shores.
Edward Simon was in his mid-teens when he left his home in Punta Cardon, Venezuela, for good and settled in the United States, driven by his desire to learn about jazz at the source. His quest has taken him to breathtaking creative heights with achievements visible both at home, where the Emeryville pianist and composer is the longest serving member of the SFJAZZ Collective, and abroad, via regular tours throughout Europe.
Last summer, she was one of the interpreters at his 30-date concert residency in Puerto Rico, No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí (I Don't Want to Leave Here), which injected hundreds of millions of dollars into Puerto Rico's economy. With lyrics that capture the grief and alienation of Puerto Ricans forced to leave home in search of opportunities, Bad Bunny's 2025 album Debí Tirar Más Fotos became a global phenomenon that continues to resonate across cultures.
