Looking back on 2021, I feel grateful that you spent even a few minutes with The Cuba Reader, my humble newsletter and blog. It has been another fascinating year in the annals of the U.S.-Cuba relationship. In 18 posts we considered how the isolated island fought COVID-19 with ingenuity and determination, developing its own vaccine and rapidly delivering it to all its citizens. We watched, stunned, as Cubans spontaneously flooded the streets in a historic, mass protest against the Communist government. And we grew tired as the Biden presidency, which promised re-engagement with Cuba, chose silence and patience as its diplomatic strategy. In sum, it was nothing like the year I expected.

Next year will bring new opportunities to analyze the past, present and future of the U.S.-Cuba relationship. But as the year comes to a close, here are the 10 most-read stories on the blog:

1. A goodbye to Castro's Cuba

2. Cuba erupts in Protest

3. Caught in the ideological crossfire

4. Artists seek change in Cuba

5. A failed nuclear power project

6. A prisoner swap in Havana, as told by Senator Jeff Flake (ret.)

7. Strange story of hijacking accord

8. Interview with Professor Bill LeoGrande

9. When will Cuba re-open?

10. An unstoppable force, an immovable object