Cuban Links: Celebrities With Roots in La Isla Bonita
Pitbull, Laz Alonso and other stars who hail from Cuba.
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Pitbull - President Obama has once again made history. On December 18, Obama ordered the restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba and the opening of an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than a half-century. Travel restrictions will be lifted to Cuba for family visits, official government business and educational activities. However, tourist travel remains banned. In honor of this historic step forward with Cuba, we're putting a spotlight on some of its most notable exports. Here are just a few celebs who hail from la isla bonita. He may be known as Mr. 305, but this hitmaker's roots are pure cubano. The rapper, born Armando Christian Pèrez in Miami, comes from a family of Cuban expatriates. The titles of two of his hit albums, El Mariel and The Boatlift, reference the treacherous 90 mile journey from Cuba to Miami. (Photo: Isaac Brekken/Getty Images fo...
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Christina Milian - The singer and actress was born Christine Flores to Cuban parents in New Jersey. Milian changed her name and adopted her mother's maiden name before moving to Hollywood, thinking it would help her land a broader range of acting roles. (Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
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Emilio and Gloria Estefan - This music industry power couple is Cuban to the core. Both were born on the island — Gloria in Havana and Emilio in Santiago de Cuba — and fled to Miami during the Cuban Revolution. The couple, who married after meeting through the Miami Sound Machine in 1976, remain dedicated activists for Cuba libre and have strong ties with their native place. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive)
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Laz Alonso - Laz Alonso is BET family and is also Afro-Cuban. The actor says he "grew up in a Spanish-speaking household and was raised as a Latino in America," and still craves traditional Cuban dishes from his childhood, like paella, arroz con pollo and boliche. (Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for AdColor)
Photo By Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for AdColor
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Daisy Fuentes - MTV's first Latina VJ, and the first Latina to land a Revlon contract, was born in Havana and raised in Spain after her family fled from political turmoil on the island. (Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
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Eva Mendes - This big screen bombshell was born to Cuban parents and has parlayed her sun-kissed good looks into an A-list career and a spot on the list of most beautiful women in Hollywood. “Cuban women are encouraged to look sexy way beyond the time other cultures tell women they're sexy,” she says. (Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Salvatore Ferragamo)
Photo By Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Salvatore Ferragamo
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Carlos Leon - Madonna's baby daddy was born in la isla bonita and was in the right place at the right time for Madge's Cuban obsession. The pair welcomed daughter Lourdes Leon in 1996. (Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images)
Photo By Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images
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Jon Secada - The two-time Grammy winning Latin pop star was born in Havana and moved with his family to Miami when he was eight ears old. He has frequently collaborated with his fellow cubanos Emilio and Gloria Estefan. (Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive)
Photo By Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive
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Rita Marley - The wife of island music icon Bob Marley hails not from Jamaica but Cuba. The Cuban-Jamaican singer was born in Santiago de Cuba, but moved to Kingston as a young girl. (Photo: Bruno Vincent/Getty Images)
Photo By Photo: Bruno Vincent/Getty Images
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Celia Cruz - The Queen of Latin Music is also the pride of Cuba. Cruz is credited for popularizing salsa music in the United States and has influenced everyone from Tito Puente to Jennifer Lopez. Billboard called her "indisputably the best known and most influential female figure in Cuban music." (Photo: Fred Prouser/Reuters)
Photo By Photo: REUTERS/Fred Prouser