Goodwill Ambassador Danny Glover visits Cuba to support people of African descent

<p style="text-align: justify;"><br /> By Arsenio Garcia. HAVANA, Cuba, 20 June 2011 – UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and internationally acclaimed actor Danny Glover visited Havana last week to attend the opening session of the regional workshop entitled ‘Cuba and the Afro-Descendant Peoples of the Americas’. The UNICEF-supported event was organized by the Juan Marinello Cuban Institute for Cultural Research in connection with the International Year for People of African Descent. Read More

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Cuba's shirtmaker to the stars crafts handmade guayaberas

<p style="text-align: justify;">By: PETER ORSI , Associated Press. Updated: June 20, 2011 - 12:47 PM. HAVANA - Under fluorescent lights and a whirling ceiling fan that is no match for the Havana summer morning heat, Emiliano Nelson Guerra traced a pattern onto a bolt of pink cotton cloth and carefully scissored the edges. Intermittently pulling on a fat cigar, he explained the significance of the "guayabera," the roomy, collared, four-pocketed dress shirts that Cubans wear to look spiffy on this tropical island where neckties are practically extinct. Read More

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Yoruba Andabo Brings the Spirit of Rumba to France

<p style="text-align: justify;">With a masterly coupling of voices by the undeniable devotion of musician and dancers, the Cuban company Yoruba Andabo brought again France the spirit of rumba. "We always go on stage to give the best of ourselves, and putting our country in a higher place is our constant slogan", Geovany del Pino director and singer of the group told Prensa Latina. Read More

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Castros meet with Chavez as he recovers in Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">Sat Jun 18, 2011 2:00pm GMT. HAVANA, June 18 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez met with Cuban President Raul Castro and former leader Fidel Castro as he "recovers satisfactorily" from surgery in Havana last week, Cuban press reported on Saturday.Communist Party newspaper Granma showed four photos of a smiling Chavez with the Castro brothers in a meeting said to have occurred on Friday in what looked to be a hospital room. Read More

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Urban marketplaces, long common in Latin America, flourishing in Cuba amid economic changes

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Associated Press,HAVANA — Marketplaces full of vendors hawking everything from food to religious items may be common sights across Latin America, but they’re springing up for the first time in the Cuban capital as the island’s Communist government opens its tightly controlled economy to some private-sector activity. Nearly 140 official points of sale in abandoned structures, parking lots and crumbling old buildings have been established in recent months and are accommodating about 2,600 independent vendors. Read More

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Cuba's famed cigar industry recovering from crisis

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Marc Frank Marc Frank. HAVANA (Reuters) – Production of Cuban cigars and tobacco leaf are on the rise after falling on hard times in the country famed for its "puros" due to smoking bans and the international financial crisis, according to local reports.Cuba's finest tobacco leaf is grown and cured in western-most Pinar del Rio province where the just-concluded harvest produced 25.4 million leaves, according to local radio reports, compared with the previous year's 22.4 million leaves.While the figures are up, they are still well below 2008 when Cuba produced just over 100 million cigars for export and Pinar del Rio's tobacco harvest totaled 26 million leaves. Read More

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Cuba: Valuable Natural Resource Calling Out for Help

<p style="text-align: justify;">2011.06.13 - 18:53:06 / radiorebelde.icrt.cu. Havana, Cuba.- The history of degradation of the soil in many parts of the world is long and difficult. It is of significant importance in Cuba´s case because the island’s economy is eminently agricultural. The magnitude of the problem can be seen when you learn that, of the 6.6 million hectares of the nation´s cultivable surface, approximately three quarters are affected by some kind of degradation factor. Read More

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Limos, heli tours, good tables - all on demand

<p style="text-align: justify;">By JUSTIN MAHONEY, The Gazette June 13, 2011. Organizing a yacht cruise, adorning the entire hotel room with fresh cut flowers, finding the finest cigars Cuba has the offer, scoring VIP tickets to the best parties in town - nothing is too good for Montreal hotel guests during the Grand Prix weekend.On Grand Prix weekend, concierges aim to please guests at any price and cohiba behike cigars, Montecristo, Romeo and Julieta cigars,the owner even hired a Cuban cigar roller to add a flare of authenticity for the special weekend, just a Cuban flavor around. Read More

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Venezuela's Hugo Chavez recovers after surgery in Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">Get well soon: Venezuelans make their feelings known. 13 June 2011 Last updated at 10:05 GMT. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he is recovering well after surgery in Cuba last week for a pelvic abscess. Mr Chavez, 56, told the Caracas-based Telesur network that he was carrying out his duties from Havana. Read More

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Bay Area's business ties to Cuba could grow

<p style="text-align: justify;">Andrew S. Ross. San Francisco Chronicle June 12, 2011 04:00 AM.Sunday, June 12, 2011. "Wow," said a dance teacher in San Francisco who is planning a trip to Cuba to check out the professional dance scene there. "Now I can make the trip without having to take a bunch of connections," she said, referring to the news last week that Oakland International Airport is starting direct flights to Havana later this year.Equally happy, presumably, are folks at UC Berkeley, Stanford and other academic institutions in the Bay Area. Read More

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