Miami's Three Kings Parade draws thousands to celebrate special day

<p style="text-align: justify;">BY DANIEL SHOER ROTH. [email protected]. For tens of thousands of South Floridians who attended the Three Kings Parade Sunday on Calle Ocho, it was a day full of colorful floats, school bands, huge inflatable dummies and the opportunity to see their politicians and favorite telenovela stars. Read More

---

Scarabeo 9 rig to arrive in Cuban waters later than expected

<p style="text-align: justify;">A Chinese-built drilling rig that was expected to arrive in Cuban waters in first quarter 2011 and begin the first full-scale offshore oil exploration there has been delayed until mid-summer, industry sources said on Friday.They said construction of the rig, known as the Scarabeo 9, had progressed more slowly than planned and now it would likely not get to Cuba until late June or early July.“That’s the time frame we’re being told,” said an official from a company involved in the project, who asked not to be named. Read More

---

Guest editorial asks for trade opening with Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">Posted: January 10, 2011 - 12:00am. Excerpts from an editorial in The Times Picayune, New Orleans, on U.S. policy toward Cuba: Cubans who rely on cash sent by their relatives in the United States will benefit from the Obama administration's decision to allow Western Union to pay out the remittances in Cuban currency instead of U.S. dollars.The change, adopted by the Treasury Department, will let recipients in Cuba avoid the 10 percent charge the Cuban government imposes to exchange dollars to a convertible peso. Until now, the Treasury Department had mandated that payouts be made in U.S. dollars. Read More

---

Cuba grants self-employment licenses

<p style="text-align: justify;">HAVANA -- Cuban authorities granted more than 75,000 licenses for self-employment by the end of last year, state media reported Friday, with a further 8,000 still being considered. An increase in self-employment is among the main economic reform measures implemented by the government of Cuban President Raul Castro.The government of communist Cuba announced in October the eventual elimination of over 500,000 public-sector jobs. To counter the effect of that measure, the government moved to facilitate self-employment in a broad range of areas of economic life. Read More

---

Campaign against Salvadoran Students in Cuba Rejected

<p style="text-align: justify;">07 de enero de 2011, 15:29San Salvador, Jan 7 (Prensa Latina) Cuban Ambassador in El Salvador Pedro Pablo Prada rejected a campaign carried out by local rightwing political parties and press media to discriminate and slander Salvadoran students who were graduated in the Latin American Medicine School (ELAM) in Havana. Read More

---

Ohio program helps needy get new knees, hips

<p style="text-align: justify;">By MISTI CRANE, The Associated Press.2:28 PM Sunday,January 9, 2011. COLUMBUS, Ohio — Like many other American physicians, Dr. Adolph Lombardi Jr. makes time each year for medical missionary work. The orthopedic surgeon thinks of his trips to Cuba, Guatemala and Nicaragua as a way to give back. Read More

---

Canadian couple kicked off plane in Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Dave Dormer, QMI Agency.January 9, 2011. A Calgary couple were removed from a Sunwing Vacations flight in Cuba on Thursday after a man lit up in the plane's washroom. Read More

---

British Taekwondo Fighters Arrive in Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">Havana, Jan 9 (Prensa Latina) The British National Women's and Men´s Taekwondo Teams will arrive in Cuba this Sunday, Carlos Bonasco, national commissioner of taekwondo, informed.Bonasco told Cuba´s News Agency (AIN) that the visit of the British teams will be very important and advantageous for the Cuban taekwondo national team that is training for the Pan American Games Guadalajara 2011.Bonasco said that the British are very good and that they will bring to Havana their Olympic and World medallists. That represents a great opportunity to know in what shape the Cubans are. Read More

---

Ecuador Ratifies Protocol with Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">Quito, Jan 9 (Prensa Latina) Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa ratified a protocol on economy with Cuba, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed.The protocol allows for products new to the Cuban market, including roses, rice, tabacco, cotton yarn, fabrics and cables.The objective of the protocol is to promote the expansion and diversification of bilateral trade, with emphasis on goods produced by small and medium producers and the handicraft sector. Read More

---

Latin American Music In Pursuit of Its Protection

<p style="text-align: justify;">Autor: Mario Vizcaino Serrat |&nbsp; 09 de Enero 2011. Specialists, musicians, artists, and producers from several Latin American and Caribbean countries have pinned their hopes on a network of record companies of the Cultural ALBA initiative, about which they met in Havana.The first meeting on this integrationist project was organized by Cubadisco – Cuba’s most important recording company and trade show - and the Cuban Music Institute. All activities were held at the ALBA Center, in Havana’s Vedado district. Read More

---