Benicio Del Toro - A Latino rebel becomes our man in Havana

<p style="text-align: justify;">Friday, 29 April 2011. Benicio Del Toro is agitated. The Usual Suspects star is pacing to and fro outside the picturesque Bar Silvia in central Havana, where he is directing his first film. It's not often that the dashing star looks out of his comfort zone, but right now he's trying to shoot a scene for 7 Days in Havana in which the actor Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right) chats with locals at the famous hang-out. In the apartment above the bar a dog barks incessantly. As Del Toro looks into the monitor, watching a gorgeous couple waltz past, he worries that the scene is going to look "like a video". Read More

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Just outside Havana, Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">Thursday, April 28, 2011. Just outside Havana, Cuba, there is a small workers town called La Lisa. It is also the home town of one of Cuba’s boxing champions, Roberto Balado Mendez, whom, after an accident was forced to retire and, with the help of Muhammed Ali, decided to open his own boxing school.While it isn’t a fancy place, to say the least – with car tires instead of bean bags – or share the tourist glory of school in Havana, it has produced so far five national and Olympic champions. Read More

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Bill Proposes to Halt Cuba Oil Drilling in Gulf

<p style="text-align: justify;">Friday, 29 Apr 2011 01:35 PM. By Martin Gould. Florida GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan is pulling out the stops to prevent Cuba from drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.Buchanan has introduced a bill to deny U.S. drilling permits to any company that works with the Castro government, Capitol Hill Cubans reports.Buchanan, whose district borders on the Gulf, said the Cuban drilling is planned for just 50 miles from the Florida coast. Spills would inevitably affect the United States which stands to gain nothing from the oilfield. Read More

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