New guidelines issued for travel to Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Jane Engle Los Angeles Times Staff Writer. April 21, 2011, 10:24 a.m.The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday issued new guidelines for travel to Cuba, more than three months after President Obama announced he would loosen restrictions that bar most Americans from legally visiting the Communist island.The action frees up U.S. organizations to apply for new licenses to organize Cuba trips and also clarifies which U.S. citizens may travel to Cuba without applying for a Treasury Department license. Most Americans, however, are still barred from legally visiting Cuba, except for specific purposes that are outlined in the guidelines. Read More

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Offshore rig could begin drilling by October

<p style="text-align: justify;">Construction of the Scarabeo 9 platform in Singapore will be completed by the end of June, Saipem SpA, the oil services company that owns the deep-sea drilling rig, said in its first-quarter report.Assuming the semi-submersible leaves July 1 and an anticipated 60- to 80-day transit, it should arrive in Cuban waters by September. Scarabeo 9 could then begin drilling for a consortium led by Repsol YPF “sometime in October, worst-case and no weather- or other related delays,” said Jorge Piñón, a Miami-based oil industry expert. Read More

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Cuba denies fault in loss of Haiti-bound aid barge

<p style="text-align: justify;">AP. HAVANA – Cuba is denying a U.S. company's accusations that it is to blame for the loss of a barge carrying $2 million in aid to Haiti.A Transportation Ministry statement says a Cuban tugboat received a distress call from the "Muheet" just before midnight Nov. 30, and responded promptly. Read More

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FM: Brazil supports Cuban reforms

<p style="text-align: justify;">(Tianshannet) Updated: 2011-April-21 11:10:45. Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota said Wednesday that the Brazilian government is following the recent changes in the structure of the Cuban Communist Party, and considers those changes positive. Read More

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Friends Of Cuba Boost Cultural Exchanges

<p style="text-align: justify;">MELAKA, April 21 (Bernama) -- The Friends of Cuba Association Malaysia (FOCAM) is set to boost cultural exchanges between the two countries, which have had diplomatic relations for the past 35 years.The Cuban ambassador to Malaysia, Carlos A. Amores, said Casa Cuba, a gallery launched in 2007 here to exhibit Cuban culture, would help FOCAM boost cultural exchanges between the two countries. Read More

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Cuba Education Tours Announces the Ultimate Havana Jazz Festival Tour for December 2011

<p style="text-align: justify;">PRWeb. The 2011 Official Havana International Jazz Festival Tour set for December 11 to 19 was announced this week by Cuba Education Tours. The 27th anniversary jazz festival junket includes a nine-day stay at the five star Hotel National de Cuba on Havana's swank Malecón oceanfront. This is the fifth year Cuba Education Tours has hosted the Cuban jazz celebration trip. Festival president, jazz titan, and five time Latin Grammy Award winner Chucho Valdés, and the Cuban Institute of Music endorse the tour. Read More

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Gender Inequality Persists Behind Closed Doors

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Ivet González. Women's emancipation is more marked in public than in private. / Credit:Jorge Luis Baños/IPS. HAVANA, Apr 20, 2011 (IPS) - While gender roles have changed since Cuba's 1959 revolution, inequalities persist among men and women in private life, and young people are both accepting that and breaking with it. Read More

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Cubans facing deportation now must report to ICE in Broward

<p style="text-align: justify;">Cubans and others facing deportation must travel further to do regular check-ins with federal authorities.By ALFONSO CHARDY.achardy.ElNuevoHerald.com. Like thousands of other Cuban exiles facing deportation, Mauricio Suarez has had to report his whereabouts regularly to federal immigration authorities. Read More

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IFACCA’s Executive Director Expresses Satisfaction with Cuba’s Achievements

<p style="text-align: justify;">2011.04.20 - 13:41:33 / radiorebelde.icrt.cu. HAVANA, CUBA.- The Executive Director of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA), Sarah Gadner, expressed her satisfaction with the positive results of the 30th meeting of this organization, which came to an end on Tuesday in Havana.Gadner said that the event, held for the first time in Cuba, at the National Hotel, was very interesting and productive, particularly because of the cultural program prepared by the hosts. Read More

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Congress approves reforms, but implementation will take years

<p style="text-align: justify;">Implementing economic reforms will take five years of hard work, President Raúl Castro said Tuesday in his closing speech of the 6th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba.The plenum of the Party Congress unanimously approved a 311-point reform package whose content has not been made public yet.he reforms are being implemented on the background of austerity, Castro warned. Rising oil and food prices are causing Cuba to spend $800 million more this year than budgeted, while the country has little access to international credit. The cabinet will meet after the party congress to adjust the plan and budget that was passed in December, Castro said. Read More

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