Coffee and its mysterious trade with the soul

<p style="text-align: justify;">2011.05.02 - 11:30:44 / radiorebelde.icrt.cu / Havana, Cuba. - Cuban National Hero, Jose Marti, said once that coffee has a mysterious trade with the soul… Its essence penetrates the roots of our everyday life until it is indispensable in the homes of the largest Antillean Island. In a date as remote as 1748, Chief Accountant Don Jose Gelabert, owner of “La Aurora” estate, brought some seeds from Haiti, thus developing the first coffee plantation known in the country.&nbsp; Read More

---

Cuba Condemns Killing of Gaddafi Relatives

<p style="text-align: justify;">11:38Havana, May 2 (Prensa Latina) The military aggression against Libya is a confirmation of the warnings made by the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, about a NATO military intervention against the country, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.In a statement published in the Monday edition of Granma newspaper, the Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the brutal murder of one of the sons of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Read More

---

Havana Jesus statue gets touch-up

<p style="text-align: justify;">The giant Cristo de La Habana statue at the entrance of Havana Bay, a tourism attraction and symbol of Catholic Cuba, is undergoing restoration work, Cubadebate reported.The 320-ton statue, designed by sculptor Jilma Madera and completed just before the revolution in 1958, has suffered lightning damage to one arm and its head. Government workers are repairing the damage, and the marble statue will receive a thorough cleaning. Work should be completed within two months, according to Cubadebate. Read More

---

Joyous Catholics celebrate beatification of John Paul II

<p style="text-align: justify;">Echoing the festivities in Rome, South Florida Catholics gathered Sunday to honor the late pope, to whom miracles have been attributed.BY DANIEL SHOER ROTH. ElNuevoHerald.com. On the day when hundreds of millions of Catholics throughout the world celebrated the elevation of Pope John Paul II to the ranks of the beatified, Robert Reyes joined the festivities Sunday, carrying an effigy of the pontiff from his home altar to an afternoon Mass in Miami as a symbol to remember the “traveling Pope.” Read More

---

Win a double pass to see The Bar at Buena Vista

<p style="text-align: justify;">2 May 11 @ 08:30am&nbsp;&nbsp; by Laura Suckling. Win a double pass to see The Bar at Buena Vista. Win a double pass to see The Bar at Buena Vista. Four of Cuba’s greatest musicians are banding together to bring the passion, romance and energy of Buena Vista’s golden age to Australian audiences.The Bar at Buena Vista presents The Grandfathers of Cuban Music and stars Reynaldo Creagh, Maracaibo, Maestro Rubalcaba and the original diva Siomara Avilla Valdes Lescay. Read More

---

Workers in charge of Cuba's economic reforms - Mesa

<p style="text-align: justify;">The Post Newspapers Zambia.By Larry Moonze in Havana, Cuba on Monday 02 May 2011, 09:10:00 CAT (253 Reads) CTC general secretary Valdes Mesa and First Vice-President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura CTC general secretary Valdes Mesa and First Vice-President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura.Post Online, Havana: CUBAN Workers Confederation (CTC) general secretary Salvador Valdes Mesa has said the workers are in full charge of the economic reforms underway in Cuba. Read More

---

Cuban website: Bin Laden's death is not an act of justice but an act of war and revenge

<p style="text-align: justify;">'U.S. used 9/11 as an excuse for Middle East crusade' There was no immediate official reaction from Havana to Osama bin Laden's death, but a news update in Cubadebate Monday morning included the following comments:"A military operation is not an act of justice. It's an act of war," said the article, alluding to a statement by Tony Blair, in which the former British prime minister described Bin Laden's death as an "act of justice." Read More

---

John Paul II beatified in Vatican ceremony

<p style="text-align: justify;">The late Pope, John Paul II, has been officially beatified at a ceremony at the Vatican in front of hundreds of thousands of Catholic faithful.Among those at St Peter's Square is French nun Marie Simon-Pierre, who says she was cured of Parkinson's Disease. Read More

---

Cuba Revives Tarasca Tradition After 200 Years

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Anett Rios. HAVANA – The mythological monster Tarasca has again paraded through Havana after a 200-year absence, in a street carnival that sought to revive and modernize the tradition in Cuba that has the crowds throwing all the bad things in their lives at the dreadful beast before it is burned on the capital’s landmark seafront esplanade, the Malecon.With the body of a dragon – though many in the crowd mistake it for a beetle or even an alligator – the expiatory Cuban Tarasca returned this week, relieving onlookers of the evil they have done while leading three days of parades inspired by the centuries-old Corpus Christi processions on the island. Read More

---

Cuban Chess Player Dominguez Sets National Record and Ranks World’s 21st

<p style="text-align: justify;">By AIN / radioangulo.icrt.cu / Sunday, 01 May 2011 07:17. Leinier Dominguez. Photo: capablanca.co.cu.Cuban Grand Master Leinier Dominguez set a new national record when the World Chess Federation (FIDE) published its latest update showing him with 2,726 ELO points, in the world’s 21st position.The FIDE official website has the Cuban GM with 10 more ELO points than two months ago, which helped him climb the same amount of positions in the world ranking, to lead Latin America and place third in the Americas. Read More

---