Cuba Headlines

Cuba News, Breaking News, Articles and Daily Information

Archive - Jul 9, 2011

Alan Gross is on his last stand, at least legally

<p style="text-align: justify;">The imprisoned American contactor has an appeal in Cuban court set for July 22nd. “The appeal is Gross' final legal recourse, and after that it would be left to the Cuban government to consider whether to free him for humanitarian or political reasons,” according to the Associated Press. Read More

Tourists in Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">Cuban cell phone use has skyrocketed, Reuters reports. There were 330,000 mobile phones on the island in 2008, when their use was first legalized by Raúl Castro. Now the figure has hit one million. Marc Frank writes: “Cuba has a similar number of fixed telephone lines. In a country of 11.2 million inhabitants, the country has a total telephone density of just under 20 percent, the lowest in Latin America, according to the United Nations International Telecommunications Union.” Internet use has also increased, though less dramatically. Read More

Cuba comes to Malacca

<p style="text-align: justify;">MALACCA: Cuba is a country known for producing high quality cigars.Less-mentioned, is its unique culture that is an amalgamation of African, Spanish and North American influences. For the observant, one would find such elements in its food, music and art.To promote the country, the Cuban Embassy here is giving Malaysians a taste of the unique blend of its culture through Casa Cuba, an exhibition gallery in Bukit Peringgit. Read More

Official daily demands greater openness in Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">EFE. Published July 08, 2011. Havana –&nbsp; The official newspaper of Cuba's ruling Communist Party complained Friday that the "innumerable and illogical obstacles" that bureaucrats use to stop journalists from gaining access to information on the island makes their job an "agonizing cross to bear." In an article entitled "The Right to Information," Granma admits the existence of "state secrets that obviously require a different treatment," but regrets what a chore it is to get information on other matters "of understandable interest to the public," such as those related to the economy. Read More

Long distance, a Cuban Film

<p style="text-align: justify;">July 8 2011. Long distance is a Cuban film that was premiered at the Latin American Havana Film Festival&nbsp; and deals with all those who decide to leave Cuba. Long Distance is about ravages distance causes, it is a film directed by the Cuban Esteban Insausti and it is his first movie. The film is about a 35 year old woman who leaves Cuba and realizes that she has lost all her friends in the course of time. Read More

In Cuba, Yes, but Only With a Purpose

<p style="text-align: justify;">By VICTORIA BURNETT. July 8, 2011. LINDA SLEZAK stood over a bed of delicate bean plants, tearing out tiny weeds and mounding loose, rust-colored earth around the stems.Jose Goitia for The New York Times. Maritza Miranda, a Cuban, tells tourists of her experiences. A hot June sun glared over the Arroyo Arenas organic vegetable garden at the edge of Havana where Ms. Slezak, a 68-year-old retired social worker from Long Island, and 16 other Americans were visiting as part of a “food sovereignty” progra.&nbsp; Read More

Cuba historian: Party expulsion order overturned

<p style="text-align: justify;">HAVANA (AP) — A Cuban historian who came under fire for an unusually frank article denouncing high-level corruption says an order expelling him from the Communist Party has been overturned.Esteban Morales writes on his personal website that a party appeals commission called him in last week to inform him of the decision. Read More

Rev. Walker remembered at sendoff for Cuba Caravan

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Dolores Cox. New York. Published Jul 7, 2011 6:32 PM. Volunteers Johnnie Stevens and Alison Bodine load medical supplies for Cuba at Queens, N.Y., warehouse.WW photo: Anne Pruden. The 22nd Pastors for Peace Friendshipment Caravan sendoff on June 30 from New York’s renowned Riverside Church included a memorial tribute commemorating the life of the Rev. Lucius Walker, IFCO/Pastors for Peace founding director, who passed away last year shortly after returning from the caravan to Cuba. Read More

Music Company RS Berkeley Donates A Full Orchestra Of Musical Instruments To Cuban Music Students

<p style="text-align: justify;">Published: 2011-07-07. Wynton Marsalis New York, NY—In a major announcement last week, Les Silver, President and CEO of RS Berkeley Musical Instruments, pledged that the company will donate all the brand-new, acoustic instruments needed to completely outfit a student orchestra at the Amadeo Roldán Academy of Music in Havana, Cuba's premier academy of music.The New Jersey company will contribute 28 brass, woodwind, stringed and percussion instruments—saxes, trumpets, trombones, violins and basses, even a tuba—to the New York organization, Horns to Havana. Read More

Chavez makes surprise public appearance

<p style="text-align: justify;">Published July 08, 2011. EFE. Caracas –&nbsp; Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez interrupted his convalescence Thursday with an appearance at a military academy in the capital, although he said he needs to slow his typically hectic work schedule while undergoing treatment for cancer. Chavez greeted cadets at the Fuerte Tiuna base, his first public appearance outside the presidential palace since returning to Venezuela early Monday following surgery in Cuba to remove a cancerous tumor. Read More