85th Birthday, Celebrations, Concert in Cuba, honoring Cuban Leader, Fidel Castro

<p style="text-align: justify;">MIAMI (CBS4)- Fidel Castro marks his 85th birthday Saturday, and celebrations are already underway in Cuba.A music concert Friday for the former Cuban leader, organized by the Guayasamin Foundation, will feature 22 artists from Cuba and seven countries, according to the Cuban News Agency.According to the publication, “the spirit of Ecuadorian painter Oswaldo Guayasamin will permeate the event” held at the capital’s Karl Marx Theater. Guayasamin, a close friend of Castro, managed to convince Fidel to accept the celebration of his birthday back in 1988, the Agency reported. Read More

---

Cuba: let a hundred golf courses bloom

<p style="text-align: justify;">August 12, 2011 5:49 pm by Ron Buchanan. The developers of what will be the Cuban Revolution’s first private golf and residential complex are claiming a hole in one. Sceptics have long questioned the Cuban government’s reluctance to grant full property rights to foreigners who invest in real estate. But all these doubts have been quashed, said Chris Nicholas, managing director of Ottawa-based Standing Feather International, which is due to sign on a golf and residential development in eastern Cuba with the Cuban state company Palmares. Read More

---

The Power of Community : How Cuba Survived Peak Oil

<p style="text-align: justify;">11th August 2011 20:53.About My Area UK (West Yorkshire)REAP (Roundhay Environmental Action Project) are showing the film "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil" on Thursday 6th October at 19.45 at St.Andrew's Church, Shaftesbury Avenue, LS8 1DS. Come and be inspired by the Cuba experience. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba's economy went into a tailspin.With imports of oil cut by more than half - and food by 80 percent - people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Read More

---

"People-to-People" Cuba Tours Launched

<p style="text-align: justify;">Reported by: Newsroom Solutions. Friday, August 12 2011. Americans are now able to visit Cuba legally, but with restrictions.The first "people-to-people" trips left out of Miami Thursday.Of course they're still subject to strict U.S. licensing requirements.Organizer Insight Cuba offered up three inaugural trips."Havana &amp; Colonial Trinidad," "Havana &amp; Scenic Pinar del Rio" and a "Cuban Music &amp; Art Experience" are designed to provide travelers a chance to interact with Cubans on structured, educational itineraries. Read More

---

Venezuelans worry over high inflation

<p style="text-align: justify;">Aug. 11, 2011 at 5:43 PM. CARACAS, Venezuela, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- As Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez undergoes cancer treatment in Cuba, the national economy's management he left in the hands of his trusted stewards is proving to be another test of nerves for economists, investors and ordinary consumers alike. With little sign of a two-year recession dissipating in response to consumer demand, official data indicated Venezuela's price index rose 2.7 percent in July for a cumulative 25.1 percent in 12 months. Read More

---

Cuba: Fifty years and one embargo later, what did I miss?

<p style="text-align: justify;">Today your local newspaper group begins a month-long series of articles by contributing writer Melody Jameson, based on her recent visit to Cuba.By MELODY JAMESON. A half century and a couple of years ago, I was eagerly, pleadingly trying to get to Cuba.In the spring of 2011, I finally made it. So, what did I miss? At first glance, not much. But upon a second look, quite a bit. The magnificent Roman, Spanish, Moorish, French, Dutch — tinged architecture of Old Havana’s 200, 300, 400 — year old buildings is still there – just a half century more decayed. Read More

---

Cuba mural comes to life

<p style="text-align: justify;">Thursday, August 11, 2011 9:54 am. Cuba mural comes to life By Jeff Cole Olean Times Herald Olean. CUBA — As July concluded, so too did a nearly seven-week project undertaken by four local artists to recreate an image of Cuba’s Main Street as it appeared roughly five decades ago. Since June 13, Carol Shaffer, Connie Doyle, Sallie Miller and Eric Jones toiled through blazing summer conditions to bring to fruition a breakout depiction of a simpler time. Mrs. Shaffer said working on the mural, which is found on the back of the Roadrunner building at 1 W. Main St., was a wonderful experience. Read More

---

Cuban University Federation Supports Chilean Students’ Demand for Educational Reforms

<p style="text-align: justify;">2011.08.11 - 10:49:46 /radiorebelde.icrt.cu. HAVANA, Cuba.-&nbsp; The Cuban Federation of University Students (FEU) issued a declaration on Thursday expressing this organization’s support of the struggle of thousands of Chilean students who have taken to the streets demanding educational reforms in that South American nation. The declaration, published by the Juventud Rebelde newspaper, notes that the neoliberal policies implemented in several nations of Latin America continue to try to subjugate the people’s origins, traditions, culture, and identity to the interests of the rich. Read More

---

Cuban Philatelist Wins Prize at World Stamp Exhibition

<p style="text-align: justify;">2011.08.11 - 09:44:27 /radiorebelde.icrt.cu. HAVANA, Cuba.-&nbsp; Adrian Fernandez, from Havana, walked away with the Grand Youth Prize at the Japan World Stamp Exhibition (Philanippon 2011), the most important meeting of stamp collectors. Adrian is the first young philatelist in the world to obtain on three occasions the Grand Youth Prize at international competitions (China 2009, Portugal 2010 and Japan 2011), the Cubadebate Web site reported. Read More

---

New York City Latinbeat Film Festival

<p style="text-align: justify;">Spanning 11 countries from Cuba to Chile, this year´s edition of Latinbeat features U.S. and East Coast premieres by up-and-coming as well as established filmmakers. See your favorite actors in romantic comedies, edge-of-your-seat thrillers, thoughtful dramas as well as eye-catching animations and documentary that flirts with fiction. Don´t miss two special screenings with live musical accompaniment: The Stoessel Expedition, a 1928 film of a remarkable journey in car from Buenos Aires to New York and Mojica Marin’s cult horror classic This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse. Read More

---