Three U.S. charter companies announce new Cuba flights

<p style="text-align: justify;">Three U.S. travel service providers announced the Cuban government granted landing rights for their charter flights from four U.S. airports that will offer Cuba service for the first time.The charter companies include Miami-based Marazul Charters for Atlanta-Havana flights; Miami-based Airline Brokers Co. for Fort Lauderdale-Havana flights; and Los Angeles-based Cuba Travel Services Inc., which has been granted landing rights for flights from San Juan, P.R, Fort Lauderdale and Houston.The announcements follow news earlier this week that Cuba granted landing rights to Miami-based ABC Charters and Xael Charters for Tampa-Havana flights. Read More

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Venezuela Receives Another Cuban-made Tug

<p style="text-align: justify;">2011.08.06 - 12:28:46 / radiorebelde.icrt.cu. Havana, Cuba.- Venezuela received on Friday a second tug, as part of the cooperation agreement existing between the two countries, members of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA). The craft was made at the Caribbean Drydock Co. Inc. shipyard of Casablanca, at the Havana port, the venue for the official ceremony of delivery to the shipowner: Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) Oriente. Read More

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Cuban group Camerata Romeu in a Costa Rican festival

<p style="text-align: justify;">Fuente: PL | 06 de Agosto 2011. San José, (PL). – The Cuban string orchestra, Camerata Romeu, will offer a concert at the 21st Festival of Credomatic Music, which will be held in this capital from the 6 and until the 21 of August.Under the leadership of its director, Zenaida Romeu, the group – made exclusively by women – is characterized by its high quality and an international prestige, earned in several spaces of the world.The program to be carried out at the National Theatre includes pieces made by the Cuban composers José White, Carlos Fariñas, Abelardo Valdés and Silvio Rodríguez among many others. Read More

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Cuba and Guatemala, a Cultural Embrace

<p style="text-align: justify;">By: Heidy Morin Rueda. sábado, 06 de agosto de 2011. 10:59Havana, Aug 6 (Prensa Latina) The embrace of the Cuban tocororo and the Guatemalan quetzal is an example of the sisterhood of these two cultures, poet Miguel Barnet said at the conclusion of a meeting between artists from both countries. In his remarks, the president of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) recalled the presence of Cuban national hero Jose Marti in Guatemala, where he pioneered art criticism, and patriot Jose Joaquin Palma, composer of the Guatemalan national anthem. Read More

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More Cuban Sugar Mills to Operate in Coming Harvest

<p style="text-align: justify;">By: Ana Julia Suarez Cruz. 12:26Havana, Aug 6 (Prensa Latina) Seven more sugar mills will operate during the next sugar cane harvest, for a total of 46, Granma newspaper reported on Saturday.&nbsp; According to engineer Osiris Quintero, chief of the Control and Analysis Office of the Ministry of the Sugar Industry, more mills will be operating because of a slight improvement in yields per hectare and the quantity of sugar cane expected to be milled.According to a ministry timetable, 24 of the 46 sugar mills will begin operating in December, and the rest in mid-January of 2012. Read More

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Cuban and Palestinian Foreign Ministers Meet in Havana

<p style="text-align: justify;">HAVANA, Cuba, Aug 6 (acn) Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and his counterpart of the Palestinian National Authority, Riad Malki, now on a visit to the island, held a work meeting on Friday at the Cuban Foreign Ministry.According to a note published on Saturday by the Granma newspaper, Rodriguez reiterated the unrestricted support of the Caribbean country for the fraternal Palestinian people, in its historic struggle for the inalienable right to self-determination and to achieve sovereignty as an independent State. Read More

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Chavez gets permission to go to Cuba for chemo

<p style="text-align: justify;">Updated 02:06 p.m., Saturday, August 6, 2011. CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Legislators have granted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez permission to return to Cuba for a second round of chemotherapy for his cancer.The 57-year-old Chavez announced Friday that he planned to go to Cuba this weekend after getting legislative approval. He is scheduled to undergo medical tests Sunday and Monday. Read More

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Venezuela's Chavez to go back to Cuba for treatment

<p style="text-align: justify;">By the CNN Wire Staff. August 6, 2011 -- Updated 0928 GMT (1728 HKT) (CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has asked lawmakers to approve a trip to Cuba, where he is expected to continue cancer treatment.Chavez announced in June that doctors had removed a cancerous tumor from his body, but the leader has not specified what type of cancer. He traveled to Cuba last month for about a week of chemotherapy. Read More

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Restoring the Cuban City with a French Colonial Air

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Patricia Grogg. CIENFUEGOS, Cuba, Aug 5, 2011 (IPS) - The city of Cienfuegos, known in Cuba as the "Pearl of the South", is unique for its spotless cleanliness, the orderly grid pattern of its streets, its 19th century architecture and its air of "Grande Dame" elegance. Now its past splendours, ravaged by time or left to deteriorate because of economic difficulties, are being restored."If you see anyone throwing trash in the streets, you can be sure it's a stranger from out of town," a woman born and raised in Cienfuegos told IPS, with a touch of civic pride and ownership. Read More

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TPA-HAV: Non-stop flights to Cuba set to takeoff from Tampa

<p style="text-align: justify;">12:47 AM, Aug 6, 2011. Tampa, Florida- For the first time in nearly 50 years, non-stop flights from Tampa to Havana, Cuba are on sale this week.The flights are set to begin around the second weekend of September and will be operated by various carriers including American Airlines through independent charter companies. The new service recently approved by the U.S. and Cuban governments gives those with roots in Cuba a more convenient option for traveling back to their home island. Previously, those eligible to travel, had to take charter flights out of Miami. Read More

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