The alarm was set off by Cuban Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura: The panorama of the 2015-2016 sugar harvest is unfavorable and there doesn’t seem to be any hope for a recovery that would make possible meeting the government’s production plan.
Read MoreCuban authorities will begin testing later this year in two neighborhoods of Old Havana to allow Internet access from homes, something previously prohibited for ordinary Cubans. A start up date and the prices to be charged were not announced.
Read MoreCuban president Raul Castro begins a two-day official visit to France on Monday, where he was received with military honors. Castro, 84, is scheduled to meet this afternoon with President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace.
Read MoreA small company in the heart of Havana has been struggling to remain afloat and push its projects forward since October of 2012. Liber Puente Baro of TostoneT says “Self-employment is tacitly recognized in Cuba,” while noting the obstacles are considerable.
Read MoreAfter decades of absence from the market, Cubans can now buy lumber. Thanks to a resolution of the Ministry of Domestic Commerce, the government’s retail market of building materials can now offer wood to the population.
Read MoreThe US government today announced a further easing of some aspects of its embargo on Cuba, which could facilitate travel, trade and finance. The new measures take effect on Wednesday, announced the Departments of Treasury and Commerce in a joint statement.
Read MoreThere’s a part of the heart somewhere that gets sad if you don’t dress it up, if you don’t make it pretty, says Orlando Fuentes, drummer and director of Influencia, Santiago de Cuba’s most successful jazz band.
Read MoreThe U.S. Agency for International Development on Thursday announced that it is offering $6 million in grants over a three-year period to organizations that will “provide humanitarian assistance to political prisoners and their families, and politically marginalized individuals and groups in Cuba.”
Read MoreThe Venezuelan government declared a 60-day economic emergency today that will include measures to speed up the import and distribution of food, consumer goods and medicines, announced the newly appointed Economy Minister, Luis Salas.
Read MoreDavid is 21 and studying economics at the University of Havana. On weekends, when he heads back home in Batabano (in the province of Mayabeque), he works as a street vendor, selling produce. “My parents earn regular salaries. Do you think that you can support someone who’s going to university with 500 pesos a month?” he says, explaining how he and his grandfather decided to pool their savings and buy a cart to sell produce.
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