News

US agent Alan Gross, 63, is getting desperate in a Cuban jail where he is serving the third year of a 15-year sentence for endangering the island’s national security.

Pedro Luis Lazo, the towering right hander who pitched 20 seasons with Pinar del Rio in the Cuban Baseball League, has come out of a 14-month retirement and will pitch for the Pirates of Campeche in the Mexican League (Triple A Level).

Cinderella Matanzas in the west and surprising Granma in the east, have made it to the semifinals of the Cuban Baseball League. Both teams came from behind to defeat Sancti Spiritus and Villa Clara.

The 47th Capablanca Memorial Chess Tournament will begin today at the Riviera Hotel in the capital. Russian players Ian Nepomniachtchi (with an ELO rating of 2,716) and Vladimir Potkin (2,642); Czech competitor Victor Laznicka (2,693), and local players Leinier Dominguez (2,725) and Yuniesky Quesada (2,625) will be the main challengers to “Chucky” – who will attempt to retain his crown.

Poets from Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Angola, the United States and Cuba are sharing their works from May 2 to 7 in the eastern provinces of Cuba as part of the International Conference of Verse.

Granma newspaper reported today on a letter from Pope Benedict XVI that was sent to Raul Castro on April 3 expressing the Pope’s appreciation for the welcome he received on the island during his apostolic visit in March.

Cuba is mentioned among those countries that continue to violate human rights, according to the 388-page Human Rights and Democracy Report released in London earlier this week by the UK’s minister of Foreign Affairs, William Hague.

After two days of discussions and exchanges, today concludes the Thirteenth Inter-Parliamentary Meeting between Cuba and Mexico, whose outcome will be compiled in a final statement.