US President Barack Obama expressed his wish that the Cuban population enjoy the same freedom as other countries in the hemisphere, in a speech during his visit to Chile, reported IPS. Meanwhile, former Cuban President Fidel Castro described Obama’s performance as foolish in one of his regular columns published by the island’s state-run press.
Read MoreSpanish singer-songwriter Joaquín Sabina regretted Cuba’s situation, in statements to the press before beginning his first tour of the United States. “I haven’t been to Cuba for a long time because I would feel very sad. I read the newspapers, speak with people and know what is happening and that the country is bankrupt,” said the Spanish musician, who described the island’s current times as a “tremendous historical failure.”
Read MoreRepublican legislator Ileana Ros-Lehtinen will again present a bill known as the Protection of Caribbean Coral Reefs Act, which will impose sanctions on foreign companies that do business with Cuba in the oil sector, reported IPS. The representative, known for her total opposition to the Cuban government, believes that the United States should have absolutely no contacts with the island, even when an oil spill occurs in waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Read MoreThe Cuban government condemned the foreign military intervention in Libya and questioned the role of the United Nations Security Council in this conflict, according to a statement by the Foreign Ministry, reported IPS. “For Cuba, conflicts should be resolved through dialogue and negotiation and not through the use of military force,” the text says.
Read MoreThe U.S. government will not take any actions that will undermine the chances for the release of Alan Gross, the U.S. contractor sentenced on March 13 to 15 years in prison in Cuba for Acts against the Independence and Territorial Integrity of the State, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton affirmed in statements to the Telemundo television network. Clinton said that Gross should be released at the very least on humanitarian terms.
Read MoreThe growing demand for bread in Cuba because of the creation of new private food outlets has led to a an increase in production of 58,000 to 89,000 tons a year, for which the island’s authorities will make investments in that sector, said sources from the food industry.
Read MoreThe Cuban authorities granted 171,000 new licenses to persons interested in private work on the island, in some of the 178 activities approved since October 2010, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security reported. That figure represents more than double the independent labor force that existed prior to the labor reform.
Read MoreThe regular 90-game Cuban baseball season comes to an end this week and the eight teams to compete in the quarterfinal playoffs are already determined. Industriales, last year’s league champions were eliminated as well as their perennial rival Santiago de Cuba.
Read MoreCuba’s Odlanier Solis took a couple Round One shots from WBC boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, on Saturday night, dropped to the floor, and said no more before a booing crowd of 19,000 in Cologne, Germany.
Read MoreFormer Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide thanked Cuba for its medical aid to his country, which has saved more than 70,000 persons since the start of the cholera epidemic last October. Aristide returned to Port-au-Prince on Friday after seven years in exile in South Africa.
Read More