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A group of 647 Cuban dissidents asked the presidents of the United States and Spain, Cardinal Jaime Ortega and the presidency of the European Union to put pressure on the island’s government so that it carry out a political opening, which would include the recognition of opposition organizations and the ratification of the International Treaty on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Treaty on Civil and Political Rights, signed by the Caribbean island nation in 2008.

Saturday, September 11, will mark three tragedies in recent history. One brought many refugees to Cuba, another mourning to the island and the third led to several conflicts in the Middle East with global ramifications.

We have posted numerous additional great photos from Elio Delgado on the two popular galleries listed below. Check them out.

Tropical Storm Igor was downgraded to a Tropical Depression on Friday, notes Cuba’s Meteorological Institute (INSMET). Insmet predicts that Igor will incline its path to the west-northwest in the next 24-48 hours, increasing the speed of its movement and possibly gaining in organization and intensity.

Close to five million persons in 28 countries have learned to read and write with the Yo sí puedo (Yes I Can) Cuban method, Miguel Llivina, representative of the UNESCO Regional Office of Culture for Latin America and the Caribbean, affirmed and urged governments and international organizations to take more into account the island’s experience on this subject

The governor of the U.S. state of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, expressed his confidence in the improvement of relations with Cuba in statements to the press in Washington. Richardson, who traveled to the island last August, pointed to the cooperation in the anti-drug struggle and the joint construction of rural hospitals in Haiti as a show of that advance in ties between the two neighboring nations.

At least 10 of the political prisoners out of the odd 20 still in prison refuse to accept traveling to Spain because they wish to remain in the island or want to go to the United States, Elizardo Sánchez, president of the opposition’s Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation, affirmed. That group forms part of the 52 dissidents included in the agreement between the Catholic Church, Madrid and the Cuban government.

Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega called for “accepting the difficult aspects” that the ongoing changes in Cuba can bring with them, in a homily in the Havana church dedicated to Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, considered by the Catholic Church as the island’s patron saint. The also archbishop of Havana reiterated his certainty that all the dissidents imprisoned in 2003 will be released, as the government promised.

In an interview with Atlantic Magazine former Cuban President Fidel Castro recognized that the State had assumed too big a role in the island’s economy.

Tropical Storm Igor is still close to the northwest African coast but Cuba’s weather experts are already tracking its progress as it begins moving west. The storm formed quickly and at noon Wednesday was 155 kilometers southeast of the Cape Verde Islands, reports The Cuban Meteorological Institute.