News

Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes asked the opposition to overcome “the ideological past” regarding Cuba, with which he established diplomatic relations after he became president on June 1, 2009, which had been broken for almost 50 years, in statements to the press in the Central American nation. Funes postponed his September trip to the island because of agenda matters.

The US government should relax sooner than later restrictions on travel to Cuba, the governor of the state of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, affirmed in statements to the MSNBC TV channel from the island’s capital. Richardson also considers that the embargo has not worked and announced he would discuss with the Cuban authorities the case of U.S. contractor Alan Gross, detained since December 2009.

The Cuban Espacio Laical magazine, published by the lay Catholic community, rejected a letter sent to Pope Benedict XVI by representatives of the island’s political opposition, which it considered part of an international campaign to torpedo the Catholic Church’s mediation regarding the political prisoners.

Another six Cuban political prisoners will soon be released, announced today the Archbishopric of Havana, which has announced all the releases up to now. With these prisoners a total of 32 opposition members imprisoned since 2003 have been released and they have asked to leave for Spain, according to the negotiations between the Cuban government, the Catholic Church and Madrid.

Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega asked US authorities during a recent visit he made to Washington that they accept the released political prisoners who have expressed interest in traveling to that country, Orlando Márquez, spokesman for the Archbishopric of Havana, announced.

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro met with a group of Cuban scientists to inform them of the dangers of a possible nuclear war and its consequences for the planet, the island’s state-run press reported today. Castro is carrying out a campaign in the Caribbean nation to warn about the war that could break out in the next few weeks between the United States, Iran and Israel.

The government of the Czech Republic expressed to Cardinal Jaime Ortega and to the Spanish Foreign Ministry its willingness to receive as refugees two of the three released political prisoners and their families, diplomatic sources from the European country announced.

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro affirmed in statements to a group of journalists of the Round Table program of the island’s state-run television that Russia and China can intercede with the U.S. government to avoid a war against Iran, which in his opinion is imminent. In his most recent Reflections, Castro insisted on the responsibility of U.S. President Barack Obama in the start of a possible nuclear war.

Tropical Storm Danielle poses no threat to Cuba according to projections from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC). Cuba was hit by three major hurricanes in 2008 that dealt a severe blow to the nation’s economy, especially the housing construction program.

The governor has a record of supporting an end to the US travel ban on Cuba and a relaxing of the half century economic embargo on the island.