News

Cuban food purchases from the United States decreased 35 per cent in the first five months of this year, as compared to the same period in 2009, according to a specialized report published this Thursday in the U.S. press. The report affirms that from January to May this year, U.S. sales to Cuba stood at 182 million dollars, as compared to 278 million the previous year.

Paraplegic dissident Ariel Sigler, released from prison last June 12, since this Wednesday is in Miami, the mecca of the Cuban exile in the United States, where he was welcomed by around 100 supporters. Sigler is the first prisoner released after the dialogue that began in May between President Raúl Castro and Cardinal Jaime Ortega.

Cuban parliament speaker Ricardo Alarcón this Wednesday held the United States accountable for the situation of Gerardo Hernández, one of Cuban Five who were given long prison sentences in that country over 11 years ago, whose “health is in danger.” The parliament leader complained that Hernandez, serving two life sentences, is kept incommunicado from his lawyers at a time when appeal procedures are being carried out in his favor.

Cuban parliament members began this Wednesday their work in commissions with a view to the plenary session of the National Assembly of People’s Power set for Sunday. According to the state-run media, the agenda includes the assessment of the economic plan during the first semester, work productivity and new self-employment experiences recently applied in the country.

The finding for the first time of abundant pieces made out of shells, among them corporal adornments, demonstrates the possible presence of farmer-potters among the indigenous people of central northern Cuba, Villa Clara province. Raúl Villavicencio, an archaeologist from the Centre for Environmental Studies and Services (CESAM) in that territory, explained to the Cuban media that the advanced technique used reflects a high level of development in primitive communities, since up to now there only existed traces of agricultural hunters in the province.

Numerous Latin American solidarity and peace groups from the United States are calling for a Day of Action to Confront US Militarism in the Americas on October 11, 2010. The date coincides with “the European invasion of the Americas and when indigenous peoples mark as the 518th year of resistance to invasion and colonialism.”

A book by Fidel Castro titled “The Strategic Victory,” which narrates passages of the guerrilla war that in the summer of 1958 marked “the irreversible turning point” in favor of the Rebel Army, will be in circulation soon. In a “Reflection” published this Tuesday, the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution explained that he worked for months on the subject after his serious illness and now he is “in good spirits” to continue writing the second part of that book.

Wearing his olive green uniform, former President Fidel Castro this Monday placed a wreath at the base of the enormous white marble monument to Cuban independence hero José Martí in Revolution Square and later spoke with a group of intellectuals, including some journalists from the official media. The new public presentation of the recovered historic leader of the Cuban Revolution coincided with the 57th anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Barracks, commemorated in the central city of Santa Clara. Fidel Castro did not attend the commemoration.