Cuba reduced by close to half its commercial exchange with Canada in 2009 and to more than a third with Spain, Italy and Venezuela, revealed a report by the National Office of Statistics (ONE). According to the source, last year imports fell to eight billion dollars as compared to 14 billion in 2008.
Read MoreThe U.S. Catholic Church offered its backing to Cuba’s Catholic Church in its efforts to improve the situation of political prisoners in the island, according to statements by Juan Molina, advisor to the Office for International Justice and Peace of the Episcopal Conference. The mediation begun last May 19 already resulted in the relocation of six inmates in their provinces of origin
Read MoreThe European diplomats who spoke to IPS welcomed the first results of the talks between Cardinal Jaime Ortega and President Raul Castro, through which the Church aims to improve the situation of imprisoned dissidents, and to secure the eventual release of at least those prisoners who are ill.
Read MoreCuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez backed the release of the political prisoners on the island and also demanded that the Cuban Five, imprisoned in the United States charged with espionage, be set free, reported IPS. He spoke at a press conference in New York, one of the stopovers of his tour of the United States. According to Rodríguez, the Washington-Havana conflict should end because it has caused “too much distress, too many absences, too much missing, too much sorrow.”
Read MoreA court in El Paso, Texas, will decide today the date for the trial of confessed terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, who is charged with lying to the U.S. immigration authorities when he entered the country undocumented in 2005, reported the Miami-based El Nuevo Herald. Moreover, Posada did not disclose his relationship with the 1997 attacks against hotels in Cuba, which caused the death of Italian Fabio di Celmo.
Read MoreIt is still too soon to celebrate the transfer of political prisoners in Cuba, affirmed the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), one of the most influential organizations of the Cuban exile in the United States. The moving of six inmates up to now would be a strategy of the government to “turn away the attention of international public opinion” from issues such as releases or the hunger strike by dissident Guillermo Fariñas, according to statements to the press by Omar López Montenegro, director of human rights of the CANF.
Read MoreThe Archbishopric of Havana confirmed on Monday that six inmates were transferred to prisons located in provinces where they live. The process responds to a petition by the Catholic hierarchy to the Cuban government regarding the situation of political prisoners and the possible release of some of them.
Read MoreThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba expressed Tuesday “its strongest condemnation” of the Israeli army’s attack against a flotilla of ships that aimed to take humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip population. The Foreign Ministry official note urges “the international community and peace-loving peoples to demand the Israeli authority’s immediate lifting of the illegal, savage and genocidal blockade” against the Palestinian people.
Read MoreCuba and China will build a new luxury hotel in the tourist area of the Hemingway Marina, in the island’s capital, reported IPS. The new installation, which will have 650 rooms, will form part of the joint ventures in areas such as the machine and light industry, communications, agricultural production and tourism.
Read MoreEuropean Union (EU) has no reason to maintain its Common Position toward Cuba because “that road did not serve to achieve our objectives,” affirmed Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Miguel Angel Moratinos in statements to Brazil’s O Globo daily. The Spanish FM recalled how Madrid’s policy of dialogue had promoted the release of dozens of political prisoners. He said: “We continue working but always respecting the pace and decisions of the Cuban authorities.”
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