Cuban left-handed fast ball pitcher Aroldis Chapman is close to signing an eight-figure contract to pitch in the US Major Leagues. Chapman, 21, pitched for Holguin in the Cuban Baseball League and was a starter on the island’s team at the second World Baseball Classic last March. His fast ball has been tagged at 102 MPH and he has shown his stuff in workouts to over a dozen MLB teams.
Read MoreIt’s increasingly clear that what has occurred in Honduras marks a setback – whatever might happen before January 27. Taking office on that date will be Porfirio Lobo Sosa, the right-wing winner of the dubious presidential elections that left this Central American country with almost no country in the world recognizing it.
Lobo Sosa will begin his term in the aftermath of the June 28 coup that turned the clock back on the consolidation of the democracy on the Latin American continent.
Read MoreFor years, deserved tributes have been made to those unjustly killed medical students who didn’t have a chance to defend themselves nor a way of preventing their murders. But the black members of the Abakua association did indeed have a choice. They had the option of not getting involved with the incident, of not challenging the colonial authorities – yet they decided to act.
Read MoreThe OMNI-Zona Franca poetry performance collective made its traditional pilgrimage on Thursday to the Sanctuary of San Lazaro, in the Havana suburb of El Rincon, during which time there were no reported attempts to interfere with or obstruct them. On December 11, the OMNI-Zona Franca collective was expelled from its headquarters in the Alamar Gallery under government order.
Read MoreMartinez spoke to quash rumors on the island on an imminent change of local currency. Cuba currently has two national currencies in circulation the CUC, that equals US $1.25, and the CUP regular peso which is worth 5 cents of a US dollar. Most Cubans hope to see a single currency that is the same one that people earn with their salaries. At present they get paid in CUP but must purchase numerous basic consumer goods in the CUC hard currency.
Read MoreAfter 12 years of legal battling, a U.S. federal judge ruled in favor of the Cuban state-run Cubatabaco Company in its litigation against the U.S. General Cigar Company, which has commercialized the Cohiba brand since 1997 in the United States, reported IPS. Cubatabaco forms part of a joint venture between the island and Britain’s Imperial Tobacco.
Read MoreIn a previous piece I wrote about the many tasks that a State gastronomy, or food service, worker has to perform in this country in order to carry out their job. This isn’t an isolated instance. The service and the quality of the products that are offered by the State food establishments leave much to be desired, although we should recognize that things have improved in relation to the decade of the nineties.
Read MoreAn entire generation of Cubans spent afternoons and evenings at the Creative Youth Center, but not only with Nos y Otros. It was there that we also sang to the rhythm of guitars, read poetry, had exhibitions and heard theatrical monologues. It was, like its name implies, the perfect place for young artists who hardly had opportunities in theaters or the “grand” cultural centers. Today it no longer exists. Now it’s a rum museum.
Read MoreThe US government levied a huge fine of US $536 million on Credit Suisse Bank for carrying out transactions that violate the US embargoes against Iran, Libya, Sudan, Burma and Cuba.
Read MoreCuban authorities hope to complete a reduced housing construction plan by the end of the year. At the end of November, 29,703 houses were completed of the programmed 32,000. Cuba suffers from a prolonged housing shortage especially in the capital. Before three hurricanes caused severe devastation in the second half of 2008, the new housing construction goal had been 100,000 per year.
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