Benicio del Toro was back in Havana this week to accept an award from Cuba’s Writers and Artists Association (UNEAC) for his lead role playing Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the Argentine revolutionary in the two-part four and a half hour film directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Read MoreThe Cuban Revolution “needs change” and “young blood, who trust all those compatriots who made it possible,” said Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez in statements to the press in Asunción, Paraguay. Silviohas continuously suggested that the Cuban government should rescind the expensive and sometimes difficult to obtain exit visa required for Cubans to travel abroad.
Read MoreThe formula of giving land to agricultural producers should be extended to other sectors such as retail trade, said journalist Ariel Terrero, a specialist in economic issues of Cuba’s state-run television. According to Terrero, the diversity of forms of production makes it necessary to raise again the topic of forms of ownership in the Caribbean country.
Read MoreThe U.S. blockade against Cuba remains intact “in political as well as practical terms,” said Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Tuesday when reporting to a legislative committee at the Havana Convention Center. He noted that in 2008 alone, the US blockade cost the Caribbean country US $3 billion in losses.
Read MoreCases of dengue have been reported in Cuba, but there isn’t an epidemic in the country, affirmed Deputy Health Minister Luis Estruch when speaking to a legislative committee.
Read More“This is an incredibly important step,” said Vicki Gass, a Honduras specialist at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). “It reminds the de facto government that the coup d’etat remains unacceptable that they will have to restore Zelaya to power as part of a broader negotiated solution.”
Read MoreThe impact of the global financial crisis on the economy in Cuba was a major focus of a speech Sunday by President Raul Castro, who confirmed that further “adjustments” will be made to this year’s budget.
Read MoreThe US Interests Section in Havana suspended the broadcasting of messages on its electronic sign with red lettering that it has kept on its façade for several years. The ticker, considered highly offensive by the Cuban government, was a symbol of the tense relations during the Bush administration.
Read MoreCuban blogger Yoani Sanchez obtained one of the medals of the 2009 Maria Moors Cabot Prize, awarded by Columbia University, reported IPS. Havana Times did not participate in the contest.
Read MoreUS President Barack Obama ruled out that his government will make new opening gestures in its Cuba policy until the island’s authorities show progress in civil and political freedoms, according to the president’s statements to journalists in the White House over the weekend.
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