US President Barack Obama expressed today in a communiqué his “sincere hope” that all Cuban political prisoners be released. Earlier this year, Cuban President Raul Castro offered to swap the prisoners in Cuban jails convicted of taking funds from the US government and associating with Miami based terrorist groups, for the Cuban Five, held in US prisons since 1998 for allegedly conspiring to commit espionage.
Read MoreThe Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) is holding a top level meeting in Maracay, Venezuela today in which the organization that promotes mutually beneficial trade and social development will officially increase from six to nine members.
Read MoreCuba policy will be one of the points on Chilean President Michelle Bachelet’s agenda in her meeting Tuesday with her U.S. counterpart Barack Obama as part of her visit to Washington, affirmed Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), reported IPS.
Read MoreThe Cuban authorities have begun to reduce investments to “concentrate on the indispensable,” said Deputy Minister of Economy and Planning Julio Vázquez.
Read MoreMexican President Felipe Calderon sent a message to his counterpart Raul Castro through Ambassador Gabriel Jimenez, reported IPS. The Mexican president suspended his trip to the island after the measures adopted by the Cuban government in response to the Swing Flu influenza.
Read MoreThe Cuban Council of Churches will hold an open air religious service at the Pedro Marrero soccer stadium in Havana on July 11th, announced Marcial Hernandez, the organization’s president. It is estimated that some 600,000 of the island’s 11.2 million inhabitants belong to Protestant dominations, reported IPS.
Read MoreFaced with the impact of the global economic crisis on an economy highly dependent on imports, the Cuban Baseball Federation is looking to reactivate the local sports industry to cut imports of equipment from countries such as China, reported IPS.
Read MoreCuban parliament speaker Ricardo Alarcón affirmed in statements to CNN that “it is inconceivable, impossible, to imagine normal relations between the United States and Cuba” while the Cuban Five remain imprisoned (since 1998) in the U.S., convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.
Read MoreA Cuban edition of Eduardo Galeano’s book of vignettes “Patas arribas. La escuela del mundo al reves,” will be presented this Saturday by the Cuban Book Institute. Galeano, a much published Uruguayan author, gained best seller status when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave Barack Obama a copy of his classic “The Open Veins of Latin America.”
Read MoreOn a daily basis and in primetime spots, Cuban television has begun featuring the consequences of the economic crisis that is shaking up the world. On the island itself, there has begun discreet talk about how the effects of that downturn is beginning to be felt in an increasingly noticeable way.
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