News

The offer by Cuba for a prisoner exchange with the US continues on the table as overtures from both sides have sparked new hopes over a possible dialogue between the two eternal adversaries. The US calls the prisoners in Cuba “dissidents” and Cuba refers to the Cuban Five as “heroes.” A swap would be a major breakthrough in thawing icy relations.

US President Barack Obama and Cuba’s Raul Castro took center stage at the opening day of the Americas Summit in Trinidad and Tobago on Friday. The fact that Castro was the only leader from the region without an invitation did not keep his presence from being felt.

Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) José Miguel Insulza announced in statements to the press Friday in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, that he would propose next month to annul the 1962 resolution that suspended Cuba’s membership in that organization, reported IPS.

Cuban President Raul Castro arrived in Cumana, Venezuela on Thursday for a meeting of the Bolivarian Alternative of the Americas (ALBA), called by President Hugo Chavez. The date is to analyze the regional and global impact of the current international economic crisis and get ready for the Americas Summit to take place in Trinidad and Tobago over the weekend.

A majority of U.S. citizens feel that it is time to try a new approach to Cuba, according to a recent national poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org. A majority of Democrats, 71 percent, favor trying a new approach while Republicans are divided with 52 percent favoring continued isolation and 47 percent favoring a new policy.

The 3rd Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of the Americas (ALBA) Sports Games begins Wednesday in Cuba. Delegations from around 20 countries are expected to participate in 30 sports. The Games will take place at facilities in all of Cuba’s 14 provinces through April 27.

Cuban-born former CIA agent Luis Posada Carriles pleaded not guilty to the 11 charges for which he will be tried next August 10 in the city of El Paso, Texas. Posada will have to answer for perjury, obstructing proceedings, migratory fraud and false testimony when requesting U.S. citizenship after being smuggled into the US in 2005. Another change involves his relation to 1997 hotel bombings in Havana.

Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA) has a 10-step plan to normalize relations with Cuba, and 46 fellow House of Representative members have signed on to a letter to be hand delivered to President Obama.

Fulfilling a key campaign promise, U.S. President Barack Obama Monday lifted all restrictions on Cuban-Americans to visit their homeland and send money to family members there. The travel ban remains in place for the rest of US citizens as does the economic blockade.

The 7th Humberto Solas Non-Budget Film Festival opens Monday in the small Cuban coastal city of Gibara, Holguin. The town was hard hit by Hurricane Ike on September 7, 2008 and has been working overtime to rebuild homes and public buidlings ever since, including the damaged cultural facilities.