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The Cubanacan tourist group will participate in the construction of two hotels, one in Shanghai and another in the Hemingway Marina in Havana. This will be the Cuban company’s first joint venture abroad, reported IPS.

Cuba and Venezuela are united “in good and bad times,” said Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro in statements to the press in Santiago de Cuba, reported IPS. Both nations maintain a political and economic alliance that includes mechanisms such as the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) and joint projects such as the Petrocaribe energy cooperation initiative and the Operation Miracle eye surgery program, he noted.

Cuban President Raul Castro will address the nation from Santiago de Cuba on Thursday evening at the main celebration for the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. The festivities are set to begin at 6:00 p.m. at the downtown Parque Cespedes, recalling the entrance of the Rebel Army led by Fidel Castro just hours after the dictator Batista fled the country.

Cuba’s reintegration into Latin America means that the government of Raul Castro will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Revolution on Thursday January 1st in a wholly different regional context than the one that prevailed in the 1960s, when this Caribbean island nation was marginalized by practically all of Latin America under pressure from the United States, reported IPS.

Some 10,000 persons in Cuba have begun the paperwork to acquire Spanish citizenship since a law that confers that status to descendants of Spaniards exiled during the 1936-1939 civil war or under the subsequent dictatorship of Francisco Franco came into force on December 22, reported IPS citing sources from the Spanish consulate in Havana.

Nearly ten percent of Cuba’s doctors and other health personnel are currently working abroad in 97 countries, reported IPS on information provided by Joaquin Garcia, vice minister of Public Heath. Since the early 1960s the Cuban Revolution has prioritized health collaboration abroad, especially in Latin America and Africa, but also in far off lands of Asia.

In a move to address the nation’s aging population, the Cuban parliament approved a new Social Security Law on Saturday that extends the retirement age to 60 years for women and 65 for men. A number of modifications from the draft bill were introduced after a nationwide consultation, including an extending to 15 years the period for selecting the five years when the worker had his/her highest pay in order to calculate pensions.

Cuban President Raul Castro said Saturday that to cope with the current financial situation the country must “act with realism and adjust our dreams to the real possibilities.” He called for austerity measures and a cut in heavily subsidized products. In alerting the population to the dilemma, Mr. Castro mentioned the US $10 billion in damage to housing, electricity and other infrastructure and agriculture from the three major hurricanes that hit Cuba in 2008, and the sharp US $907 million increase paid over the year for foodstuff imports. He also noted the dramatic drop in Cuban export revenues for leading products, like nickel which fell 41 percent in 2008. On the bright side he said that tourism was holding its own with over 2.3 million visitors.

Dissatisfied with the current administrative control mechanisms in an economy dominated by the state sector, President Raul Castro announced Saturday the creation of a comptroller’s office directly under the Council of State, to assume functions of the current Ministry of Auditing and Controls. “We hope to contribute in a decisive manner to strengthen the strict compliance with obligations of all state management structures,” said President Castro. The comptroller’s office will not work alone to eliminate “deeply rooted vices” but will work hand and hand with the Attorney General’s office, the Communist Party and other institutions, he added.

The Cuban government announced that Abelardo Moreno has been appointed the island’s new ambassador to the United Nations. Moreno was a deputy minister of foreign affairs and served as interim ambassador since November when the former representative, Rodrigo Malmierca, was appointed minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Collaboration.