News

With the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution only a month and a day away, what will no doubt be a month of intense cultural activity in Havana has already kicked off.

The Jojazz Festival which brings out many of the islands best young talent to compete both for interpretation and composition ends tonight when this year’s winners, tomorrows breakout artists, will be announced.

Then on Tuesday the 30th Havana Film Festival (Dec. 2-12) begins with over 20 participating cinemas. The two-part Steven Soderbergh “Che” film will have its first screening in Cuba during the festival.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said Friday in Havana that his government and Cuba have pledged to boost their cooperation in several areas including commerce, security and regional cooperation. During his two-day visit to Cuba, Medvedev held talks with both President Raul Castro and Cuban Revolution leader Fidel Castro.

The Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean (ECLAC) has requested to US President-elect Barack Obama that he lift the blockade against Cuba when he takes office in January, reported IPS. The nearly half century squeeze on the Cuban economy has proven highly unpopular around the globe. In a UN vote in October, 185 nations favored a resolution asking the US to change its policy. Only two countries, Israel and Palau, backed the Bush administration.

Russian President Dimitri Medvedev arrives in Cuba on Thursday in the fourth visit of an important leader to the island in less than a month. Previous visits included Chinese President Hu Jintao, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Brazil’s Lula da Silva.

A delegation from the European Commission (EC) concluded Wednesday an 11-day visit to Cuba to identify, along with Cuban authorities, priorities and methods of cooperation for an initial agreement of over US $30 million, reported IPS. In a joint declaration Stefano Manservisi, director general for Development of the European Commission and Ricardo Guerrero, deputy minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Collaboration, said the cooperation will take place primarily in the areas hit by the recent hurricanes.

Cuban President Raul Castro told actor Sean Penn in an exclusive interview for The Nation magazine that he would be willing to meet with President-elect Barack Obama, seeking to improve the half century of poor relations between the United States and Cuba.

The Ibero-American Network on Masculinity holds a workshop in Havana on Tuesday on the construction of masculinity related to topics such as sexuality, sports, music, culture and migration. The event is part of activities in Cuba on the International Day against Gender Violence, coordinated by several Cuban non-governmental organizations and institutions.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, will travel to Cuba in February 2009, reported IPS on Monday. Bachelet will be Chile’s first president to visit Cuba since the 1972 trip of Salvador Allende, a year before he was overthrown by a US backed military coup.

Russian companies will participate in the search for oil in Cuba’s exclusive zone in the Gulf of Mexico, reported IPS. Mikhail Kamyin, the Russian ambassador to Havana, also announced that Norilsk Nickel, one of the world’s largest mining firms, wants to build a Ferro-nickel plant in Cuba.

Russian President Dimitri Medvedev is scheduled to visit Cuba starting November 27, as part of a Latin American tour that will also include Venezuela and Brazil.

Bolivian President Evo Morales said Saturday in La Paz that it might be necessary to create a new Organization of American States (OAS) that includes Cuba, if the United States continues to block the island from returning to the existing organization. Morales said such a new OAS would exclude the US. At Washington’s insistence Cuba was expelled from the OAS in 1962.