News

Freddie Cepeda provided the clutch game-winning hit against Australia. Another solid offensive display combined with more consistent pitching was enough to propel Cuba to a 5-3 victory over Australia in this week’s second pre-WBC outing in Taichung, Taipei.

Senator Patrick Leahy and Representative Chris Van Hollen visited Tuesday with agent Alan Gross, the US citizen serving a 15-year sentence in Cuba for violating the islands national security laws. The 7-member congressional delegation left Havana on Wednesday morning.

Cuban President Raul Castro met on Tuesday afternoon with a group of US senators visiting the island, among other things, to see US agent Alan Gross, imprisoned in Cuba since 2009, reported DPA news.

The Cuban baseball team fell six runs to five against China Taipei during the first stop of its preparation for the third World Classic, in the city of Taichung. The WBC begins on March 2 in Japan. Cuba’s first game is on March 3 against Brazil.

Members of Cuba’s “new left” Critical Observatory network visited the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Holguin in early February to deliver donations to several families still suffering from the impact by Hurricane Sandy, which hit the island this past October.

Cuba solidarity organizations in Spain announced on Monday a symbolic donation of funds to help offset the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in eastern Cuba. A transfer of 14,626 Euros was transferred to the account authorized by the Cuban government to assist in the aftermath of the hurricane.

A Chicago Tribune editorial (“Rethinking the Cuba Perk”) was published arguing against the Cuban Adjustment Act and suggesting that Cubans should be subject to the same rules as immigrants from other countries.

Reports in last night from Bahia, Brazil state that Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez was met by a pro-Cuban government protest when she tried to attend a premiere of a documentary film in which she was one of the main interviewees.

A delegation of five US Senators and two House members arrived in Cuba on Monday but you wouldn’t know it from the Cuban online and print media, which have thus far chosen to ignore the visit.