Viewing from April 2006

Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela cement trade alliance

Campaign News | Sunday, 30 April 2006

Tariff free treaty to beat the FTAAHAVANA, 30 April - The leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia on Saturday signed a comprehensive integration agreement and trade accord cast as an alternative to US plans for a free-trade pact with the Latin American region.Bolivian President Evo Morales signed on to a ... read more

Alabama Congress votes for end to blockade

Campaign News | Friday, 28 April 2006

The two houses of the state legislature approved a resolution urging Washington to end the 45-year-old restrictions, after $20 million in sales was negotiatedHavana 28 April: THE Alabama state congress has approved a resolution urging the US Congress to annul all trade, financial and travel restrictions related to Cuba.The AP ... read more

Full-page ad lashes US Cuba policy

Campaign News | Thursday, 27 April 2006

Cuba-American scholars and artists call for changeMiami 27 April:Enough is enough.That is the unmistakable message conveyed in an open letter signed by more than 100 prominent Cuban-American scholars, writers and artists - 11 of them from New York - published today in The Miami Herald as a full-page ad.The letter ... read more

TV series provokes debate on AIDS and teenage sex

Campaign News | Wednesday, 26 April 2006

Cuban TV decides to air soap opera later after public protestsHAVANA 25 April - A television series that portrays sex and talks about AIDS has provoked public controversy in Cuba.Because of public concern Cuban TV has decided to air the series, entitled "La cara oculta de la luna" (The Dark ... read more

Cuba has better medical care than the US: Official

Campaign News | Wednesday, 26 April 2006

UN statistics do not lie, writes US columnist Blake FleetwoodFigures from the World Health Organization clearly show that The United States lags behind 36 other countries in overall health system performance ranging from infant mortality, to adult mortality, to life expectancy.20 countries in Europe and four countries in Asia have ... read more

Terrorist Posada applies for US citizenship

Campaign News | Wednesday, 26 April 2006

Hotel bomber may walk freeEL PASO, Texas 26 April - A Cuban emigre terrorist accused of masterminding the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner has applied to become a US citizen, his lawyer said Tuesday.Luis Posada Carriles, who has been jailed in El Paso on immigration charges since May, is ... read more

New book explains how Fidel ordered rescue of Hugo Chavez

Campaign News | Tuesday, 25 April 2006

Cuba leader crucially intervened in 2002 coup to prevent save Venezuelean presidentIn a new book "Fidel Castro, a two-voiced biography," published by the Debate Publishing House, the Cuban president told Le MOnde Diplomatique editor Ignacio Ramonet information not previously released about the events of the April 2002 coup attempt in ... read more

Obituary: Photographer of the Cuban revolution

Campaign News | Tuesday, 25 April 2006

Raul Corrales photographerRaul Corrales, the Cuban photographer who documented the country's political revolution of the 1950s in bold and poetic images, died on April 15. He was 81.Corrales died of a heart attack at his home in Cojimar, a fishing village near Havana.Perhaps Corrales' best known photograph is of the ... read more

No change in EU stance on Cuba: Spanish foreign minister

Campaign News | Monday, 24 April 2006

Reverse is "unthinkable," says MoratinosMADRID, Spain April 24: There is no prospect of the European Union changing its attitude towards Cuba, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Saturday."A reverse in the EU's policy is unthinkable," he said in an interview with the conservative daily newspaper ABC."But Cuba should take ... read more

US policy of regime change is 100 years old, says new book

Campaign News | Friday, 21 April 2006

From Hawaii to Iraq corporate interests have dictated Washington's foreign policyHawaii, Cuba, Phillippines, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Honduras, Iran, Guatemala, South Vietnam, Chile, Grenada, Panama, Afghanistan, and Iraq.What do these fourteen governments have in common?You got it.The United States overthrew them.And in almost in every case, the overthrow can be traced to ... read more

Fidel commemorates Bay of Pigs invasion

Campaign News | Thursday, 20 April 2006

Cuba will never be defeated, says Cuban leaderHavana 19 April: "THEY were never able to bring us to our knees, and there is no power in the world that can do it," affirmed President Fidel Castro during his closing remarks at the main event in Havana celebrating the 45th anniversary ... read more

Chavez says US warships threaten Venezuela and Cuba

Campaign News | Wednesday, 19 April 2006

Manoeuvres come as close as 15 miles off coastCARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez, who accuses Washington of planning to invade Venezuela, said on Tuesday the recent deployment of US warships in the Caribbean Sea threatened his country and its ally Cuba.Four US warships, including an aircraft carrier, and ... read more

Cuba and India inaugurate joint biotechnology plant

Campaign News | Wednesday, 19 April 2006

We have become world leaders in biotech says Indian ministerHavana, April 18 (ACN) India’s Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said that Cuba and his country have turned into leaders in biotechnology.Chidambaram made the statement during the inauguration on Tuesday of the Cuban-Indian joint enterprise Biocon Biopharmaceutical, a modern plant to produce ... read more

Cubans live longest in Latin America

Campaign News | Sunday, 16 April 2006

UN report shows Cuba top of league in longevityHavana, Apr 16 (Prensa Latina) Close to US level, 78 years, Cuba has the highest healthy life expectancy in Latin America while Africa registers the lowest figure worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted in its world annual report.The island natioin ... read more

45 years after the Bay of Pigs Cuba still among US list of targets

Campaign News | Sunday, 16 April 2006

Iran tops "Evil 7"By US journalist Circles RobinsonHavana 16 April: As Cuba remembers the 45th anniversary of the CIA directed Bay of Pigs invasion (April 17-19, 1961) the island?s media and observers of US-Cuba policy remind us that little has changed in Washington?s intentions to destroy the Revolution, and White ... read more

Haiti’s future is in Latin America and the Caribbean, says Preval in Havana

Campaign News | Friday, 14 April 2006

Haitian President meets FidelHavana 14 April: YESTERDAY afternoon, President Fidel Castro received René Préval, president-elect of the Republic of Haiti at the Palace of the Revolution, where they had official talks in a spirit of friendship, respect and fraternity, all symbolic of the links between the Haitian and Cuban peoples.After ... read more

Czech diplomat was US spy

Campaign News | Friday, 14 April 2006

Expelled envoy working for Washington, says foreign ministerHAVANA, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said on Friday that Cuba had expelled the Czech Republic diplomat Stanislav Kazecky for alleged spying activities on behalf of the United States.Kazecky, the Czech Republic's embassy counselor for political affairs, had ... read more

BBC Radio broadcasts documentaries on Cuba and planning for death of Fidel

Campaign News | Thursday, 13 April 2006

Programmes air on 13 and 17 AprilLondon 11 April - The BBC correspondent Nick Caistor has been to Havana and Miami to assess the future of Cuba after Fidel Castro dies.His programmes entitled "After Castro: Preparing for the Unthinkable" are to be aired in the Crossing Contenents series.BBC Radio 4's ... read more

Venezuela to help Cuba rebuild oil refinery

Campaign News | Tuesday, 11 April 2006

$800 million investment will boost Cuban economyHAVANA 11 April - Venezuela and Cuba will invest $800 million to $1 billion to start up an unfinished Soviet-era refinery on the island, the Venezuelan ambassador to Cuba, Adan Chavez, said Tuesday."The aim is to completely reactivate the Cienfuegos refinery," the envoy, an ... read more

New attempt to protect Posada Carriles

Campaign News | Monday, 10 April 2006

Meeting on 20 April to grant him US citizenshipHavana 7 April: A new political strategy is underway aimed at smoothing the road for terrorist Luis Posada Carriles.On April 20, in El Paso, Texas, immigration authorities and lawyers are to meet with the terrorist to decide whether or not to grant ... read more

People smugglers caught in the act

Campaign News | Monday, 10 April 2006

One of them says he had to do it to pay off his debtsHavana, Apr 8 (Prensa Latina) Identity has determined criminal records of the three crew members of a speedboat arrested in Cuba Wednesday during a foiled act of illegal immigration.The operation caused the death of one of the ... read more

Half million children being vaccinated in Anti-Polio Campaign

Campaign News | Saturday, 8 April 2006

70 milion vbqaccinations have been carried out under the revolutionHavana 8 April: Coinciding with World Health Day, from April 7 to 13, the second stage of the 45th Anti-Polio Campaign take place across Cuba where 524,000 children will receive the oral vaccination.The campaign will reach 384,000 children under three that ... read more

The case of Scotia Bank, dangerous precedent that threatens other nations

Campaign News | Saturday, 8 April 2006

Canadian bank in Jamaica says it can no longer hold dollars for Cuban EmbassyHavana 7 April: THE power of the U.S. dollar as the principal currency of international business is now being used to pressure Cuba even more under the guise of the Patriot Act and could easily be used ... read more

Cuba reduces infant mortality to 5.3

Campaign News | Saturday, 8 April 2006

Down from 6.2 in one yearHavana, Apr 7 (Prensa Latina) Cuba reduced infant mortality in the first quarter of 2006 to 5.3 for each 1,000 born alive, down from the same period in 2005 when it reported 6.2 percent, Cuban health officials reported Friday.Maria Cecilia Santana, director of Cuban Public ... read more

Amnesty International Miami Five letter (Ingles y español)

Campaign News | Monday, 3 April 2006

Treatment is condemnedRef.: AMR 51/01/06Kevin WhitakerOffice of Cuban AffairsUnited States Department of StateWashington, DC 20520USA11th January 2006Dear Mr Whitaker, Amnesty International has written to the US government previously regarding Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzáles and René Gonzáles (commonly known as the “Miami Five”) who were sentenced to ... read more

Colombia, Cuba boost relations

Campaign News | Saturday, 1 April 2006

Colombian foreign minister in HavanaHavana, Mar 31 (Prensa Latina) Colombian Foreign Minister Carolina Barco arrived on Friday in Havana on a work visit media described as a contribution to strengthen bilateral relations.The Colombian FM was welcomed at Jose Marti International Airport by Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Rafael Dausa.Relations between Cuba ... read more

Newspaper distorts Farrakhan visit to Cuba

Campaign News | Saturday, 1 April 2006

By Circles Robinson, US journalist living in HavanaHavana, 2 April: When the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper reported on the recently concluded trip of Louis Farrakhan to Cuba it deliberately tried to mislead its readers by allowing US government officials to discredit the Nation of Islam minister.On the next to last day ... read more