Viewing from August 2009

US and Cuba will discuss revival of direct mail

News from Cuba | Monday, 31 August 2009

Talks that would allow direct mail between the United States and Cuba will begin soon.Washington and Havana are going to take a crack at speeding up snail mail by negotiating direct correspondence, underscoring the stepped-up dialogue between the two nations, U.S. officials say.Direct mail to Cuba ended in 1963, at ... read more

Cuba protests US visa denial

News from Cuba | Monday, 31 August 2009

By EDITH M. LEDERER for the Associated PressCuba accused the Obama administration of following in the footsteps of the Bush administration and violating U.S. law by denying a visa to the wife of a convicted intelligence agent for the communist nation.In a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon circulated Monday, Cuba's ... read more

US Government seeks to keep documents in Posada Carriles case confidential

News from Cuba | Monday, 31 August 2009

The Miami Herald reported on 26 Auguest that the US government will be able to keep some documents in the case of anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles confidential, but will have to make their case to a court in Texas to keep any more evidence private. Posada Carriles, 81, is ... read more

Cuba endeavors to raise farm output amid economic downturn

News from Cuba | Sunday, 30 August 2009

From China ViewPressured by a global economic crisis and a stern U.S. economic blockade that has lasted nearly half a century, Cuba is actively seeking ways to boost its agricultural production.The measures include turning over land close to cities to residents to plow, replacing fuel-burning tractors with oxen, redistributing fallow ... read more

Governor Richardson says US travel ban should end

News from Cuba | Thursday, 27 August 2009

by James Anderson for the Associated PressSAN FRANCISCO DE PAULA, Cuba - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Wednesday that he's just a governor on a trade mission and carries no message from the U.S. government as he visits Cuba this week. But he does plan to report his impressions ... read more

ANZ Bank cops fine for breaking US sanctions

News from Cuba | Tuesday, 25 August 2009

Original story from Brisbane TimesANZ has been hit with a $6.95 million fine from the US Treasury for breaching trade bans after it entered into dealings with Sudan and Cuba earlier this decadeHowever the Australian bank appears to have escaped the full brunt of the fines. Other banks that have ... read more

Early Day Motion 1171 climbs to 216

Campaign News | Monday, 24 August 2009

Ask your MP to sign EDM1171 UK Relations with Cuba todayAs part of CSC's Wish you were here campaign, an Early Day Motion calling for a fresh approach in UK-Cuba relations and a ministerial visit to Cuba has now gained the support of 216 MPs in the Commons.Part of the ... read more

'Fit' Fidel appears on Cuba TV

News from Cuba | Monday, 24 August 2009

The former leader's television appearance followed a photograph published in the newspaper - from Al JazeeraFidel Castro, Cuba's former president, has appeared on state television for the first time in a year, suggesting that his once-failing health has improved.The footage, broadcast on Sunday, showed the 83-year-old Castro meeting students from ... read more

The Miami Five - the legal side of the battle

News from Cuba | Friday, 21 August 2009

by Deisy Francis Mexidor for Granma InternationalMembers of the Five’s defense team express their opinions. Re-sentencing of Antonio, Ramón and Fernando scheduled for October in Miami.A “No,” without any explanation whatsoever, was the response of the U.S. Supreme Court last June 15 to the petition to review the case of ... read more

Nixon, Brazilian president discussed Chile, Cuba

News from Cuba | Monday, 17 August 2009

Declassified documents show plans for Chile and CubaTwo years before the coup that toppled the leftist leader of Chile, President Richard Nixon and Brazilian President Emilio Medici discussed coordinated intervention in that nation and Cuba, according to a newly declassified document.The formerly Top Secret account of a Dec. 9, 1971, ... read more

The untold story of the Cuban Five forbidden heroes

News from Cuba | Tuesday, 11 August 2009

By RICARDO ALARCÓN de QUESADA, President Cuban National Assembly“It takes all the running you can do,to keep in the same place”Through the Looking Glass, Lewis CarrollRemember Elian?The case of Elian González, a six year-old boy forcefully retained by his unknown great-uncles against the will of his father and in clear ... read more

More obstacles for Cuba to purchase food in the US

News from Cuba | Tuesday, 11 August 2009

from Granma InternationalCuba’s food and agriculture purchases from the US have dropped over the last few years, due to the difficult conditions imposed by Washington’s blockade on these imports.Pedro Álvarez, president of Alimport, the Cuban company in charge of food marketing, explained that these buys, after maintaining an upward trend ... read more

President Castro addresses rally in Quito

News from Cuba | Tuesday, 11 August 2009

By Jorge Martín Blandino for Granma International"Today, 200 years after the beginning of our struggles for independence, we are in a similar situation""I feel very excited and happy," Raúl affirmed in the evening of Monday, August 10, addressing some 30,000 people in Quito and describing his unforgettable and intense visit ... read more