Viewing from July 2017

Dame Carmen Callil writes to OU against Cuban students ban

Campaign News | Monday, 31 July 2017

The publisher, writer and Open University Honorary Doctorate, Dame Carmen Callil DBE, has written to the Open University to protest against their ban of Cuban students. "I am an honorary doctorate of the Open University, an award of which I have always been immensely proud. But I am most distressed to ... read more

ELAM graduate is named Minister for Health in Costa Rica

News from Cuba | Monday, 31 July 2017

ELAM graduate is named Minister for Health in Costa Rica Dr. Karen Mayorga Quirós, a graduate of Cuba's Latin America School of Medicine (ELAM) was appointed as the new Costa Rican Minister of Health on 29 June.Mayorga is a surgeon, with masters in Health and Quality Management. Since 2015 she has served ... read more

Three hundred UK charities hit by global crackdown on illegal funds

Campaign News | Friday, 28 July 2017

Co-Operative Bank has closed accounts for dozens of organizations in the last few years including branches of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign and the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign. Amnesty International UK in December 2016 published a report criticizing the bank's handling of those closures, which were often abruptly communicated to the charities. The ... read more

Morning Star: NUT Joins Calls Against Open University Cuba Ban

Campaign News | Friday, 28 July 2017

BRITAIN’S largest teaching union NUT joined the growing chorus of voices yesterday against the Open University’s (OU) “discriminatory” ban on Cuban students. NUT general secretary Kevin Courtney has written to OU secretary Keith Zimmerman, calling for the policy to be revised. Mr Courtney wrote: “On paper, the Open University and the National ... read more

NUT calls on the Open University to end discrimination against Cuban students

Campaign News | Thursday, 27 July 2017

"It appears that the OU not only prioritises US law over UK law, but US law over fairness and equality", the NUT general secretary wrote Kevin Courtney, National Union of Teachers (NUT) General Secretary, has written to the Open University (OU) to urge the institution to revise their “discriminatory policy” of ... read more

Comunicado de prensa:Universidad británica se ve presionada por prohibir el ingreso a estudiantes cubanos debido a la legislación del bloqueo estadounidense

Campaign News | Thursday, 27 July 2017

La Campaña de Solidaridad con Cuba (CSC) en el Reino Unido ha lanzado una campaña para abolir la prohibición de las solicitudes de ingreso de estudiantes cubanos por una de las mayores instituciones educativas del país. La Universidad Abierta (Open University) ha sido expuesta a críticas por operar una política que ... read more

Morning Star: Open University Slammed for Kowtowing to US Demands over Cuba

Campaign News | Thursday, 27 July 2017

THE Open University was forced to admit yesterday it was bowing to US pressure by begging for a licence to be allowed to enrol students from Cuba. As reported in the Star, the Open University (OU) has banned students from Cuba from enrolling on any of its courses as it feared ... read more

Cuba Solidarity Campaign response to Open University statement on its policy of banning Cuban students

Campaign News | Thursday, 27 July 2017

In response to pressure from campaigners, trade unions and MPs, the Open University has released a statement in which it attempts to justify its ban on Cuban students and seek sympathy for the “regrettable” situation it finds itself in. Far from validating its actions, the OU’s response exposes it as being ... read more

The Telegraph: Open University under investigation after it emerges that Cuban students are banned from institution

Campaign News | Wednesday, 26 July 2017

The Open University has become embroiled in a row with Cuba, after it emerged that they do not allow Cuban students to enrol on their courses. The ban - which has been in place since 2014 - came to light when a Cuban student was accepted by lecturers for a PhD ... read more

Morning Star: Call for government to step in over Open University Cuba ban

Campaign News | Wednesday, 26 July 2017

University and College Union (UCU) general secretary Sally Hunt called on the government yesterday to step in to overturn a ban on Cuban students by the Open University. She has written to Open University vice-chancellor Peter Horrocks and Universities Minister Jo Johnson to take action. She told the Star: “There is no ... read more

Cuba Kicks Off ‘National Rebellion Day’ With Revolutionary Tour

News from Cuba | Wednesday, 26 July 2017

National Rebellion Day is held every year on July 26 to mark the anniversary of the 1953 attempted attack on the Moncada Barracks led by Fidel Castro. Cuban heroes who participated in the 1953 assaults on the Moncada and Manuel de Cespedes Garrisons and the Granma yacht expedition visited the the ... read more

UCU writes to Open University and Jo Johnson in protest at Cuban student ban

Campaign News | Tuesday, 25 July 2017

UCU has written to both the vice-chancellor of the Open University and universities minister Jo Johnson to call for a ban on Cuban students attending the Open University to be overturned. The university says its policy is justified on the basis of concerns about repercussions from the United States. However, as ... read more

Guardian letter: Ban on students from Cuba is a sign of changes at the Open University

Campaign News | Tuesday, 25 July 2017

Behind the progressive rhetoric are many unwelcome developments, writes Dr Paula James Cuba Solidarity is rightly leading protests at the banning of applications from Cuban students by the Open University. It has been policy for a while now that the OU does not accept applications from Syria, Sudan, Iran, Cuba and ... read more

Morning Star: Britain's Open University Bows to US Pressure over Cuba

Campaign News | Tuesday, 25 July 2017

The Open University states that their policy that bans applications from Cuban students has been adopted to avoid repercussions from the U.S. The Open University, OU, is one of Europe's largest universities with 250,000 students, 50,000 of which are based overseas, and primarily serves students who study off-campus through long-distance courses. The ... read more

CSC update on the Open University ban on Cuban Students

Campaign News | Tuesday, 25 July 2017

People are rightly outraged at the Open University’s discriminatory ban on Cuban students. Around 1200 people have now written directly to their MPs on this matter and staff at the OU are raising the issue with their management. A letter was published in the Guardian today and various media are ... read more

Study International: Open University under probe over Cuban student ban

Campaign News | Tuesday, 25 July 2017

The distance-learning institution is being investigated by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for possible discrimination on grounds of race or nationality when it was revealed they do not allow Cubans to enrol with them. When a Cuban student’s application to study for a PhD in Teaching English as a ... read more

Union News: UCU writes to Open University over Cuba student ban

Campaign News | Monday, 24 July 2017

The UCU has written to both the vice-chancellor of the Open University and universities minister Jo Johnson to call for a ban on Cuban students attending the Open University to be overturned. The university says its policy is justified on the basis of concerns about repercussions from the United States. However, ... read more

Morning Star: 'Open' University Blacklists Cubans from its courses

Campaign News | Monday, 24 July 2017

Institution accused of blocking enrolments to bolster US embargo – in breach of British laws CUBANS have been banned from enrolling at the Open University (OU) because the institution fears repercussions from the United States, which has been illegally blockading the island for 55 years. The distance-learning university has been accused of ... read more

If Cuba can, why can't we?

Campaign News | Monday, 24 July 2017

GWEN CROSS reports on the young trade unionists’ brigade to Cuba where she saw how ordinary Cubans live under the US blockade THIS past May Day I had the privilege to represent my trade union, Unite South East region, on this year’s young trade unionists’ brigade to Cuba, organised by Cuba ... read more

Open University accused of banning Cuban students

Campaign News | Monday, 24 July 2017

The Open University has been accused of banning Cuban students from attending. The trade union-backed Cuba Solidarity Campaign, which says the policy is unethical and illegal under UK law, is asking supporters to take action to overturn it. A spokesperson said: “The Oxford University cites fear of prosecution from United States’ anti-Cuba ... read more

Press Release: Open University ban on Cuban students is unethical and illegal

Campaign News | Sunday, 23 July 2017

Press Release: 24 July 2017 One of Britain’s biggest educational institutions, The Open University, is operating a policy of barring applications from Cuban students due to US blockade laws against Cuba. The OU says it is operating a “restricted countries” list in its admissions process because it fears it may be fined ... read more

US State Department drops Cuba entirely from annual detail of terrorist activity

News from Cuba | Friday, 21 July 2017

For the first time, Cuba is not included in the US State Department's report on terrorism After spending 33 years designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. government, Cuba no longer has any activity that even merits its own report in the State Department’s annual review of terrorist threats ... read more

Cuba is already one of the countries with the oldest populations in the region, with over two million people 60 years of age or older living on the island.

Social security in Cuba, a civil right

News from Cuba | Thursday, 20 July 2017

The country’s Social Security budget set to double by 2030 There are currently around two million people 60 years of age or older in Cuba. Statistics from the latest Population and Housing Census show that the island is set to have the oldest population in Latin America by 2025. Population aging is ... read more

Castro's casa: social work lessons from Cuba

News from Cuba | Tuesday, 18 July 2017

In Cuba, we see social work lessons for all societies, writes Rory Truell in the Guardian In a street of salmon and teal painted houses, once home to wealthy colonial administrators, sits the Casa del Abuelo. Now a community centre providing free day services for older inhabitants of the neighbourhood, Casa ... read more

Nelson Mandela on How Cuba Destroyed the Myth of the Invincibility of the White Oppressor

News from Cuba | Tuesday, 18 July 2017

In 1991, Nelson Mandela travelled to Cuba to thank Fidel Castro and the Cuban people for supporting the fight against apartheid and colonialism in southern Africa. "The decisive defeat of the aggressive apartheid forces [in Angola] destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the white oppressor," Mandela said. "The defeat ... read more

Havana Honours Nelson Mandela on His Birthday

News from Cuba | Tuesday, 18 July 2017

Mandela found inspiration in Fidel and the Cuban Revolution of 1959, after which he led the South African resistance militia to end racial oppression. Cuba's Havana announced Wednesday a mini-marathon for the upcoming International Mandela Day slated for July 18-that marks the birth of the legendary South African leader who led ... read more

Raul Castro Denounces Trump’s Cuba Policy as a ‘Setback’

News from Cuba | Monday, 17 July 2017

The Cuban revolutionary leader said his country remains open to negotiating with the United States. Cuban President Raul Castro on Friday denounced U.S. President Donald Trump's changes to relations with Havana, saying they ignored broad public support for better relations. In his first public comment on Trump’s new Cuba policy, Castro told ... read more

Trump’s New Cuba Policy: Analysis and Response from Cuba

News from Cuba | Friday, 14 July 2017

Trump’s New Cuba Policy On June 16 2017, US President Donald Trump announced his new Cuba policy, where he outlined plans to further strengthen elements of the US extraterritorial economic, commercial and financial blockade. (Read ACN's article, ‘Trump takes US policy towards Cuba one step back’) The full details of the policy ... read more

Date set for new U.S. regulations on Cuba to be published

News from Cuba | Friday, 14 July 2017

WASHINGTON.— The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury will publish new regulations regarding Cuba on September 15, reported the U.S.-Cuba Economic and Trade Council, July 10. The announcement appeared on the organisation’s Twitter account. The U.S.-Cuba Economic and Trade Council is New York ... read more

Dr. Rogelio Enrique Suárez González heads a medical centre, as a member of Cuba's medical brigade in Venezuela

Striving to maintain advances in Venezuela

News from Cuba | Tuesday, 11 July 2017

A Cuban internationalist doctor heading a medical centre in Miranda talks about the achievements of the Bolivarian Revolution which, despite facing a non-conventional war, continues to resist MIRANDA, Venezuela.— The heat was stifling at the Manguito Siete High-Tech Medical Centre (CAT), in Paz Castillo municipality, located in the western part of ... read more

Cuban parliamentarians reject European Parliament’s Non-Legislative Resolution regarding the island

News from Cuba | Friday, 7 July 2017

On July 5, the European Parliament endorsed a legislative resolution for the provisional implementation of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union (EU) and Cuba, signed on December 12, 2016; which aims to promote the development of diplomatic and economic relations between the EU and the Cuba. However, ... read more

Cuba strongly rejects European Parliament Resolution

News from Cuba | Friday, 7 July 2017

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 6 (ACN) The Cuban People´s Power Assembly issued an statement strongly rejecting a Resolution on Cuba approved by the European Parliament this July 5 in Strasburg, France. Cuban News Agency reproduces the full text on the Declaration: Declaration of the Commission on International Relations of the National People's Power ... read more

European Parliament approves provisional implementation of EU-Cuba agreement

News from Cuba | Thursday, 6 July 2017

The pact, which puts an end to the so-called "Common Position", was approved by the European Parliament On July 5, the European Parliament endorsed a legislative resolution for the provisional implementation of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union (EU) and Cuba, signed on December 12, 2016; which ... read more