Viewing from August 2011

Wikileaks show campaign against Hilton Hotels hit home

Campaign News | Wednesday, 31 August 2011

The latest leaked US diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks this month, reveal the success of the CSC and British union campaign against the Hilton Group's ban on Cuban nationals staying in their hotels in 2007.Leaked cables report on the international hotel chains response to a boycott of its hotels by ... read more

Fiber optics soon in Cuba

News from Cuba | Wednesday, 31 August 2011

Cuba will begin to use the fiber-optics cable for Internet connections in the coming months. It is a wire 1,600 kilometers long, linking Venezuela and Cuba.The launching of this service, which replaces the slow and expensive connections to the Web via a tired satellite, will significantly increase connection speed.The Deputy ... read more

Carlos Acosta: Honored to Receive Cuban National Dance Prize 2011

News from Cuba | Tuesday, 30 August 2011

Cuban ballet dancer Carlos Acosta said to be honored to receive the Cuban National Dance Prize, which was given to him Monday evening in a gala at Havana's Grand Theater.The island's Minister of Culture Abel Prieto handed down the prize to the dancer, who at 38 becomes the youngest Cuban ... read more

TUC Latin America Solidarity Reception

Campaign News | Tuesday, 30 August 2011

TUC Congress event for all trade union delegates and affiliatesTUC Conference 2011 Latin America Meeting open to all delegates and trade union affiliatesThe Bloomsbury hotel, Great Russell StreetMonday, 12 September 2011, 5:30pmDefending progress and fighting for justiceWith guest speakers from Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.Esther Armenteros, Cuban AmbassadorSamuel Moncada, Venezuelan ... read more

Surfing the Net in Havana

News from Cuba | Monday, 29 August 2011

from La AlboradaHow controlled is Internet use in Cuba? In 2008, the Chief of Mission of the US Interests Section in Havana, and his spouse, decided to find out empirically. They visited without interference a variety of Internet cafes, and found that, while Cuba redirects browser searches to Google.cu instead ... read more

Cuban Doctors Have Seen Four Million Patients in Nicaragua

News from Cuba | Monday, 29 August 2011

The Cuban Ernesto Che Guevara medical brigade working in Nicaragua since 2007 has offered more than four million consultations as part of a collaboration program, Prensa Latina reported.Dr. Alfredo Rodriguez, head of the group, told PL that the Cuban doctors, at the request of the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front ... read more

More Than 2% of Cuba Could Be Underwater by 2050

News from Cuba | Saturday, 27 August 2011

from the Latin American Herald TribuneHAVANA - More than 2 percent of Cuba could be submerged by the year 2050 as a consequence of climate change, according to a study released Saturday by the official daily Granma.Research into the dangers and vulnerability of the island's coastline, being carried out by ... read more

Blockade alive and well

News from Cuba | Thursday, 25 August 2011

Recent fines imposed by the US government's Office for Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) against global financial services firm JP Morgan Chase for processing financial transactions with Cuba show that the Obama administration is still focused on punishing trade with Cuba.This month, JP Morgan Chase was fined $111 million for violations ... read more

Get Cuba off the List of State Sponsors of Terror

News from Cuba | Thursday, 25 August 2011

by Sarah Stephens, Director of the Center for Democracy in the AmericasIt is both untrue and a travesty to paint Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism as the United States government did in its annual report on the subject last week.For twenty-nine years, Cuba has appeared on the list, ... read more

Cuba attacks $1.5tn world arms spending

News from Cuba | Wednesday, 24 August 2011

from the Morning StarCuba assumed the presidency of the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday, insisting that the $1.5 trillion (£910 billion) currently squandered on military expenditures and war each year should instead be used to promote social development.Addressing diplomats from the conference's 65 member states new president Rodolfo Reyes ... read more

Wedding in Havana

News from Cuba | Monday, 22 August 2011

Editorial from La AlboradaThis month, an unusual marriage took place in Havana: a transgender woman married a gay man. The union, which was set for the same day as Fidel Castro's birthday --and not with a friendly purpose--, had been heavily publicized in advance, guaranteeing that it would become a ... read more

Wedding in Havana

News from Cuba | Monday, 22 August 2011

Editorial from La AlboradaThis month, an unusual marriage took place in Havana: a transgender woman married a gay man. The union, which was set for the same day as Fidel Castro's birthday --and not with a friendly purpose--, had been heavily publicized in advance, guaranteeing that it would become a ... read more

Cuba to strengthen tax administration

News from Cuba | Monday, 22 August 2011

Cuba will strengthen tax administration to fight tax evasion and other illegal activities in the second half of the year, a tax official said Monday.The National Tax Administration Office of Cuba (ONAT) will reassess and reorganize its audit work in line with the rapid growth in the number of self-employed ... read more

Historic union meeting in support of the Miami 5 in Los Angeles

Campaign News | Saturday, 20 August 2011

On August 13 more than 200 workers, union leaders and community activists came together at the United Service Workers West (SEIU) Hall to participate in an event in solidaritywith the Miami 5.As part of the event those attending were able see the travelling exhibit of Gerardo Hernandez’s political cartoons entitled ... read more

Cuba's response to inclusion in US sponsors of terrorism list

News from Cuba | Friday, 19 August 2011

From Granma InternationalStatement from the Ministry of Foreign AffairsON August 18, for the 30th time, the U.S. Department of State included Cuba on the spurious list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, with the sole objective of discrediting our country and having a continued justification for the cruel and repudiated blockade ... read more

The media, politics, and the "first gay wedding"

News from Cuba | Friday, 19 August 2011

by Camilo GarcíaMedia from all over the world had a field day around August 13, the day when Wendy -formerly a man who had sex-change surgery and is now "legally considered a woman"- and Ignacio -an out-of-the-closet homosexual"- allegedly had Cuba's "first gay wedding".Much has been said and "proved" about ... read more

Observer publishes letter on the Miami Five

Campaign News | Thursday, 11 August 2011

The Observer has published extracts of a letter signed by 30 British gerneral secretaries, MPs and labour movement personalities calling on President Obama to allow Rene Gonzalez, one of the Miami Five to be allowed to return home to Cuba following his release from a US jail.The full transcript of ... read more

Book now for November 2011 study tours to Cuba

Campaign News | Monday, 8 August 2011

Last few places left on the Media, Environment and Education study tours to Cuba this November, get your information packs and book today.Cuba Media Study Tour 20112-9 November 2011From £999A new and ground breaking study tour, providing a unique insight into the Cuban media and the current political situation. The ... read more

Noam Chomsky Latin America 2011 lecture

Campaign News | Monday, 1 August 2011

SOLD OUT - SOLD OUT - SOLD OUTSaturday 8 October 2011, 6.30pm, TUC Congress House, London.The renowned American academic and activist who has written numerous articles and books on US policy in Cuba and Latin America will speak as part of the Latin America 2011 season of events in the ... read more

Ricardo Alarcón:The next weeks are decisive for Gerardo

News from Cuba | Monday, 1 August 2011

The following talk was delivered by Ricardo Alarcón, President of the Cuban National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP), to the ANPP in Havana, 1 August 2011.For many people, summertime is a time for vacation. For many people, summertime is a time for vacation. Nevertheless, we need, now more than ever, ... read more