SIGN UP FOR OUR Cuba
This is How You Get Black Market Wi-Fi in Havana, Cuba
Source: Discovery By Yeny Garcia Havana, Sep 28 (EFE).- Over the past three months, Cuba has experienced an unprecedented, albeit limited, increase in access to the Internet, with 35 new Wi-Fi hot spots popping up, thrilling Cubans and enticing many people to find creative ways to provide services by finding a way around the rules. Many "bisneros," as street vendors are known, are taking...
Before the UN, Cuba Demands End of US Embargo
By Mario Villar United Nations, Sep 26 (EFE).- Cuban President Raul Castro made his debut in the United Nations Saturday demanding an end to the U.S. embargo on the island, which he considers "the chief obstacle to the economic development" of his country. In his first speech at the U.N., Castro said the renewal of diplomatic ties between Cuba and the United States plus the changes decreed b...
The Geopolitical Effect of Pope Francis’ Visit to Cuba
A simple man: Pope Francis. Source: Wikimedia Commons Havana, Sep 20 (EFE).- Cuban President Raul Castro met in Havana with his Argentine counterpart, Cristina Fernandez, who traveled to the island to attend the Mass that Pope Francis will celebrate in the Cuban capital on Sunday, state television reported. Castro and Fernandez met on Saturday and discussed the state of bilateral relations ...
Pope Francis Visit to Cuba: Thousands of Prisoners to Be Freed
Havana, Sep 11 (EFE).- The Cuban government will pardon 3,522 prisoners on the occasion of Pope Francis's visit to the island, according to a State Council agreement reported Friday in official media. The official announcement said the pardons will take effect within the next 72 hours for prisoners over 60 and under 20 years of age without criminal records, the chronically ill, women, inmates s...
Hip-Hop Stars Usher and Ludacris Enjoy Cuba
Source: Usher Instagram Havana, Sep 10 (EFE).- U.S. music producer, singer and songwriter Usher puffed cigars and enjoyed Cuban coffee in Havana along with rapper Ludacris, according to photographs published Thursday on the pair's official social network accounts. The member of the popular U.S. television program "The Voice" announced his presence in the Cuban capital with a photo showing h...
Cheap Shot: Cuban Dissidents Arrested on Their Way to Church
Havana, Sep 8 (EFE).- About 140 Cuban dissidents were arrested Tuesday as they were going to attend a Mass at the Lady of Caridad del Cobre Church to celebrate the feast day of the island's patron saint, sources within the dissident movement told EFE. "Most of the arrests occurred in the early morning hours (on Tuesday) some kilometers from the El Cobre Church, at a spot known as La Tanqueta" i...
Fidel Castro Claims Cuba is Owed Millions by the U.S.
File photo of retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro. EFE/File Havana, Aug 13 (EFE).- The United States owes Cuba millions of dollars for the harm caused by its economic embargo on the island, Fidel Castro wrote in an article published Thursday, the day before Secretary of State John Kerry is due in Havana to raise the Stars and Stripes over the restored U.S. Embassy. "Cuba is owed compensation ...
Protestors Arrested and Mistreated in Cuba
Washington, Aug 10 (EFE).- The U.S. government said Monday it is "deeply concerned" about the detentions for several hours of some 90 dissidents in Cuba, including members of the Ladies in White, and said it will continue working so that the right to peaceful assembly is respected in Cuba. "We are deeply concerned by this round-up of peaceful activists by Cuban authorities," State Department sp...
New U.S. Cable TV Series Will be Filmed in Cuba
Wikimedia Commons Los Angeles, Aug 1 (EFE).- Spanish actor Antonio Banderas will play the lead character in the TV series "Havana Quartet," based on the Mario Conde police procedural thrillers created by Cuban journalist Leonardo Padura, the Starz channel's CEO Chris Albrecht announced. Banderas and Cuba's "Magic City" author Eduardo Machado are executive producers of the series, while Mach...
Costa Rica and Cuba Removed from Human Trafficking Blacklist
Washington, Jul 27 (EFE).- The United States removed Cuba from the list of countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards for combating human trafficking and "do not make significant efforts to do so." The U.S. State Department published Monday its annual report on human trafficking around the world in 2014, in which it identified the countries not taking the necessa...
Cubans Living in the U.S. May Face Massive Deportation
Washington, Jul 18 (EFE).- More than 35,000 Cubans for whom deportation orders have been issued could be repatriated to the Caribbean island as a result of the renewal of relations between the two countries, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, told EFE. According to ICE data, deportation orders have been issued for 35,106 Cuban nationals in the United States, of whom 162 are curre...
Cuban Leaders Hope US President Will Lift Embargo
Havana, Jul 15 (EFE).- Cuba's Raul Castro insisted Wednesday that "it's not possible to conceive of" normal relations with the United States as long as the "blockade" of the island remains in place and said he hopes that President Barack Obama uses "his executive authority" to dismantle aspects of the 53-year-old economic embargo. "We hope that (Obama) continues using his executive authority to...
Cuban Chrome: New Discovery Series Features Gorgeous Classics
Source: Discovery Miami, Jul 9 (EFE).- The Discovery en Español television channel starting July 13 will air the "Cuban Chrome" docu-series about classic automobiles, filmed exclusively in Cuba and narrated by Cuban-American actor William Levy, the company announced Thursday. The production explores the culture of vintage automobiles on the Caribbean island through "the men and women who pu...
That Was Fast: JetBlue Travels from New York to Cuba
New York, Jul 3 (EFE).- JetBlue made its first weekly flight Friday between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Havana's Jose Marti International Airport as part of the measures taken in recent months to restore relations between Cuba and the United States. According to a communique from the airline, JetBlue becomes the first large U.S. airline to serve this route since restric...
U.S. and Cuba Will Historically Agree to Reopen Embassies
Washington, Jun 30 (EFE).- The United States and Cuba are preparing to announce that they have reached an agreement to reestablish diplomatic relations and open embassies in each other's capitals, White House officials said Tuesday. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry will speak about the matter very soon, a White House official who requested anonymity told reporters. Th...
Elian Gonzalez, Now an Adult, Wants to Visit the United States
Unidentified U.S. federal agent during the seizure of Elián González from his uncle's residence on April 22, 2000. Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography. Photograph taken by Alan Diaz of the Associated Press. Wikimedia Commons Fair Use. Miami, May 18 (EFE).- Young Cuban student Elian Gonzalez, who as a child was rescued at sea in 1999 by two U.S. fishermen, said in an interview Monday ...
Young Cuban artists Jeosviel Abstengo Chaviano, Liesther Amador González, and Fernando Caluff, will represent Cuba on the first edition of Hispanoamericanos, Traveling Souls exhibition, scheduled to be held at the Albernathy Arts Center, in the US city of Georgia. The exhibition will open on October 5 and will be open to the public until the 31st. The event will be attended by some one hund...
