Varied Music Legacies Find Much in Common

<p style="text-align: justify;">By JON PARELES. February 27, 2011.The New Orleans-Caribbean connection has always been obvious in the music itself, though things get tricky for anyone seeking origins or credit. “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” Mr. O’Farrill asked with a smile. “It doesn’t matter. We’re grooving heavily.” Mr. O’Farrill’s big band had a guest: the alto saxophonist and composer Donald Harrison, from New Orleans. Mr. O’Farrill and Mr. Harrison are in many ways two of a kind. As composers they are modernizers of music with dance rhythms at its core:Mr. O’Farrill with Afro-Latin music, Mr. Harrison with the heritage of New Orleans. Read More

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Spanish NGO Awards Cuban Doctors in Haiti

<p style="text-align: justify;">Madrid, Feb 28 (Prensa Latina) The Francisco Saenz Porres Civic Forum in Logroño, capital of the Spanish autonomous community of La Rioja, acknowledged the humanitarian work carried out by Cuban doctors in Haiti over the past 12 years.The non-governmental organization granted its 10th Justice and Solidarity Award to the Cuban physicians who were working in Haiti when an earthquake shook that country in 2010, continued working after the disaster, and are now fighting a cholera epidemic. Read More

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U.S. subcontractor jailed in Cuba to face trial

<p style="text-align: justify;">An American government contractor whose family and government contend is being unjustly held behind bars in Cuba goes on trial Friday.His defense attorney: Nuris Piñero Sierra, who also represents the families of five Cuban intelligence agents who Havana says are being unjustly held in U.S. federal prisons. Read More

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Dissident women are confronted by crowd

<p style="text-align: justify;">Between 100 and 200 pro-government demonstrators surrounded about 20 Ladies in White on a Havana street on Sunday, foreign journalists reported. Read More

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Jewish leaders ask Castro to release U.S. contractor Alan Gross

<p style="text-align: justify;">February 27, 2011. (JTA) -- The leaders of American Jewish groups appealed to Cuba's president to release a Jewish U.S. citizen from prison and reunite him with his family.The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, representing 51 Jewish groups in the United States sent a letter over the weekend to President Raul Castro, asking him to release U.S. government contractor Alan Gross on humanitarian grounds. Read More

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Security agents reveal themselves on TV, tell of infiltrating dissident organizations

<p style="text-align: justify;">Counterintelligence is ever alert, one agent says. Cuban counterintelligence "outed" two of its undercover agents on Friday, during a televised exposé of dissident groups that tracked the links between them and their "masters" in the United States.The program, titled Pawns of the Empire, was broadcast on Cubavisión and can be seen in the official website Cubadebate. Read More

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Jesus Diaz Afro Cuban Jazz All-Star Ensemble

<p style="text-align: justify;">The Jesus Diaz Afro-Cuban Jazz All-Stars develops the rich traditions of Afro-Cuban music of son,and always timba with the energy of funk at the root of the music! This band brings the expertise of the best Bay Area Afro-Cuban Jazz musicians together! Read More

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Cuba made Successful Presentation at Italian Tourism Fair

<p style="text-align: justify;">The Genuine Cuba advertising campaign, a promoter of the most genuine values of the Caribbean nation, was successfully presented at the 31st edition of the International Tourism Stock Market (BIT 2011) which had the Italian city of Milan as its venue. Culture and traditions characterized the Cuban stand, of some 150 square meters with colonial atmosphere, which included the presence of a cigar roller and the music of the group Los Trinitarios, according to information provided by the Cuban Tourism Ministry. Read More

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More Americans seeking to expand ties with Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">02-27-2011. TAMPA, the United States, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S.-Cuba relations are evolving rapidly as more U.S. organizations seek to boost various exchanges between the two countries.In mid-January, U.S. President Barack Obama greenlighted some changes to his country's practices related with Cuba, including authorizing travels to Cuba by U.S. citizens for academic, educational, cultural and religious purposes. Read More

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Benicio del Toro in Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">Feb 27 (Prensa Latina) Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro traveled to the Cuban capital to coordinate the filming of Seven Days in Havana, a source close to the artist confirmed to Prensa Latina. Del Toro, 44, is part of a group of seven directors who are making this Spanish/French co-production of seven shorts, with scripts coordinated by Cuban writer and journalist Leonardo Padura.The other directors are Spaniard Julio Medem, Cuban Juan Carlos Tabío, Argentines Gaspar Noé and Pablo Trapero, Palestinian Elia Suleiman and French Laurent Cantet. Read More

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