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Archive - Apr 16, 2011

Party Congress filling gaps of economic reform puzzle

<p style="text-align: justify;">When some 1,000 rank-and-file delegates and Party leaders gather this weekend in Havana for the 6th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, a handful of golf course developers are waiting anxiously to raise their glasses for a toast. During the meeting, they expect to get the official go-ahead for the construction of four major golf condominium developments worth hundreds of millions of dollars.Of course, the role of the Congress goes much deeper. The 99-year leases for state land the government is granting the foreign developers — the underlying legal mechanism that makes the golf projects possible — are part of a bigger economic reform package that will be ratified by this congress. Read More

U.S. Interests Section chief leaving

<p style="text-align: justify;">Jonathan D. Farrar will be leaving the U.S. Interests Section in Havana to become ambassador in Nicaragua, the White House announced.No announcement has been made as to who will replace him. Read More

Soldiers, children parade as Cuba opens Communist Party talks against nationalist backdrop

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Peter Orsi, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – Sat, 16 Apr, 2011 1:48 AM EDT. HAVANA - Cuba kicks off a crucial Communist Party congress Saturday with a massive military and civilian parade to mark 50 years since the defeat of CIA-backed exiles at the Bay of Pigs, still celebrated here as a landmark triumph over the island's powerful neighbour to the north.Hundreds of thousands of people — from aging generals to factory workers — are already marching through the capital. Such shows of nationalism are one of the things Cuba does best, with participants given the day off and a fleet of Soviet-era buses mobilized to ferry them in from across the island. Read More

Military and Popular Parade in Havana on Saturday

<p style="text-align: justify;">2011.04.15 - 11:54:03 / radiorebelde.icrt.cu. Military and Popular Parade in Havana on Saturday. HAVANA, CUBA.- A Military and Popular Parade will take place in Havana’s Revolution Square to mark the 50 anniversary of the declaration of the socialist character of the Cuban Revolution and the victory over mercenary forces in Bay of Pigs.The parade will start with children, youngsters and veterans to represent a tour through Cuban history, and will be followed by the troops and equipment and technology ranks to close with mass demonstrations from Havana city inhabitants. Read More

Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista sought refuge in Ireland in 1959

<p style="text-align: justify;">General Fulgencio Batista hid out in Ireland. By CATHAL DERVAN. IrishCentral.com Staff Writer. Published Friday, April 15, 2011, 8:13 AM. Updated Friday, April 15, 2011, 8:13 AM. The Cuban dictator deposed by Fidel Castro sought refuge in Ireland in 1959 according to documents discovered ahead of the 50th anniversary of the invasion of the Bay of Pigs.A letter from the wife of General Fulgencio Batista to the then Irish President Sean T O’Kelly has been uncovered by Declan McKenna of the Cuba Support Group Ireland. Read More

Daydreaming of Cuba for Dollars

<p style="text-align: justify;">By SAUL LANDAU and NELSON P. VALDES. Weekend Edition. April 15 - 17, 2011. Almost fifty years after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the university professor tuned in to his i-Pod radio. A news bulletin interrupted "It's Make Believe Ballroom Time" to announce an El Paso jury had acquitted Luis Posada Carriles, well-known terrorist, on 9 counts of lying on his immigration application. Read More

Citrus groves in Cubitas to expand

<p style="text-align: justify;">A citrus-growing area in Camagüey province will expand, partly financed with the reinvestment of funds from the export of organic grapefruit and oranges.A cluster of member-owned and state cooperatives in the Cubitas valley plan to add 1,200 hectares of orange and grapefruit trees by 2022, according to AIN. Most of the new crop will be organic. The Cubitas area currently features 1,800 hectares of citrus groves and other fruit-growing areas.Planting is beginning this year in covered areas. Read More

$35mln Varadero airport expansion to conclude in July

<p style="text-align: justify;">The $35 million expansion of the airport in Varadero, Cuba’s most popular beach resort, is expected to be concluded by July, official media reported.he project also includes addition of a telescope gangway and parking lot.The Varadero airport, which also serves the city of Matanzas, is Cuba’s second-busiest airport. With a capacity of 1,200 passengers a day, it moves 30 percent of Cuba’s passenger air traffic. The expansion increases capacity to 1,800 passengers. Read More

NRI candidate promises Cuba model for UK town

<p style="text-align: justify;">Fri Apr 15 2011, 15:06 hrs London.Amidst major funding cuts, an Indian origin candidate for the May 5 mayoral election in Leicester has gone against the grain and has promised voters that he would resist cuts and instead run the city on the lines of communist Cuba, if elected.Mohinder Farma, who migrated to Leicester from India in 1963, says that Cuba should be the multicultural city's inspiration. Read More

Real Estate, Auto Markets Drive Reform Talk In Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Nick Miroff. April 15, 2011. Cuba's Raul Castro has outlined hundreds of reform measures in preparation for the big Communist Party Congress that starts this weekend, the first since 1997.Some would entail major changes to Cuba's property laws. The reforms could lead to a real estate boom, but could also mark the beginning of the end for many of Cuba's classic American cars.It is the quintessential image of Havana postcards and tourism brochures — dozens of battered Fords, Buicks and other aging clunkers from Detroit's heyday lined up in colorful formation outside the elegant Cuban Capitolio. Read More