Cuban Pitcher leaves his team in the Netherlands

<p style="text-align: justify;">June 29, 2011 in Sports. Cuban pitcher Gerardo Concepcion fled the Cuban baseball team that participates in a tournament in Holland. Conception was rookie of the year in the last national series held in Cuba and many talent hunters have highlighted his qualities to reach major leagues. Read More

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Venezuela Counters Chávez Rumors With Video

<p style="text-align: justify;">BY EZEQUIEL MINAYA. CARACAS–In the latest effort to dispel rumors of the flagging health of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, his government aired a video late Tuesday of the leader reportedly strolling in Cuba engaged in a lively conversation with mentor Fidel Castro. Read More

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U.S.: Some non-Mariel Cubans can be deported

<p style="text-align: justify;">By ALFONSO CHARDY.ElNuevoHerald.com. Cubans convicted of crimes in the United States who arrived before and after the 1980 Mariel exodus have been deported to their homeland because their names surprisingly appear in a 27-year-old repatriation agreement list.This week, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokeswoman in Washington confirmed the 1984 list of names of Cubans who can be returned to the island includes some who did not arrive during the 1980 boatlift. Read More

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The San Francisco Girls Chorus to Perform in Cuba for the First Time

<p style="text-align: justify;">2011.06.29 - 07:56:23 / radiorebelde.icrt.cu. San Francisco Girls Chorus. Photo: Official Web Site. MATANZAS, Cuba.- The San Francisco Girls Chorus, from the United States, will perform for the first time in Cuba, in the cities of Santa Clara, Matanzas and Havana, as a continuity of the program of cultural exchanges between the two countries. Read More

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Cuba, Venezuela put out new images of post-op Chavez

<p style="text-align: justify;">Reuters. By Daniel Wallis. CARACAS (Reuters) - The governments of Cuba and Venezuela released new pictures and video footage of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday showing him chatting with Fidel Castro and walking outside after undergoing surgery in Havana."These images should serve to calm the Venezuelan people down over the health of President Chavez," Information Minister Andres Izarra told Venezuelan state TV after the images were shown. Read More

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Cuba rejects US report on human trafficking

<p style="text-align: justify;">Wednesday, June 29, 2011. HAVANA, Cuba (AP) — The Cuban government is strongly criticising a US report that accuses it of not doing enough to combat human trafficking.Josefina Vidal is the Cuban Foreign Ministry's director for North American affairs. She says Cuba's inclusion on the blacklist is "shameful slander" and "deeply offensive to the Cuban people." Washington on Monday nearly doubled the number of countries that it says fail to meet minimum international standards in efforts to curb people-smuggling, which largely victimises women and children. Read More

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New International Policy Brief

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Wayne Smith. CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. In his new International Policy Brief (PDF), Wayne S. Smith, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and director of the Cuba Project, discusses the Diaz-Balart amendment that the U.S. House of Representatives' Appropriations Committee passed on June 23. According to Smith, this amendment takes a step backwards in U.S.-Cuban relations, and therefore, Congress should reject it. Read More

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Experience Jazz in Havana with JazzTimes and Insight Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">In 2011, travel to Cuba for all U.S. citizens was reinstated through Insight Cuba’s people-to-people cultural programs. Any American can now travel with that organization and can discover Cuba through its people. Working extensively with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Insight Cuba has partnered with JazzTimes to develop music-intensive programs that meet the government’s guidelines for legal travel to Cuba. These special programs allow you to truly experience the inner nature of Cuban culture and society. Read More

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Stem Cells: Beneficial to Athletes

<p style="text-align: justify;">2011.06.27 - 18:06:12 / radiorebelde.icrt.cu. Havana, Cuba.- The application of stem cells treatments aimed at the rapid recovery of people has revolutionized medical science and the possibility of using the method to relieve injuries athletes suffered.The Deputy Director of Research of the Hematology and Immunology Institute, Dr. Porfirio Hernandez told ACN News Agency that a clinical test demonstrated its possibilities and will constitute an efficient weapon in the sports field in Cuba after carrying out the first cases. Read More

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Come get your MBA in…Cuba?

<p style="text-align: justify;">June 28, 2011 6:11 pm by Ron Buchanan. Havana may not yet rival Harvard, but an MBA course is shortly to be launched in the&nbsp; Cuban capital. The invitation to the MBA course has been extended by the Archdiocese of Havana, in conjunction with the San Antonio Catholic University of Murcia in Spain. Only 40 places are available. The course will form cadres for a still tiny private sector in Cuba that is expected to grow rapidly under reforms announced recently by President Raúl Castro. Read More

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