/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM-CUBA: Washington Blocks Dialogue in Visa Denial

"Suite Habana" and other films by Cuban director Fernando Pérez are headlining a Latin American exhibition included in the fifth Havana Film Festival, held in New York Apr. 23-28. But the director could not be there for the screenings.

CUBA: Blind Dissident Put on Parole, Others Receive Prison Terms

A Cuban court granted a blind human rights lawyer and another opposition activist conditional liberty, while eight other dissidents received prison sentences of three to seven years, a prominent member of the opposition told IPS Tuesday.

HUMAN RIGHTS-CUBA: Latin America Holds the Key in UN Vote

The votes by Latin American countries on what have become annual United Nations resolutions on the human rights situation in Cuba have tended to hamper the island's insertion in the region. And this year seems to be no exception.

CUBA: Commuters Wait Endlessly for Crammed Bus – or Hitchhike

Tired of waiting for a packed bus that takes forever to arrive, María Luisa Bustamante now hitchhikes to work from her home in a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Havana.

RIGHTS-CUBA: Wives of Jailed Dissidents Fast and Pray

The wives of many of the 75 Cuban dissidents sentenced to lengthy prison terms on charges of conspiring with the United States to ''destabilise'' the Cuban government gathered Thursday, the first anniversary of the arrests, to fast and pray.

CUBA: Small Rice Paddies Produce Big Results

Cuba aims to keep driving up rice production by encouraging cultivation in small paddies through a programme involving 190,000 farmers across the island.

Small Rice Paddies Produce Big Results

Cuba dedicates more than 130,000 hectares to growing rice, though it is mostly small-scale production.

CUBA: Families of Terrorism Victims to Attend Trial of Cuban Exiles

Relatives of victims of terrorist attacks plan to attend the trial that opens next Monday in Panama of Luis Posada Carriles and three other Cuban exiles, accused by President Fidel Castro of planning an attempt on his life.

CUBA: Dissidents Launch Petition Drive Against Death Penalty

Moderate dissidents in Cuba began to collect signatures Tuesday demanding a moratorium on the death penalty, which is applicable to around 100 offences in this Caribbean island nation.

CUBA: Red Tape Makes Travel Expensive – or Impossible

The difficulty of obtaining a visa to visit other countries often frustrates the dream of travelling abroad shared by many Cubans, who are already overwhelmed by the cumbersome internal requirements that make it hard to even leave this socialist island nation in the first place.

CUBA: Sugar Industry Restructuring Good for Environment

The restructuring of Cuba's sugar industry, which began two years ago and has involved the closing of half of this Caribbean island nation's sugar mills and the transfer of a large number of workers to other parts of the economy, will be good for the environment, say experts.

LITERATURE: Written Word Joins Cuban Authors, On or Off the Island

The Colección Cultura Cubana book series was created by a Puerto Rico-based publishing house for Cuban writers, whether living in or outside this socialist-run country, and is one of the main attractions of the International Book Fair under way in Havana.

CUBA: ‘Drugs Have No Borders,’ Warns Former Addict

He was in hell, and still feels the impacts of a journey from which many others never return. "Sometimes I talk too much, or I walk too fast, and I don't realise what I'm doing," says Yosmany, 36, a former drug addict.

CUBA: Limits on Individual Freedoms ‘Eclipse’ Social Rights – Group

Restrictions on civil, political and economic freedoms in Cuba "eclipse" the positive impacts of the social rights that the government has always maintained a priority, complained an opposition group here Monday.

CUBA: Limits on Individual Freedoms ‘Eclipse’ Social Rights – Group

Restrictions on civil, political and economic freedoms in Cuba "eclipse" the positive impacts of the social rights that the government has always maintained a priority, complained an opposition group here Monday.

CUBA: Remittances, a Major Source of Foreign Exchange – and Inequality

The remittances sent to their families in Cuba by the hundreds of thousands of Cubans living abroad help cover basic necessities and household expenses, while widening gaps in income and wealth that become especially noticeable during the year-end holiday season.

CUBA: Dissident Groups Slowly Get Back on Their Feet

Cuba's fragmented internal opposition movement is attempting to recover from harsh blows received this year, while continuing to call for the release of the 75 activists sentenced to lengthy prison terms in April.

ENVIRONMENT-CUBA: Biogas – Using Organic Waste to Generate Renewable Fuel

In the industrial kitchen of the Marién N'Gouabi Farm Institute in the Cuban province of Pinar del Río, no one is bleary-eyed from wood smoke or feels stifled by the heat anymore. "Our working conditions have been humanised," says Ciro Emilio Ortega, standing in front of a huge boiler where lunch is stewing.

AGRICULTURE-CUBA: ‘Mini-Harvest’ Bolsters Sugar Ministry Projections

After a dismally low 2002-2003 harvest that ended in June, Cuba's Sugar Ministry was optimistic this week at the start of the traditional December ''mini-harvest''.

Use of Biogas Expands in Cuba

Tierramérica visits a biogas plant in the Cuban province of Pinar del Río. Some 100 biogas installations on the island are using the renewable fuel obtained from organic waste like manure or vegetable waste.

CUBA: Lights Shine at Night in Remote Los Tumbos

The families of the Cuban community of Los Tumbos have replaced their candles with clean-energy, bright lights - and now children are learning more, baseball games are followed on television and residents tap their feet to music playing on the radio.