/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/ PAINTING-CUBA: Artistic Boom Spawns Rise In Smuggling

The National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana is still waiting for "Florero" (Flower Vase), a painting by Cuban Amelia Peláez (1897-1968), to be returned after it was stolen and put up for auction, unsuccessfully, in the United States.

POLITICS-CUBA: Conflict with US Goes Beyond Embargo

The Cuban government appears keen on insisting that its ideological conflict with the United States would survive the eventual lifting of Washington's nearly four decades old economic blockade, according to analysts here.

POLITICS-CUBA: Helms-Burton Threat Clouds Summit Preparations

U.S. pressure against the Spanish hotel chain Sol Meliá for investing in Cuba is hanging heavy over the island, just two weeks before it hosts the ninth summit of leaders of Latin America, Spain and Portugal, who are expected to reiterate their condemnation of the U.S. trade embargo.

RELIGION: Church Criticises Situation in Cuba

The Roman Catholic Church in Cuba called Tuesday for a broad amnesty for prisoners, in a pastoral letter criticising the situation today in the Caribbean island nation, which urges Catholics to welcome the new millenium with hope.

activists in Latin America. RICARDO ALARCON: Even Without Embargo, US Would Try to Rule Cuba

The enmity between socialist Cuba and the United States, a definite risk to the security of this side of the western hemisphere, will extend into the next century with no prospects for a solution in the near future, according to Ricardo Alarcon, president of the National Assembly of People's Power, Cuba's parliament.

RELIGION-CUBA: Criticism Puts Church Unity in Question

Priests in eastern Cuba criticised the Catholic Church hierarchy for not taking a firm stance on government policies, contradicting the Church's image of unity in facing the island's social and political situation.

POLITICS-CUBA: Justice Hardens Against Smugglers of Emigrants

Cuban justice sent a message when it handed down harsh sentences against two people found guilty of illegal trafficking of emigrants, in a case that cost one person's life and endangered the lives of several children.

TRADE: Cuba Looking For an “In” With FTAA

The Cuban government, frozen out of the negotiations to establish a Free Trade Area of the Americas, (FTAA) is looking for an "in" through bilateral and sub-regional treaties with Latin American and Caribbean nations.

DEVELOPMENT-CUBA: Havana is Thirsty While Water Leaks Away

A water system that has been operating for more than four decades, frequent ruptures and leaks leading to the loss of half of all water distributed, and power outages are conspiring against the supply of clean water to the Cuban capital.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/LANGUAGE-CUBA: In Defence of Local Spanish

A bill on language presented before Cuban parliament attempts to establish cultural norms for the local variant of Spanish as the first step towards creating a Cuban Spanish dictionary and promoting national unity.

TRANSPORT-CUBA: The Daily Challenge of Getting to Work

Getting from one place to another is a real headache in Cuba, where the shortage of public transport figures among the most pressing concerns of the more than 11 million inhabitants of this Caribbean island nation.

TRANSPORT-CUBA: The Daily Challenge of Getting to Work/REPEATING/

Getting from one place to another is a real headache in Cuba, where the shortage of public transport figures among the most pressing concerns of the more than 11 million inhabitants of this Caribbean island nation.

TRANSPORT-CUBA: The Daily Challenge of Getting to Work

Getting from one place to another is a real headache in Cuba, where the shortage of public transport figures among the most pressing concerns of the more than 11 million inhabitants of this Caribbean island nation.

SPORTS-CUBA: Castro Defends Athletes Accused of Doping

The Cuban government hotly defended three gold medal-winners against charges of doping, and provided new evidence of their innocence.

ENVIRONMENT-CUBA: Food Industry Joins Fight Against Pollution

By relocating plants and upgrading technology, Cuba's food industry, whose large companies are based in the capital, has joined the fight to clean up Havana Bay, considered one of the 10 most polluted in the world.

SOCIETY: Cubans “Generally” Observe Cut in Alcohol Sales

One month after the government ordered restrictions on the sale of alcoholic beverages there was still no indication that they have had any real effect.

ECONOMY-CUBA: Gov’t Asks Oil Companies to Come and Explore

The Cuban government hopes to convince foreign petroleum companies to participate in the joint exploration of its territorial waters in an effort to expand national oil production, which is expected to reach two million metric tonnes this year.

POLITICS-CUBA: No Meeting with Castro for Moderate Exile Leader

Opposition leader Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo concluded his fourth visit to Cuba without securing a meeting with President Fidel Castro, with whom he had hoped to renew dialogue in his search for a legal space for political activity by internal dissidents.

ECONOMY-CUBA: Derivatives to Boost Sugar Revenues

Cuba is banking on increasing the production of by-products from its annual sugar crop to boost revenues for the sugar industry - the island's main export.

HEALTH-CUBA: Vaccine May Open Window in US Blockade

A Cuban vaccine for meningitis could find its way onto pharmacy shelves in the United States, opening a crack in the trade embargo Washington has imposed on Cuba since 1961.

ECONOMY-CUBA: Private Initiative Struggles to Survive

Private initiative in Cuba remains subject to tight government controls and restrictions, despite the economic reforms implemented since 1993 that have provided new opportunities for self-employment and family-run businesses such as small home-based restaurants.