CUBA-US: Carter Visit Puts Problems on the Table

During former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's three-day visit to Cuba, which ended Wednesday, the main problems to be resolved in order to reduce tension and move towards an eventual improvement in relations between the two countries were put on the table.

RIGHTS-CUBA: Few Advances, Besides Release of Prisoners

A dissident group in Cuba described the human rights situation in the country as "very unfavourable," although it recognised that the number of people prosecuted or imprisoned for "political motivations" has gone down in the last 12 months.

CUBA: Shock at Deaths and Corruption in Psychiatric Hospital

The trial of staff at the Havana Psychiatric Hospital for the deaths of 26 patients who died of cold and neglect revealed a dark chapter in an institution that was once a shining symbol of Cuba's much lauded health care system, and drew reactions of shock and criticism.

Cuba Calls Easing of US Restrictions “Limited” Move

The Cuban government welcomed the latest U.S. measures to ease restrictions on travel and remittances to this country, but said they had a "limited reach."

CUBA-US: No Major Progress Expected from New Immigration Talks

The Cuban capital was the venue for a new round of immigration talks between delegations from this Caribbean island nation and the United States, although no major progress towards a broader dialogue is expected, in contrast to the hopes raised when President Barack Obama took office.

CUBA: Opposition ‘Needs to Reflect’ on U.S. Criticisms Revealed by Wikileaks

The internal dissident movement in Cuba faces some big challenges in 2011, after ending the year with low marks from the top U.S. diplomat in Havana, according to confidential cables made public by Wikileaks, some of which were published on the official government website cubadebate.cu.

Anonymous Afro-Cubans Heroes Remembered for Posterity

Under the spreading shade of a wild fig tree in Old Havana, a small plaque now recalls the sacrifice made by five Afro-Cubans, "anonymous Abakuá who died trying to save medical students" shot by firing squad, when this island was still a Spanish colony.

CUBA: Socialism Needs More Taxes, Fewer Subsidies

Cubans are delving deeper into economic change, which means new taxes and an end to the state subsidies that for decades were a symbol of the equality so highly extolled under the Cuban Revolution.

CUBA-US: Holding Onto Hope for a Pardon of the ‘Cuban Five’

After exhausting the legal appeals process in the United States, family members and human rights groups in Cuba are calling for a solidarity campaign to convince President Barack Obama to pardon the five Cuban agents who have spent the last 12 years in U.S. prisons.

Cuba Commutes Sentences; Only One Person Still on Death Row

Human rights activists are pleased with the decision by Cuba’s Supreme Court to commute to 30 years in prison the death sentences of two Salvadoran men convicted of terrorism. But dissidents continue to call for complete abolition of the death penalty.

CUBA: Castro Hopes Popular Debates Build Consensus for Economic Plans

"This is getting bad. We hear that they're going to take away the ration books," says an elderly man, his elbows resting on the countertop of a small shop in the Cuban capital. "Well, for whatever it's worth," replies a woman in a low voice as she makes her monthly ration purchases.

Internet At Home – A Distant Dream in Cuba

A submarine fibre optic cable which is expected to greatly increase internet connection speed in Cuba will soon be operational, and is creating moderate expectations among civil society on the island, where private access to the net is not a government priority.

CUBA: Socialist System Charts Economic Future

Cuba will develop its socialist economy relying on integration with friendly countries, accepting foreign capital as a complement to national investment, using its human capital efficiently and increasing high added value production, according to draft guidelines to be discussed by society at large.

CUBA: Families Face Tense Wait for Dissidents’ Release

The families of the last 13 Cuban dissidents set to be released from prison are experiencing "tension, but we have not lost hope that they might be freed at any moment.

Cubans Queue Up for Copies of New Self-Employment Rules

"They brought me 100 copies, which sold out in less than half an hour," the vendor at one of the Cuban government's newsstands told IPS, referring to the nearly 100 pages of regulations published in the government gazette. The people queuing up "just about drove me crazy," he added.

Cuba, Brazil Unite for Africa’s Health

The risk of meningitis outbreaks rises during the dry season -- December to June -- in some 20 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Meningitis in the region is too often deadly, though the disease can be prevented with vaccination.

Cuban Treatment for Diabetic Foot Ulcers Heads for Europe

Cuba's biotechnology industry is hoping to conquer the European Union market with Heberprot-P, a therapeutic drug used to prevent foot amputations in patients with diabetes.

CUBA: The Environment Plays the Lead in Low-Budget Cinema

Scientists and experts took on the challenge of sharing their environmental concerns with filmmakers at the Third Thematic Showcase of the Humberto Solás Low-Budget Film Festival in the Cuban capital.

Q&A: Cuba’s Catholic Media Multiply, But Change Is Slow

In the context of ongoing conciliation between the Cuban government and the Roman Catholic Church, the communications media of the latter are growing quickly on this Caribbean island where the press remains under strict state control.

LABOUR-CUBA: Torn Between Hope and Anxiety

The radical restructuring of employment launched by President Raúl Castro has Cubans, on the one hand, feeling anxious about possibly losing their jobs and, on the other, looking forward to testing the real scope of opportunities in the private sector, where an estimated 250,000 additional people may soon be working for themselves.

Q&A: Cuba’s GM Maize Debate Opens Up

The cultivation in several Cuban provinces of genetically modified maize, obtained by the Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, endangers biodiversity and contradicts the government's own agricultural production plan, warns Cuban agro-ecologist Fernando Funes-Monzote.