CUBA: Foreign Ministry Explains Controversial “Sexual Orientation” Vote to Activists

Gay rights advocates in Cuba received an unprecedented response from Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, in a meeting held at the ministry itself, after they complained about this country’s support in the United Nations for an amendment seen as a step backwards from the government’s position against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

CUBA: “Sexual Orientation” Vote in UN Panel Kicks Up Controversy

An unusually strong controversy has broken out in Cuba over a vote by the delegation from this Caribbean nation in favour of an amendment that left out the specific mention of sexual orientation in a United Nations General Assembly resolution on extrajudicial, arbitrary or summary executions.

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.

CUBA: Lesbians Demand Fair Treatment from Health Providers

Lesbian and bisexual women's groups in Cuba, which welcome anyone who wishes to participate "with solidarity and in a respectful, friendly and healthy manner," point to the need to sensitise health personnel to the issue of female sexual diversity.

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: Popular Knowledge Can Transform People’s Worlds

Valuing and sharing common people's knowledge and experience, awakening critical consciousness and finding paths for effective social participation are the processes used by more than 1,000 people in Cuba working in Popular Education, a liberating approach to education developed by Brazilian educator Paulo Freire in the 1960s.

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.

CUBA: Ten Years Fighting HIV/AIDS and Reaching Out to Gays

Raúl Regueiro remembers every detail about the creation, 10 years ago in Cuba, of the project for the prevention of HIV/AIDS among men who have sex with men, and the way the initiative crossed the boundaries of purely health-related concerns to address the question of social inclusion.

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.

CUBA: Black Women Face Double Discrimination, Half Century After Revolution

Cuban women have to work twice as hard as men to get ahead in their careers. But things are even tougher for black women in Cuba, although discrimination by reason of gender or skin colour is prohibited by law and by the constitution itself.

MILLENNIUM GOALS: A Question of Political Will

"I am not pessimistic, but I am realistic. Under present conditions and the prevailing system of world government, the Millennium Development Goals simply cannot be achieved," Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno said in an interview with IPS.

Cuban Union Calls for ‘Unity’ in Face of Job Reduction

The elimination of half a million public sector jobs, starting immediately and lasting through the first quarter of 2011, is one of the most complex and sensitive aspects of the reforms announced by Cuban President Raúl Castro.

Q&A: Cuban Vaccines Cross Borders, But Barriers Remain

Even today, many years after it was proved effective, the Cuban vaccine against meningitis B is still ignored by industrialised countries, whose medical literature usually states there is no immunisation against that strain of the disease.

FILM-CUBA: “I Fought for This, But Not Just to Be a Housewife”

Mavi Susel, the first transsexual in Cuba to undergo sex reassignment surgery, back in 1988, has found herself trapped in the traditionally assigned gender role of a housewife.