Opinion piece from La Alborada

The US and Cuba have held at least two meetings recently. More meeetings can be expected, according to Thomas Shannon, the point man for the US in the discussions.

Yesterday, April 29, Raul Castro, speaking at the meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana, said that “The measures that President Obama recently announced, while they are positive, are minimal in their reach. The blockade remained intact.”

After pointing…

This article by John McAuliff in the Havana Note does a great job of catching provocative and problematic statements recently made by Secretary Clinton.  The public tends to accept such assertions  as undisputed truth,  but in fact they badly misrepresent the circumstances:

I well remember when those two small, unarmed planes doing nothing more than dropping pamphlets were shot down by the Castro regime. And I believed then, and I think you…

From the Havana Times: Cuba has no reported cases of swine flu and it is well equipped to take effective preventative action.

HAVANA TIMES, April 27 – Cuba’s health and civil defense authorities have announced a series of measures to prevent a possible outbreak of swine flu that is affecting Mexico, the United States, Canada and several European countries.

No cases of swine flu have been reported so far on the island. Over…

Associated Press (via Yahoo) reports the increasing desire for legal trips to Cuba by all Americans.

HAVANA – Some Americans are eagerly awaiting the moment when they can make legal trips to Cuba despite the U.S. trade and travel embargo — and all it would take is a stroke of President Barack Obama’s pen.

While the U.S. Congress is weighing whether to lift the travel ban altogether, these Americans are hoping for a…

El País reports the event as follows (allowing for  errors in translation):

After the offer for dialog made by Barack Obama and the contradictory response with which it was met in Havana, delegations from the U.S. and Cuba  held a first “informal” meeting in Washington yesterday intended to explore possibilities for negotiation between the two countries on themes such as emigration and drug trafficking.

Official North American sources confirmed the meeting, although…

It’s always hard to know what to make of these anonymously sourced statements, but as often as not they are a way to float policy without making a large commitment.  As such it’s promising.  The administration wants to keep the initiative going with Cuba.   This seems positive.

The officials said informal meetings were being planned between the State Department and Cuban diplomats in the United States to determine whether the two…

With appreciation to Conoce mi Camagüey.  Any errors of  translation are mine.

Children playing, the smile of a grandfather, the joy of first love, the shade of the ceiba tree, the carob and the eucalyptus,  the first steps of the child and always the return — they invite us to the Casino Campestre, a treasure of Camagüey.

The main green space of the city, the park is a regular gathering-place for the…

5/13/09 - 5/17/09, Camagüey

The National Rock Festival — Sounds of the City will take place May 13 through May 17.   This event will bring together important rock groups in the country in conferences, workshops and performances.  It will take on the interesting challenges in the musical landscape of this genre.   There will be concerts every night to present the various styles of Cuban Rock.

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Festival de Rock Nacional Sonidos de la…

From My Perspective, April 23, 2009

Since the Obama Administration announced on April 13 that the excessive and cruel restrictions on travel and sending of remittances imposed on Americans with relatives in Cuba were being lifted, expectations that U.S.-Cuban relations are about to improve have run very high.

As Obama traveled to Mexico to meet with President Felipe Calderon, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was visiting the Dominican Republic, all in…