The PCC is meeting this now and Raul is setting forth the direction for the new Cuba.  The following from Time

This will be the sixth Cuban party congress since the first in 1975, and it could be the most important. The 1,000 delegates gathering in Havana plan to ratify almost 300 reforms Raúl proposed last year – the boldest of which, including broadened private enterprise, have Cuba-watchers asking if he’s moving the island to a China-style system of communist capitalism, or perhaps even a more liberal, less centralized political structure. In his

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The well-known sculptor Martha Jimenez will be exhibiting her works at Emerson college in Boston.  Links are here and here

Works by Cuban artist Martha Jimenez, from the province of Camaguey, will be exhibited at the Emerson College in Boston, US, at the invitation of the institution.

This is the first exhibition of Jimenez’s work in the US, where she recently concluded a tour of six states.

The Cuban artist was also invited to give lectures at the university devoted to the study of communication and performing arts.

The exhibition consists

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The Wisconsin Nicaragua Wheelchair Project has recently established close ties with the Wisconsin Medical Project.  We look for great things from this collaboration.

From NPR Dec 9

By Nick Miroff

Cuba has some the most extensive coral reefs in the hemisphere, but political strains between Washington and Havana largely have kept American scientists away.

A new partnership for marine research is trying to change that at one of Cuba’s most remote places, far from people and pollution.

Off central Cuba’s southern coast, hundreds of tiny islands stretch into the Caribbean. They are ringed with narrow beaches and thick stands of red mangrove.

When Christopher Columbus arrived here, he named the area Los Jardines de la Reina — The

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From Reuters

A U.S. judge Tuesday reduced the prison terms of two convicted Cuban spies in the latest twist of a high-profile espionage case that has strained already hostile ties between Havana and Washington.

U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard cut the sentence of Ramon Labanino, also known as Luis Medina, from a life term to 30 years, an assistant to the judge told Reuters.

In a separate later ruling, Lenard reduced the sentence of a second convicted spy, Fernando Gonzalez, also known as Ruben Campa, from 19 years to 17 years and nine months.

Cuba

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Cuba Headlines has a piece on the artists’ trip to Madison and their exhibit in the DiRicci gallery.

An exhibiton of the Cuban art is underway in Wisconsin. It is about an exhibition of 25 pieces made by the Cuban artists Orestes Larios Zaak and Gregorio Perez, is exhibited until next 24 of November in Madison, capital city of the US state of Wisconsin.

The exhibition, made by these creators from the Cuban province of Camaguey, is held at the D´Ricci gallery, and includes oil paintings and wood sculptures about ecological topics.

Orestes Larios, María Ofelia and Gregorio Perez arrived on Nov 2.  Susan Kepecs writes a great piece in The Isthmus describing their visit, it’s significance and the their artwork.

Finally, here’s some change we can believe in. The U.S. blockade on Cuba is alive and well, but Obama’s given us wiggle room. For the first time since the start of W’s second term, Cuban artists can get visas to visit the States. Thanks to impressive efforts by the Madison-Camagüey Sister City Association, with support from Edgewood College, the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, and

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That great whoosh you heard up in the northern midwest was caused by the flood of Madisonians making way last weekend to the Cardinal returning in full splendor: with a face lift and with our very own Ricardo Gonzalez back at the helm. If you haven’t done so already,  check out this very good review by Susan Kepecs in the Isthmus

This weekend the Cardinal Bar, with Gonzalez back at the helm, is reborn. Ochun, orisha of love, rejoices, dancing voluptuously. You can, too. The Cardinal’s gala opening lasts all weekend long, from

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Britain’s Royal Ballet with their principal dancer, Cuban-born Carlos Acosta, comes to Havana and performs with the National Ballet.  This article from the Observer explores the significance of ballet in Cuba, its history after the revolution and the role played by Alicia Alonso, now 90, as it reports on the week long series of performances and celebrations occasioned by the meeting of these two companies.

The week-long tour is a massive undertaking, with a 150-strong crew of ballet teachers, stage crews, costumers and wiggers, conductors, pianists, physiotherapists and, of course, dancers, 80 of

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