June 30

FROM CUBA
Power outages in Cuba bring resentment to the fore
Cubans are reacting to frequent power outages by openly voicing their resentment of the ruling elite when they meet in the streets.
PINAR DEL RÍO

FROM CUBA
"Lightons" in Villa Clara
Blackouts are becoming so frequent and extended in the central Cuban province of Villa Clara that people have begun referring to them as "lightons," implying the blackouts are the standard and having electric service is the anomaly.
SANTA CLARA

Yahoo! News
• US moves deadline for US citizens to leave Cuba
• Passengers Prohibited From Boarding Flights To Cuba
• As US sanctions take effect, Cuban exiles fear for families

External links

Cuba hometown can't cheer hero
At Yankee Stadium, Jose Contreras' newly free family gleefully watched him pitch yesterday in the U.S. for the first time. Here, in the hurler's hometown, it was just another Sunday.
New York Daily News.

Peace Group Collects Supplies for Cuba Trip
Humanitarian aid is on its way to Cuba from a group called Pastors for Peace. The group is comprised of pastors and others from around the country who oppose the U.S. economic blockade against Cuba.
WTVO, IL.

Iran foreign minister visiting Mexico, Cuba
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi is due here Monday to meet with Mexican President Vicente Fox and other top officials before heading to Cuba in three days, Mexico's Foreign Relations Ministry said.
IranMania News, Iran.

Travelers to Cuba left stranded at airport
Cuban-Americans who had hoped to take advantage of additional charter flights to Cuba before new travel restrictions kick in today were left in the lurch Tuesday because the State Department denied the charter companies permission to take those passengers to the island.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

Contreras family ready for New York tour
Jose Contreras and his newly reunited family arrived in New York last Thursday ready to take in the bright lights of the city in a moonlight drive.
The East Carolinian.

New U.S. regulations rile Cuban-Americans
Juan Franco wanted the moment to last just a little longer, but finally he had to let his daughter go, giving her a tight hug before she boarded her flight back to Florida.
The Dallas Morning News.

June 28

FROM CUBA
Residents complain about subpar medical services
Among the reasons for the lack of services that previously were widely available they cite the scarcity of resources and the wholesale shipment of doctors and other medical personnel to Venezuela and several other countries.
HAVANA

Yahoo! News
• Cuba frees ailing dissidents, but diplomats and opponents want more
• List of U.S. Government Rules on Cuba
• Yankees Pummel Mets 8-1
• She left with only kids
• Family finally to see him pitch

The Miami Herald
• Travel regulations delayed for Americans in Cuba
• Exile still pulling for independent libraries in Cuba
• Cuba is freeing sick dissidents 'to avoid a mishap,' experts say
• Cubans returning to Dade to retire

External links

A mom on a mission
Yankee pitcher Jose Contreras' wife just wouldn't take no for an answer. The Cuban government told Miriam Murillo-Flores she couldn't leave to join her defector hubby in the United States for at least five years. She feared that would destroy her family.
The New York Post.

Cuba flights added as deadline nears
Local air charter companies are scrambling to add flights to their schedules to bring back thousands of U.S. visitors from Cuba before June 30, when new, stricter government regulations take effect.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

Election-Year Cuba Policy
It is outrageous that the people of a communist nation have just been told they can see their relatives living outside the country only once every three years. Not only that, the types of items and amounts of money they can receive from overseas will also be curtailed, along with their exposure to visitors on cultural and academic exchanges.
The New York Times.

Misdirection on Cuba
Senator John Kerry is advocating a policy toward Cuba's internal politics that is realistic in the short term. The next US president, however, needs to support a democratic opposition on the island to discourage the long continuance of dictatorship.
Boston Globe, MA.

Dozens Of Cuban Migrants Repatriated Friday
Thirty-four Cuban migrants found at sea in four separate incidents last week were returned to the Caribbean island on Friday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Tampa Tribune, FL.

Yankees Are Too Much for Mets
Making his first start since his wife and children defected from Cuba last week, Jose Contreras struck out a career-high 10 in six scoreless innings yesterday, and the New York Yankees beat the visiting New York Mets, 8-1, in the opener of a day-night doubleheader sweep.
The Washington Post.

June 24

Freedom for Vazquez Portal
The independente journalist Manuel Vazquez Porta, was released late yesterday from Boniato Prison in the eastern city of Santiago. He then travelled back to Havana, where he spoke with reporters today.
The Australian.

FROM CUBA
Ladies in white defy police on Father's Day
Dressed in white and each carrying a gladiola, 22 wives, mothers and sisters of imprisoned dissidents marked Father's Day in a park near the Santa Rita de Casia Church in the Miramar section of the capital.
HAVANA

The Miami Herald
• 'Worst is over' for pitcher comforted with his family
• Boaters may face charges of smuggling
• When it comes to defections, media keep Cubans in dark
• U.S. Coast Guard repatriates 17 Cuban migrants
• Cuba inspired Garcia film

Yahoo! News
• Jose's a pitcher of joy
• Happier Contreras figures to be more focused

External links

Limits on Trips to Cuba Cause Split in Florida
Miriam Verdura could hardly wait to visit family in her native Cuba next month, her second trip since immigrating to southern Florida in 1999. But the Bush administration has dashed her plans with restrictions that start next Wednesday.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

Nujoma Pays Official Visit to Cuba
President Sam Nujoma began an official three-day visit to Cuba yesterday set to include talks with President Fidel Castro, officials said.
AllAfrica.com.

Activists rally to prevent curtailed Cuban rights
Unlike many of his countrymen, Cuba native Javier Machado came to the United States primarily for love -- not to flee the island nation's communist regime.
Ithaca Journal, NY.

Friendship Caravan to Cuba comes to Bozeman
Roughton, of Belgrade, and more than 100 other U.S. citizens are meeting in Texas next week, with plans to cross into Mexico and fly on to Cuba. They are making the trip to protest the restrictions that keep U.S. citizens from traveling to Cuba and the U.S. blockade of humanitarian aid to the country.
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle, MT.

Pastors for Peace head for Cuba
Sitting in the parking lot of the First Alternative Co-op on Wednesday afternoon, Linda Geiser, right, works on a last-minute peace sign for the bus she and her daughter, Coralie Backlund, left, will leave in tomorrow morning, bound for Cuba.
Corvallis Gazette Times, OR.

Government proposal would restrict KU trips to Cuba
Kansas University's official visits to Cuba may come to an end after just one year. New Treasury Department guidelines, set to go into effect June 30, would eliminate the type of brief trips to the communist island country that KU officials had been planning to expand.
Lawrence Journal World, KS.

June 23

FROM CUBA
All 10 medical dispensaries in community closed for lack of doctors
The 10 medical dispensaries attached to the Pablo de la Torriente sugar mill in Bahía Honda, Pinar del Río province, have been closed since the doctors that used to work in them were shipped off to Venezuela to assist in a joint Cuban-Venezuelan government program.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Wife of Varela Project activist questioned by police
Daysis Santos, wife of Varela Project activist Nivaldo Díaz Castellón, was taken from her home to a police station where she was told her husband could be imprisoned for 20 years if he continued his dissident activities.
SANTA CLARA

The Miami Herald
• Contreras' family arrives in Florida aboard smugglers' boat
• Cubans on 2 boats able to land ashore
• U.S. sanctions will fail, Castro says

Yahoo! News
• Contreras' Wife, 2 Daughters Leave Cuba
• Castro warns Bush against invading Cuba

External links

NCC Asks Bush Admin. to Reverse Cuba Policy, Lift Embargo
The Bush Administration's new Cuba measures will weaken, not empower Cuban civil society organizations, asserted National Council of Churches General Secretary Robert W. Edgar in a letter sent today to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Worldwide Faith News.

Bush's travel limits divide Cuban exiles
It was graduation day in Cuba for Sandra Martín's daughter, but instead of hugging and congratulating her in person, Martín was sitting in her Hialeah office, arranging trips for other people who wanted to go to the island.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

Farmers count cost of Cuba's drought
The fields were so fertile, he boasted, they could grow enough sugar to sweeten every cup of coffee in the world. There was enough crops and cattle to make a man rich and a nation fat.
MSNBC.

Honduras may use territory as escape point
The government is investigating whether Florida-based anti-Castro groups are trying to use Honduras as a way station for Cubans to get to the United States.
Seattle Post Intelligencer, WA.

Namibian president expected to arrive in Cuba today
Namibian President Sam Nujoma is expected to arrive in Cuba today for a three-day visit with his long-time ally, Fidel Castro, the Cuban government's official newspapers said.
Jamaica Observer.

Keeping Cuba in Mind
To many Americans, Cuba is a forbidden dreamscape, the untouchable jewel of the Caribbean. Armchair travel remains the only way for them to experience the endearing island beauty and its Old World urban beat.
The Kansas City Star.

Cuban artist sees the light
Nelson Dominguez's works are about slivers of light, dark thoughts and action of the subconscious. His world is that of shadows, layers and distortions which tell about the human condition.
New Straits Times, Malaysia.

Afro-Cuban Jam
In Dizzy Gillespie's autobiography, To Be or Not to Bop, someone asked Chano Pozo, the Black Cuban conguero whose '40s collaborations with the trumpeter gave birth to modern Latin jazz, how he and Gillespie communicated. "Dizzy no speak Spanish and I no speak English," he replied. "But we both speak African.".
The Village Óbice, NY.

The other side of Cuban music
If the subject of Cuban music comes up, many will make the inevitable connection with the Buena Vista Social Club. Classical guitar aficionados, however, may bring up the name of Manuel Barrueco, one of the leading musicians in his field, and this week's soloist with the Auckland Philharmonia.
New Zealand Herald, New Zealand.

June 22

FROM CUBA
Political prisoner held in punishment cell; wife denied visit
After Aniley Puentes traveled more than 230 miles in Cuba's precarious transportation system to visit her imprisoned husband, she was refused the visit by prison authorities at the Agüica prison, in Matanzas province.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Political prisoner punished after denouncing assault
Officials transferred political prisoner Félix Gerardo Vega to the Guanajay prison outside Havana and confined him to a punishment cell after he complained he had been assaulted by other prisoners.
HAVANA

The Miami Herald
• Four killed in car crash had just visited Cuba
• Group: Migrant slashed wrist to stay
• American has an eye on Cuba's old cars
• Federal rules quash boating trips to Cuba
• Cuban torture suspect arrested in Dade
• Cuba travelers face a deadline to return to U.S.
• Diplomats debate president's Cuba policy
• U.S. law curtails resort's deals in Cuba
• Commission set up to watch Cuba
• For agencies, tougher rules mean tigher belts

Yahoo! News
• Castro Warns Bush Against Launching Attack
• Artist Outraged By Cuban Memorial Vandalism
• Castro, at 14, asked Roosevelt for 10 dollars

External links

Kerry's Cruel Realism
Sometimes in the unscripted moments of a campaign, when the handlers are away, a candidate shows his true nature. Earlier this month, Andres Oppenheimer of The Miami Herald asked John Kerry what he thought of something called the Varela Project. Kerry said it was "counterproductive." It's necessary to try other approaches, he added.
The New York Times (subs).

Cuban cattle no longer a cash cow
From about 1800 until 1958, there was at least one head of cattle for every person in Cuba. After the revolution, the government confiscated all cattle ranches larger than 66 acres. Sugar production became the priority and the number of cattle dwindled.
Tracey Eaton / The Dallas Morning News.

Former pediatrician links Cuban exiles to their loved ones at home
In response to a growing demand for money transmitting and small package delivery to Cuba from the United States, Raul Espinosa has opened Casa Cuba, a business in Kansas City, Kan. where Cuban exiles can safely and legally wire money and send packages to Cuba.
Kansas City Dos Mundos, MO.

U.S. building a stake in Cuba
Chris Aberle recently returned from Havana with nearly $15 million in contracts from the Cuban government to buy 50,000 tons of corn and 20,000 tons of soybeans. That makes $75 million in sales that Aberle has helped arrange over the past 20 months for the 750-member Midwestern grain cooperative he represents.
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL.

Castro Channel on cable
It isn't all Fidel all the time, but it's as close as the Cuban leader gets to MTV - just a few clicks away on the dial or remote. From puppet shows to politics, Havana beams government-produced TV programming to the world via satellite. Express-News Mexico City Bureau.

June 14

FROM CUBA
Mass in Havana for Ronald Reagan
Representatives of 16 dissident organizations attended a requiem for Ronald Reagan in Havana June 9. Monsignor Ricardo Santana, the highest-ranking prelate of the Orthodox Church in Cuba, officiated at the Mass.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Cuban Communist Party official tells evangelical ministers it's immoral to accept contributions from tourists
These contributions, usually in dollars or euros, make up a substantial part of the revenue these churches depend on for their maintenance and programs.
SANTA CLARA

Yahoo! News
• US boaters could face 15 years in jail for organizing sailboat races to Cuba
• Cuban Radio Addresses Reagan Editorial
• Contreras cool under pressure

The Miami Herald
• Cuban defectors a first for MLS
• Conchs still swing to a Cuban beat
• Shake a leg at chicken, Cuban festivals

External links

Cuban exiles in Puerto Rico have high hopes for assembly
As the child of exiles, Antonio Sadurní grew up on stories about Cuba -- his grandfather's arrival from Spain, his father's optimism during the revolution against Fulgencio Batista, the sense of betrayal by the communist regime of Fidel Castro.
Orlando Sentinel, FL.

Once and future Fidel
One of these days, Castro will die. But at 78, he seems as much in control as ever after 45 turbulent years of one-man rule.
Toronto Star, Canada.

Editorial: It's time to end trade embargo
Money isn't everything, but it's pretty important, especially when the loftier goals aren't being achieved anyway. The U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, now four decades old, has failed to dislodge dictator Fidel Castro and bring freedom to the island, as intended.
The News-Press, FL.

Three were fined after worshiping in Havana
Three Milwaukee Methodists fined $25,500 for worshiping with a sister church in Havana without the permission of the U.S. government are challenging the rules that severely restrict travel to Cuba. The Methodists claim the rules abridge their freedom of religion and are racially discriminatory.
San Francisco Chronicle, CA.

Cuban emigre's art comes full circle in Chicago
Few artists are born with brushes and tubes of paint in their hands. Fewer still realize at an early age that they want to be artists. Ines Sanchez-Ferreira might be considered an exception.
Chicago Sun Times, IL.

Celebrating Cuban Pride
Gray skies and momentary lapses of drizzle weren't enough to deter the thousands of Hudson County residents who packed the streets of Bergenline Avenue from 79th to 35th streets for the fifth annual Desfile Cubano de New Jersey (Cuban Parade of New Jersey) last week.
Union City, NJ.

'He was an awesome president'
Lourdes Exposito remembers how in Cuba there was never enough medicine to treat her asthma when she was a child and how her grandmother, who took care of her, would forego her government-controlled ration of meat so Exposito would have enough to eat. "They would give you things through the libreta [ration book] but the food would not last the whole month," she said.
Sun-Sentinel.

June 11

FROM CUBA
Dissident Cuban civil societies send condolences to Nancy Reagan
Four dissident civil society organizations have sent a message of condolences to Nancy Reagan on the death of former president Ronald Reagan, "whose memory will be an eternal reminder for every Cuban who fights for freedom and democracy in Cuba."
HAVANA

The Miami Herald
• Ailing man, other dissidents freed
• Conference notes pros, cons of investing in Cuba
• Cuban star defects in Miami
• People in South Florida gathered to remember Ronald Reagan, a president who bonded with Cuban Miami like no other
• Analysts: U.S. businesses could make billions of dollars in Cuba
• 22 Cubans who arrived on boats seek political asylum in Honduras
• Boaters charged over race to Cuba

Yahoo! News
• Cuban Baseball Player Defects to U.S.
• Mexico's foreign relations secretary to travel to Cuba to help smooth over relations
• Cuban Bartenders Vie for Cocktail Title
• Garcia to Make Cuban Film in Dominican
• Man Sentenced for Smuggling Cuban Cigars

External links

Battle over baby's citizenship
The Home Office says a baby born to a British father and Cuban mother is not eligible for British citizenship because his parents are not married.
BBC, UK.

Cuba's slow welcome to the world
Cayo Largo is an example, albeit extreme, of how Cuba would like to run its tourist industry, analysts say. Everything is tightly controlled, crime-free, almost Disney-like. And virtually all tourism proceeds go to Fidel Castro's government, not to private entrepreneurs.
Tracey Eaton / The Dallas Morning News.

June 9

FROM CUBA
Clandestine soft drink operation raided in Cuba
The police, who arrived in two patrol cars and a truck, took away 20 boxes of empty bottles, two tanks of carbon dioxide, a sack of sugar and a bottling machine.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Antennas installed on high building in Havana might be used to interfere with Radio/TV Martí
The installation of antennas on the roofs of several tall buildings in the city has raised speculation that they might be used to block signals of Radio Martí and TV Martí which the U.S. government recently announced would be transmitted from a plane.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Dissident freed after more than 2 years behind bars without trial
Leonardo Bruzon Avila, a little-known Cuban dissident who gained fame outside his homeland through international campaigns for his release, was suddenly freed from jail Tuesday and he said he would leave soon for France.
Yahoo! News.

The Miami Herald
• Cuba has harsh words for Reagan
• Bush, Kerry spark renewed Cuba debate
• Expand travel to Cuba, Kerry says
• Cuban Americans split on Kerry
• Garcia to Make Cuban Film in Dominican
• Bush vs. Kerry On Cuba

June 7

FROM CUBA
Agricultural workers in Cuba have not been paid in three months
The members of the Ernesto "Che" Guevara agricultural cooperative, in the La Guanábana neighborhood, Media Luna, Granma province, have not received their salaries in three months.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Police obstruct Varela Project signature gathering in Cuba
Agents of the political police threatened several government opponents with the refusal to issue exit visas should they persist in gathering signatures for the Varela Project, an initiative that seeks to reform the island's Communist system legally from within.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Engineer in Cuba threatened for not participating in political activities
Administrators of Biofábrica Granma, a government-run plant propagation concern in Bayamo, threatened an engineer with the loss of his job for not participating in political activities.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Maternity ward in Cuba closed for lack of nurses
Officials at the Eusebio Díaz maternity hospital in the Havana municipality of Marianao closed a ward for lack of nurses.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Catholic bishops reject economic measures in Cuba
The Cuban Conference of Catholic bishops released a letter May 26 expressing concern about the latest economic measures affecting the relations between Cuba and the United States.
HAVANA

Yahoo! News
• Cuba Wraps Up Sugar Harvest for 2003-2004
• U.S. Doctors Offer Expertise in Cuba
• McCain: Cuba Pro-Democracy Movement Strong
• U.S. rules expected to cause huge drop in trips to Cuba
• Weather carries U.S. TV shows to Cuba
• Remittances and family visits to Cuba haven't changed regime

The Miami Herald
• Cuban Americans brace for new travel policy
• Bush and Kerry spark renewed Cuba debate
• Expand travel to Cuba, Kerry says
• For many in Miami, Reagan was a voice for freedom
• Rooster retro
• Free speech celebrated

External links

Crossing signals with Cuba
The startling appearance of American television programs in tightly controlled Cuba over the past week is just the half of it: Cuban TV signals are also reaching parts of the United States, one of Cuba's top radio and electronics experts said Wednesday.
Tracey Eaton / The Dallas Morning News, TX.

Jackson's Cuba claims shown untrue
"Two offers were made to educate six to ten Bermudians for a five-year period - tuition, room and board and a stipend but we didn't take advantage of those because it is not part of the memorandum and we do not intend to make it a part."
Royal Gazette, Bermuda.

Cuban Refugee Rescued Off North Carolina Coast
The Norfolk-based aircraft carrier USS Enterprise has one extra person on board after the Navy says a Cuban refugee was rescued off the coast of North Carolina Thursday. Officials say the man made it all the way from Cuba to the waters off North Carolina on a raft.
WAVY-TV, VA.

June 2

FROM CUBA
Fire breaks out at Havana radio station
A fire attributed to an electrical fault burned through the building that houses the studios for Radio Havana, and two other stations, island-wide Radio Progreso, and provincial station COCO.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Rum fair to be held in Cuba
A fair to be called the International Rum Festival will be held June 6 to 9 in Havana, according to an announcement by the government media recently.
HAVANA

Yahoo! News
• The wife Contreras left in Cuba
• Train Carrying Students Derails in Cuba
• Catholic Bishops Decry Cuban Price Hike

The Miami Herald
• Bush's Cuba moves stir backlash
• Cuban-American reggae man on a musical mission

External links

Havana plans crackdown on army of self-employed
In the words of Maria, who works in a sugar-producing town in central Cuba, the region's cash-starved workers have to "invent" ways to buy essentials such as food, clothing and soap. "The state's wages are very low and state prices very high," says Maria, who earns 231 pesos ($8.56, £4.72, ?7.08) a month at her state job - just below Cuba's average wage of 245 pesos.
Financial Times, UK.

Dow signs letter endorsing travel, trade with Cuba
Mobile Mayor Mike Dow signed his name to a letter calling for President Bush to work with members of Congress who seek to lift restrictions on travel, and sales of agricultural products and medicines, to Cuba.
AL.com, AL

Texas producers have 'big advantage' for trading with Cuba
At a meeting in Houston on May 12, sponsored by the Texas-Cuba Trade Alliance (TCTA), attendees heard about the Texas trade potential with Cuba, as well as the legalities necessary to make it happen.
Sulphur Springs Country World News, TX.

IU in talks to add study program in Cuba
Indiana University plans to expand its 34-country study-abroad program next year to add Cuba. IU faculty members have been working with the university's Office of Overseas Study to establish a summer course in geography and telecommunications near Santa Clara, Bloomington's sister city on the communist-run island.
Fort Wayne News Sentinel, IN.

Butler, Jackson trade accusations over Island's Cuban connections
A Cuban refugee crisis is brewing in Bermuda, according to the Opposition United Bermuda Party. This week the UBP is claiming that a member of a Cuban youth jazz band defected to Canada as the group was making its way back to Havana last month.
Royal Gazette, Bermuda.

Cuba obsession weakens U.S. effort
The island's fledgling private sector -- Cubans who run restaurants, rent rooms, drive private taxis, sell handicrafts in the markets -- is fighting for oxygen. By flooding the island with Americans, U.S. dollars and U.S. democratic ideals will provide the country with the breath of fresh air it so desperately needs.
AJC, GA (subs).

Castro brands European Union leaders cowards
Cuba on Friday denounced the European heads of states attending a summit meeting here as cowards for failing to condemn Washington's aggressive policy toward the Caribbean island and for making what it called weak criticisms of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
Houston Chronicle.

The revolution in Cuba is not over just yet
Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba in 1959 with the help of guerrilla fighters that fought in the mountains against President Fulgencio Batista's forces. By mid-1960, some of those same rebels were back in the mountains, this time taking up arms against Castro's government.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

Radionovelas spice up the airwaves
From his Olivetti typewriter, illuminated by a bare fluorescent bulb in a corner of his bedroom, Joaquín Cuartas weaves the tales that titillate Cuba. His radio soap operas have spiced up the airwaves for 35 years.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

Plantation United touches Cuba
Plantation United Methodist Church is reaching across the ocean to share prayer and faith with Cuba. Four members recently returned from a six-day trip to Cuba, where they visited La Iglesia Metodista del Consolacion del Sur. Plantaton United Methodist adopted the church about a year ago and has been swapping e-mails and prayer ever since.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

Stage and Salary in Cincinnati for Dancers Who Fled Cuba
Four of the five Cuban ballet dancers who defected in October during a 20-city tour of the United States are headed to jobs in Cincinnati this summer and fall.
The New York Times (sub).

Che Today? More Easy Rider Than Revolutionary
Che Guevara is widely remembered today as a revolutionary figure; to some a heroic, Christ-like martyr, to others the embodiment of a failed ideology. To still others, he is just a commercialized emblem on a T-shirt.
The New York Times (sub).

Sandra Ramos sees 'Sorrows'
The Fraser Gallery Georgetown is currently hosting the first solo American gallery exhibit of leading Cuban artist Sandra Ramos. Her work is here, but she isn't. Why?
The Washington Times, DC.

Cuban wins world short story contest
Vicente Monzon, a Havana native, won the 33rd International Short Story Contest with Estebita, Dios Ceguezuelo (Estebita, the Blind God).
Big News Network.com, Australia.

Intoxicating tribute to old Havana
The western world has been under the spell of post-World War II Cuban music since the 1997 arrival of the Ry Cooder-produced Buena Vista Social Club album and Wim Wenders' film of the same name.
The Australian, Australia.