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Defecting Cuban Troupe Reunites in Vegas
By Christina Almeida, Associated
Press Writer. Wed Nov 17.
LAS VEGAS - For weeks, bureaucratic red
tape and international politics kept members
of "Havana Night Club" on different
continents. But on Tuesday the Cuban dance
troupe was together again, reunited in what
will be its home for at least the next 12
weeks - the theater at the Stardust hotel-casino.
"This closes one step. Now everyone
is here," said troupe manager Ariel
Machado, 33. "We opened this door in
Havana, and now we close it."
It's been a heady few days for the troupe.
Forty-three of the singers, dancers, musicians
and other members who had already made it
to Las Vegas applied for political asylum
on Monday and could have a decision within
two months.
On Tuesday, six members of the troupe who
had been granted special status to enter
the United States arrived in Las Vegas from
Germany. After four hours of immigration
processing, they arrived at the Stardust
and were reunited onstage with their compatriots.
"These are our friends. This is our
family," 25-year-old dancer Dreisy
Figueroa Reyes said in Spanish. "We
have to say, 'Thank you God,' because we
will have everyone again."
One member of the traveling group, who
had filed paperwork later than the rest,
remained in Germany. The six will be eligible
to apply for permanent residency in just
over a year under the Cuban Adjustment Act
of 1966.
Machado, the group's manager, said the
arrival of the six will lift the spirits
of "Havana Night Club" and allow
the cast to focus on performing, rather
than worrying about their friends and loved
ones.
"When everybody is missing, you know
it. You feel it," Machado said.
The saga began this summer when word spread
that the Castro regime would not let the
troupe travel to Las Vegas for its first
U.S. engagement. The ensemble had performed
in more than a dozen countries previously.
Cuban authorities said they did not support
the effort because they did not believe
the United States would grant visas - especially
since U.S. officials rejected a similar
request in February.
After the troupe broke from the Cuban government's
union for writers and artists and declared
itself independent, the United States did
grant the visas.
Group members individually entered the
country and performed in Las Vegas from
Aug. 21 to Sept. 6, with a short encore
engagement last month. The troupe's current
run is scheduled to end Jan. 11.
On the Net:
http://www.havananightclub.com/
Cuba and China to sign deals to boost
nickel production on the island
HAVANA, 18 (AFP) - Agreements signed during
next week's visit by Chinese President Hu
Jintao should allow Cuba to double production
of nickel from its current level of 75,000
tonnes a year, according to Cuban President
Fidel Castro.
"These are big, big investments,"
Castro said in a four-hour televised address
late Tuesday.
He said the Chinese investments would eventually
mean that "nickel production, which
is now of 75,000 to 76,000 tonnes (annually)
-- will double."
He stressed that Cuba would retain 51 percent
ownership of companies created with Chinese
capital.
Castro said his Chinese counterpart would
arrive in Cuba -- the only one-party, communist-ruled
country in the Americas -- on Monday for
a 48-hour visit.
Hu Jintao is currently in Argentina on
a Latin American tour that already took
him to Brazil and will continue in Chile,
where he will attend a weekend summit of
the Asia Pacific Economic Coperation countries.
Large UK trade mission in Cuba
HAVANA, 16 (AFP) - Britain's largest trade
mission ever to visit Cuba arrived yesterday,
one day ahead of a key European Union (EU)
meeting in Brussels on future European relations
with the communist island.
The 40 visitors include potential investors
in tourism, biotechnology, agriculture,
education and energy, said Lord Colin Moynihan,
the head of the UK- Cuba Initiative.
The common EU policy since 1996 conditioned
better political ties on political changes
in Cuba.
Relations, however, have been strained
since a Cuban crackdown on political dissidents
in 2003.
However, the Socialist government of Spanish
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
is seeking to change the common policy,
arguing that the sanctions are not effective.
Britain has stated it supports Zapatero's
proposal.
The size and scope of the British trade
mission clearly shows the strength of ties
between Havana and London, said Moynihan
upon arrival.
The trade mission will stay until Friday,
he said.
The British trade mission follows a brief
visit to Havana ending November 4 by a group
of five EU lawmakers aimed at improving
diplomatic ties.
The EU lawmakers met with top Cuban officials,
but did not meet with dissidents who represent
the outlawed Cuban opposition.
Kerr completes deal to sell milk to
Cuba
MONTPELIER, Vt., 17 (AP) - Agriculture
Secretary Steve Kerr says he has completed
a deal to sell six (m) million dollars in
powdered milk to Cuba.
Cuba has agreed to purchase powdered milk
through DairyAmerica, a California-based
marketing cooperative. Part of the order
would come from the Saint Albans Co-op and
Agri-Mark, Vermont's two major dairy cooperatives.
Kerr, who returned last week from Cuba,
expects the state will sign a contract for
the milk next month.
He also says he is close to working out
a deal to sell about 40-thousand dollars
worth of apples to the island nation.
Last month Cuba signed a deal to buy 100
registered cows from Vermont.
Kerr expects Cuban inspectors to visit
Vermont next month.
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