From truffles to fox furs, U.S. ships more than food to Cuba

Despite a rigid embargo that has spanned half a century, the United States is playing a major role in feeding Cuba.

CUBAN EXILE COMMUNITY

Pop singer Juanes sparks furor in Cuban exile community with plans for Havana concert

Colombian pop singer Juanes is sparking a controversy in the Cuban exile community with plans for a concert in Havana.

WORLD AFFAIRS JOURNAL

Cuban Days: The Inscrutable Nation

Cuban leaders are again facing major political challenges. Severe economic problems have returned, and the awkward division of power between Fidel and Raúl Castro has again put the regime on a shaky footing.

REUTERS

Cuba slashes projections for 2009 imports, exports

Cuba is cutting estimates of imports by billions of dollars this year and projecting a decline in export revenues due to the international financial crisis, according to a government report shown to Reuters this week

FINANCIAL TIMES

Cuba's Raúl Castro conducts purge by video

It is not the stuff of Khrushchev unmasking Stalin, nor the fall of China's Gang of Four, but a three-hour film being shown to thousands of the Cuban Communist party's 1m members this summer has emerged as a rare admission that all is not well at the pinnacle of power in Havana.

AP

AP names new bureau chief in Havana

Paul Haven has been appointed The Associated Press chief of bureau in Havana, Cuba, following three years of leading the cooperative's news operations in Spain and Portugal as Madrid bureau chief.

REUTERS

Cuban offshore oil drilling plans postponed again

Cuba and a consortium of foreign oil companies have once again postponed plans to drill for oil in the island's still-untapped fields in the Gulf of Mexico, diplomatic and industry sources said this week.

Estimate: Cuba owes Venezuela $4.6 billion for oil (Spanish)

INTERFAX

29,000 Cubans are Masons

About 29 thousands Cubans are members of more than 300 Masonic lodges in various cities of the country and at the same time are actively involved in public work, humanitarian and charitable projects.

HARVARD MAGAZINE

Hello from Havana

Nuanced but unmistakable stirrings of change in Cuba

REUTERS

Cuba says economic crisis slows output, closes factories

Cuban factories are closing down and production is being cut at other workplaces as the international financial crisis weighs on the import-dependent Caribbean island, the official media said on Sunday.

REUTERS

Cubans face hardship under new austerity measures

Cubans faced power blackouts, longer waits for buses, uncomfortable working conditions and skimpier lunches on Monday as the government introduced austerity measures to cope with a growing economic squeeze.

FINANCIAL TIMES

Austerity bites as Cuba fails to revamp

It has been just over a year since Raul Castro took over from his ailing brother Fidel with a pledge to improve the Cuban people’s lives and remake one of the most statist economies in the world. But now the population is being called on to sacrifice by a government many view as old and bureaucratic.

EL NUEVO HERALD

Son of Cuban comandante Juan Almeida detained (Spanish)

The son of Cuban comandante Juan Almeida, a historical leader of the revolution, was detained on suspicion of trying to leave the island illegally. In nine letters obtained by El Nuevo Herald, Juan Juan Almeida details his efforts to leave the island for medical treatment, and says he was mistreated by State Security

AFP

Dissidents question if Cuba will shift on human rights

Cuban dissidents have questioned whether President Raul Castro is willing to respect human rights in return for normalized relations with the European Union.

WALL STREET JOURNAL

U.S. to lift some curbs on travel to Cuba

President Barack Obama plans to lift longstanding U.S. restrictions on Cuba, a senior administration official said, allowing Cuban-Americans to visit families there as often as they like and to send them unlimited funds.

SUN SENTINEL

U.S. fugitives in Cuba wary of closer ties that could lead to deportation

Times could be uncertain for the more than 70 American fugitives hiding out in Cuba. Some have enjoyed lives as celebrity revolutionaries in the tropics. Many paraded around town, telling war stories and being hailed as heroes who stood up to "the Empire." But their fate is unclear after a change in administrations on both sides of the Florida Straits.

ACN

Fidel Castro meets with Dominican Republic's president

The leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro met with the Dominican Republic's President Leonel Fernandez Reyna, on Monday.

New Miami Herald section for Cuba's Critical Voices

The Miami Herald's online Cuba page now displays a special Dissident Voices section contains reports from non-government sources on the island.