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CUBA POLITICS SECTION - Havana Journal
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Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
Maybe it is premature to declare the end of a US policy that is almost fifty years old but the Havana Journal is closely watching developments that appear to lay a path towards lifting the travel and/or trade Embargo against Cuba. We are listing events, although may not appear to be immediately related to changes in US Cuba policy, we think collectively the events below are related to the big picture of changing US Cuba policy.
We will update this article as events develop.
May 23, 2008: Presidential candidate Obama says he…
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By PAUL HAVEN | Associated Press
Cuba has cut two staple foods from the monthly ration books that most islanders depend on, edging closer to a risky full elimination of the decades-old subsidies.
Potatoes and peas were dropped from the list of rationed foods this week, meaning Cubans can buy as much of the products as they want _ as long as they are willing to pay as much as 20 times more than they used to.
The move comes amid efforts by Raul Castro’s government to scale back Cuba’s subsidy-rich, cash-poor economy. Nearly free lunches were eliminated from…
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By LESLEY CLARK | McClatchy Newspapers
Opponents of opening Cuba to American tourists are touting a letter signed by 53 Democrats in the House of Representatives, saying it shows that they have the votes to derail an effort to lift the ban on travel to the island.
The letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., urges the House leadership to maintain the current U.S. policy on Cuba, seeking to blunt the momentum that proponents of lifting the travel ban have claimed under a Democratic president and Democratic-led Congress.
“Any legislation that would seek to ease or lift sanctions ... would…
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by Jeff Franks and Rosa Tania Valdes | Reuters
Well-known Cuban blogger and government critic Yoani Sanchez said she and two fellow bloggers were detained briefly on Friday by security agents and accused of being “counter-revolutionaries” as they walked to a demonstration against violence.
Sanchez, 34, told Reuters the agents forced her and blogger Orlando Luis Pardo into a car as they neared the demonstration in Havana’s Vedado district, took them to a spot near her home and dropped them off, throwing her purse on the street as they drove away.
“We were detained by three men who came in…
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Whither U.S.-Cuba Policy?
A Dialogue Between Policy Makers and Scholars
Opening Speakers: Senator John Kerry and Congressman Bill Delahunt
DATE: Friday, November 6, 2009
TIME: Guests to be seated by 1.15pm; Talk begins at 1.30pm
PLACE: Boston University Trustees Ballroom (9th Floor), 1 Silber Way (formerly 1 Sherborn Street), Boston, MA 02215
The conference will begin with opening speeches from Senator Kerry and Congressman Delahunt, which will be followed by a set of panel discussions on the future of U.S - Cuba relations featuring Jorge Dominguez, Mark Entwistle,…
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By Sebastian Smith | AFP
The UN General Assembly called overwhelmingly Wednesday on US President Barack Obama’s administration to end Washington’s Cold War-era trade embargo against Cuba.
This was the 18th year running that the UN General Assembly condemned US trade restrictions on the communist-ruled island.
The non-binding vote was backed by 187 countries, ranging from Latin American neighbors of Cuba to members of the European Union and other close US allies.
Only Israel and tiny Palau supported the United States, while Micronesia and the Marshall Islands abstained.
The margin of opposition to the US embargo has grown steadily since…
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Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
The Spanish Foreign Minister recently visited Cuba and we found several news stories coming out after the visit so I thought we’d sum it up…
Raul says he’s committed to economic reform . It appears that one of the reasons the Foreign Minister went to Cuba is in order to get $450 million dollars in back payments owed to Spanish businesses from the Cuban government. (Glad to see that Raul is committed to economic reform. Right. Honoring debt obligations would be economic reform for Cuba.)
The…
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BY JUAN O. TAMAYO | El Nuevo Herald
A powerful campaign to allow all Americans to travel to Cuba is rumbling through Congress, with both backers and opponents predicting eventual victory and a Cuban-American Senator holding a key vote.
Approval of the measures would have a profound impact on U.S.-Cuba relations, unleashing an estimated one million American tourists to visit the island and undermining White House control of policy toward Havana.
``There would be an explosion of contacts between Americans and Cubans . . . that would almost overshadow what the two governments are doing,’‘ said Phil Peters, a Cuba…
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By ANNE-MARIE GARCIA | Associated Press
A Cuban blogger who has become an international sensation for offering frank criticism of her country’s communist system said she was denied government permission Monday to travel to New York to receive a top journalism prize.
Yoani Sanchez had hoped to go to Columbia University for a Wednesday ceremony to receive her Maria Moors Cabot Prize, the oldest international award in journalism.
“Immigration just confirmed that I remain prohibited from leaving the country,” she posted on her “Generation Y” blog.
There was no confirmation from the government, but Cuban authorities almost never comment on…
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Associated Press
A man wanted since 1968 in the hijacking of Pan American Flight 281 to Cuba has been apprehended.
Federal authorities took longtime fugitive Luis Pena Soltren, who had been living in Cuba, into custody on Sunday for his role in the Nov. 24, 1968, hijacking. The flight had originated in New York and was headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it was diverted.
Soltren was apprehended at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the same airport where authorities say he and accomplices boarded a Pan American flight and hijacked it armed with guns and knives.
Federal prosecutors say…
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View all Havana Journal politics articles in 2009
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