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Cuban regime like a crumbling house: dissident blogger

Agence France-PresseMay 2, 2013 12:31

Cuba's communist regime is like an ageing house on the verge of collapse, leading dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez said Thursday, insisting Havana's timid reforms were a smokescreen. "The so-called Raulista changes are superficial," Sanchez told reporters, referring to President Raul Castro, who replaced his ailing brother and 1959 revolutionary leader Fidel seven years ago. "The Cuban model is like a house in Old Havana. You look at the house and ask how it's possible that it's still standing," she said in Geneva, where she was attending a UN human rights meeting.

Cuba to authorize more dissidents to leave country, activist says

Agencia EFEMay 1, 2013 16:16

Geneva, May 1 (EFE).- The Cuban government is preparing to authorize "dozens" of political opponents to leave the country in the coming weeks, the chairman of the dissident Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation said here Wednesday. Elizardo Sanchez is in Geneva while the U.N. Human Rights Council is evaluating the situation of basic liberties in Cuba.

Hugo Chavez's memory takes leading May Day role in Cuba

Agencia EFEMay 1, 2013 14:16

Havana, May 1 (EFE).- The memory of Hugo Chavez took the leading role in this year's May Day celebration in Cuba, where pictures of - and praise devoted to - the late Venezuelan president were much in evidence at the regular huge parades held across the Communist-ruled island. Chavez's face appeared on many of the posters and signs carried by Cubans to celebrate International Workers Day. President Raul Castro presided over the main May Day event at Havana's emblematic Plaza de la Revolucion, where the only speaker was the head of Cuba's sole legal labor union, the CTC.

Cuban leader's daughter granted U.S. visa

Agencia EFEApril 30, 2013 20:45

Miami, Apr 30 (EFE).- The U.S. State Department finally granted a visa to Cuban President Raul Castro's daughter so that she can attend a May 2-5 forum on LGBT issues in Philadelphia, Equality Forum, the organizer of the seminar, said on Tuesday. "Equality Forum is delighted that the State Department has affirmed democratic values by authorizing Mariela Castro to speak at Equality Forum 2013," said Equality Forum executive director Malcolm Lazin in a statement.

Ecuadoran ambassador in supermarket checkout fight

Agence France-PresseApril 30, 2013 12:57

Even ambassadors, it turns out, are turf-conscious when it comes to waiting in the supermarket checkout line. Ecuador's envoy to Peru has admitted getting into a fight -- backed up by his wife -- with two women he said tried to cut in front of him in a store in Lima. Peru on Tuesday asked Ecuador to recall Ambassador Rodrigo Riofrio over the April 21 skirmish, Peruvian Foreign Minister Rafael Roncagliolo said. The appeal came even though the ambassador apologized Monday, although he insisted he did not start the scuffle.

U.S. turns down visa request from Cuban leader's daughter

Agencia EFEApril 26, 2013 14:01

Miami, Apr 26 (EFE).- U.S. authorities have refused to issue a visa to Cuban President Raul Castro's daughter to attend a May 2-5 forum on LGBT in Philadelphia that will be particularly dedicated to the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Cuba. The announcement was made by the Equality Forum, organizer of the conference, which said that Mariela Castro, director of Cuba's Cenesex sex-education institute, did have a visa to travel to some meetings that will be held next month at U.N. headquarters in New York.

New Fidel Castro biography planned

Agence France-PresseApril 25, 2013 22:15

Former president Fidel Castro will be the subject of a new volume of memoirs about his life as a Cuban revolutionary, the country's larger-than-life leader and a longtime nemesis of the United States. In the twilight of his life, the latest tome about Castro will be written by Katiuska Blanco, a former reporter with official newspaper Granma who penned two earlier books about the 86-year-old.

8 Years later, Cuba's Ladies in White collect Sakharov Prize

Agencia EFEApril 23, 2013 18:00

Brussels, Apr 23 (EFE).- Members of the Cuban dissident group Ladies in White collected Tuesday the Sakharov Prize that the European Parliament awarded them in 2005, and in the process had harsh words to say about the situation in their homeland. The ceremony of presenting the prize to the Ladies in White was finally being held eight years later, because in all these years this is the first time they have been allowed to travel abroad.

Cuba opposition veteran slams EU accord plan

Agence France-PresseApril 23, 2013 13:46

Veteran Cuban dissident Elizardo Sanchez urged the European Union on Tuesday not to sign a new bilateral agreement with his country's leaders, saying their recent reforms were "cosmetic" amid persistent human rights abuses. "I have a mandate to express my concern over the possibility of the Cuban government getting its way and managing to sign a preferential bilateral agreement with the European Union when it does not merit it," he said in Madrid. EU foreign ministers in November called for negotiations to normalise relations with the government of President Raul Castro.

CORRECTED: Cuban dissident women pick up EU prize eight years later

Agence France-PresseApril 23, 2013 13:46

Cuba's "Ladies in White", who fought for the release of jailed Cuban dissidents, on Tuesday picked up the EU's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize -- eight years after winning the award. Five members of the group -- known in Spanish as "The Damas de Blanco" -- were finally able to travel to Brussels to accept the 2005 Sakharov award from the hands of European Parliament president Martin Schulz. "You are the symbol of resistance against the Cuban government, and thousands and thousands of Cubans support you inside and outside the country," Schulz said.