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Few Cuban expats would move back to island, scholar says

March 28, 2013 14:00
Miami, Mar 28 (EFE).- Only a "very small proportion" of the roughly 2 million Cubans living abroad - 75 percent of them in the United States - are thinking about ever returning to the island to stay, although they would cooperate in the reconstruction of the country amid a process of democratic change, a leading Cuba scholar said Thursday. At most, only about 20 percent of Cuban exiles are planning to return to their country at some point, Jorge Duany - the director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University in Miami - told Efe.

Ten years after arrests, Cubans split on pace of change

March 21, 2013 01:45
Ten years after the "Black Spring" arrest of 75 Cuban dissidents, some in the opposition perceive signs of greater openness while others see a regime that is merely changing tactics to improve its image. Political opposition is still illegal, with regime opponents routinely denounced as US "mercenaries," but the regime has backed away from mass arrests in recent years, handing down reduced sentences and loosening a travel ban.

White House hosts Cuban dissident blogger

March 20, 2013 23:30
The White House hosted award-winning dissident Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez, on her first international trip in years, Wednesday after she met lawmakers on Capitol Hill. "The United States looks forward to the day when all Cubans will have the opportunity to express themselves in public without fear and we will continue to support policies that encourage the free flow of information to, from, and within Cuba," National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement.

Cuban dissident visits White House

March 20, 2013 19:45
Washington, Mar 20 (EFE).- Cuban independent journalist and blogger Yoani Sanchez visited the White House on Wednesday and met with President Barack Obama's advisor on Latin America. Sanchez, who is in Washington as one stop on her tour through a number of countries, spoke with Ricardo Zuñiga about her struggle to promote "increased respect" for the freedom of expression in Cuba, according to a communique released by White House National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden.

Cubans on the move as new real estate market grows

March 20, 2013 01:30
By Jeff Franks HAVANA (Reuters) - At an informal housing market on Havana's historic Paseo del Prado, Renaldo Belen puts the hard sell on a prospective buyer under a tree hung with hand-lettered signs advertising homes for sale. A house near Boyeros, the avenue to the city's airport, is being offered for the equivalent of $120,000, with all the amenities.

Dissident's visit warms Washington's Cuba Cold War

March 19, 2013 16:15
By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A visit to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday by Cuba's best-known dissident may have slightly narrowed one of Washington's long-standing political gaps - the angry dispute over the U.S. embargo against the Communist government in Havana. Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez met on Tuesday with both Democratic and Republican members of Congress, including some of the staunchest Cuban-American supporters of the 53-year-old economic embargo against her country.

Cuban dissident says Raul's successor could be a Gorbachev

March 18, 2013 18:32
New York, Mar 18 (EFE).- Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez said here Monday that while the heir apparent to President Raul Castro appears to be a "continuer," she wouldn't dismiss the possibility that once in power he might become a reformer like Mikhail Gorbachev. The writer of the renowned Generacion Y blog described Miguel Diaz-Canel, 52, who was recently designated as Cuba's senior vice president, as a "grey man" who will be unable to govern like Fidel or Raul Castro" because he lacks "that historical status."

Yoani Sanchez: "I fear what will happen when I go back to Cuba"

March 16, 2013 14:45
New York, Mar 16 (EFE).- Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez said in New York that she's afraid of the reprisals in store for her when she returns to Cuba from an international tour she began last month after five years without being allowed to leave the island. "Afraid of going back? Yes, I'm very afraid of what will happen when I go back," the blogger told a press conference at New York University, her second appearance in the United States after attending a symposium on Thursday at Columbia University.

UN must probe death of Cuban dissident Paya: petition

March 12, 2013 12:46
The United Nations should investigate the death of Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya, his daughter said Tuesday, handing over a petition to the world body and claiming her father had been murdered by the Cuban regime. "They say that my father died in a car accident, but we have confirmed ... that they were actually crashed into and run off the road by another vehicle," Rosa Maria Paya told reporters in Geneva.

Cuban dissident calls for more pressure on regime

March 11, 2013 18:45
Madrid, Mar 11 (EFE).- "Repression has worsened" in Cuba and the regime is acting "with impunity in the streets, is beating us, is dragging us away, is taking us to jail," said the spokeswoman for the Cuban dissident group Ladies in White in Madrid on Monday. In an interview with Efe, Berta Soler said that she supports the maintenance of the U.S. embargo on Cuba and is even asking that greater international pressure be brought to bear on the Communist regime.
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