Cuba

HAVANA, April 25 (NNN-TELESUR) — Cuba’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, said that next June 23 the United Nations General Assembly will consider the resolution to put an end to the US blockade against the island.

Rodríguez Parrilla stressed that the blockade is an act of genocide that constitutes a massive violation of human rights.

In his Twitter account, the Cuban foreign minister referred to the 243 coercive measures applied by former U.S. President Donald Trump, which remain in force under the administration of President Joe Biden.

HAVANA (AP) — Raul Castro said he is stepping down as Cuban Communist Party leader, leaving the island without a Castro guiding affairs for the first time in more than six decades and handing control of the party to a younger generation.

The 89-year-old Castro made the announcement in a speech Friday at the opening of the eighth congress of the ruling party, the only one allowed on the island.

HAVANA, March 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) –Hundreds of Cubans took to Havana’s famous seaside drive on Sunday in a colorful caravan of cars, motorcycles and bicycles to demand the United States lift its 60-year-old embargo on the Caribbean island nation.

The caravan was part of a weekend of small protests and caravans in more than 50 cities around the world, including in the United States, supported by local authorities in hopes of influencing the Biden administration to change US policy and to counter a campaign by Cuban exiles to keep the embargo in place.

HAVANA, Mar 20 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) – Cuba yesterday, began phase 3 clinical trials, of its Abdala COVID-19 vaccine, Marta Ayala, director general of Cuba’s Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, told a press conference.

“Three doses will be administered to participants with two-week intervals” in-between, she said, adding that, the country has set up 20 clinical sites and more than 40 vaccination centres to keep pace with the trials.

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba accused Washington of stoking illegal migration by not processing visas in Havana and making it relatively easy for Cubans to claim asylum, in the wake of a spate of ill-fated clandestine attempts to reach U.S. shores by boat.

The fate of a group of Cubans risking their lives to reach the United States illegally by boat has gripped people on both sides of the Florida Straits after a vessel capsized near the Bahamas a week ago, leaving some people floating in the water for more than 14 hours.

HAVANA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Cuban government has approved the expansion of private sector employment, the official newspaper Granma reported on Saturday after a meeting of the Council of Ministers.

Minister of Labor and Social Security Marta Elena Feito announced the modification of a list of activities approved for "self-employment," or the non-state sector.

Of the more than 2,000 activities in which self-employment is allowed, "only 124 of them are limited, totally or partially," he said.

HAVANA, Jan 14 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — Cuba and the European Union (EU) on Wednesday positively assessed the results achieved in the areas of trade and investment, during the second Joint Committee between both parties, which met virtually.

According to a press release from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting also addressed the need to continue working to counteract the extraterritorial effects of the Helms-Burton Act.

HAVANA, Jan 13 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — Cuba condemned on Tuesday the recent accusation of sponsoring terrorism during a virtual meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

In that regard, Cuba’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Anayansi Rodriguez denounced that the decision of the US government is a cynical and hypocritical act that seeks to undermine any possibility of establishing again bilateral relations.

HAVANA, Dec 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) —  Cuba announced it would allow fewer flights from the United States and several other countries beginning Jan 1, due to a surge in coronavirus cases since opening its airports in November.

Cubans living abroad and returning to visit, or returning from shopping trips, have spread the virus to family members and beyond by breaking quarantine, the government said.

Mexico, Panama, the Bahamas, Haiti and the Dominican Republic are also on the list. The government did not say how many flights per day would be allowed.

HAVANA, Dec 11 (NNN AGENCIES) — Cuba will unify its two currencies, the
Cuban peso and convertible peso, as of Jan 1, ending a unique system that
has existed for nearly three decades, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said.

“We consider the conditions met to announce the start of this reform
beginning January 1, 2021, with a single exchange rate of 24 Cuban pesos for one dollar,” Diaz-Canel said on television, alongside Raul Castro, the
country’s former president and Communist Party leader.