N E W S

• U.S. government asks Florida court to reject habeas corpus relief for two of Cuban Five
December 12.11
ON December 6, 2011, the U.S. government asked the Southern District of Florida Court to reject the collateral petitions for habeas corpus relief filed by Ramón Labañino and Fernando González, alleging that the arguments put forward lack the legal merit to be considered by the court.

• Cuba elected Vice President of Biological Weapons Convention Review Conference
December 8.11
GENEVA, December 5.—Cuba was elected vice president of the 7th Biological Weapons Convention Review Conference, which opened today in this city and continues through December 22. The country has also been called upon to define the position of the Non-Aligned Movement in this context.

• Lung cancer vaccine given to 2,000 Cubans
December 8.11
THE Cuban CIMAVax-EGF vaccine, the only one of its kind in the world for the treatment of advanced lung cancer, has been administered to 2,000-plus Cubans, almost 5,000 of them within the Primary Health Care (APS) network.

• Durban conference opens with a call to save the planet
November 29.11
DURBAN, South Africa, Nov 28.—The 17th UN Conference on Climate Change opened here today with a call to confront global warming as a question of life or death, PL reports.

• Fina García Marruz receives Queen Sofía Prize
November 24.11
THE simple, minimalist, discreet but universal poetry of Fina García Marruz places her name alongside those of José Hierro, José Angel Valente, Angel González, Mario Benedetti and Nicanor Parra. García Marruz is now a winner of the Queen Sofía Ibero-American Poetry Prize.

• Cuba re-elected to UNESCO Executive Council
November 3.11
PARIS,.— Cuba was re-elected as a member of the United Nation's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Executive Council, during the entity's 36th general meeting.

• Message from René González to the people of Cuba
October 14.11
THESE words are for my people, to whom I owe them since the day I left prison. I was not able to send them earlier given the circumstances and the need to ensure a safe journey.

• Ready to go on fighting until my death
October 12.11
"READY to go on fighting until my death," were René González’ first words after embracing and kissing his daughters, Ivette and Irmita, who filmed the emotional reunion at the exit of Marianna Penitentiary in Florida in the early hours of last October 7. Also present were Cándido and Roberto, René’s father and brother.

• Parliamentary statement condemns new injustice against René González and calls for solidarity with the Five
October 12.11
CUBAN anti-terrorist fighter René González Sehwerert was released from Marianna Penitentiary in the north of Florida, United States this past October 7 after serving 13 long years of unjust incarceration.

• Why is the U.S. government refusing to hand over the satellite footage of February 24, 1996? Why the U.S. media silence about such a scandalous event?
September 30.11
GERARDO Hernández Nordelo, one of the Cuban Five incarcerated in the United States, has submitted a request for habeas corpus relief on the basis of new evidence.

• Raúl receives Congolese President
September 29.11
ARMY General Raúl Castro Ruz, President of the Councils of State and Ministers, September 26 received the Honorable Mr. Joseph Kabila Kabange, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who was making an official visit to Cuba.

• Adriana Pérez: "We are keeping alive the hope that they will return"
September 28.11
THE life of her husband, Gerardo Hernández, has all the elements of a movie. Leaving behind his family and work, using a false identity, he infiltrated terrorist groups to help stop planned attacks on the Cuban people.

• Editorial
Justice for the Five once again denied
September 28.11
RENÉ González Sehwerert, one of Cuba's five anti-terrorist heroes, will be released from prison October 7 having served in full the brutal and unjust sentence he was given.

• Cuba insists that the UN must recognize Palestinian statehood
September 28.11
UNITED NATIONS, September 26.— Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez today insisted before the General Assembly that this organization must recognize Palestine as a free and independent state and oppose the Security Council or the United States government's attempt to use its veto of the resolution, Telesur reported.

• The truth and justice for René González Sehwerert
September 22.11
The sentence handed down to René included this unheard of requisite: "As a special additional condition of his probation, the accused is prohibited from associating with or visiting specific places where individuals where individuals or groups such as terrorists, members of organizations advocating violence or organized crime figures are known to frequent."

• Message to the Five from Giustino Di Celmo
September 22.11
EVERY year since September 4, 1997, Giustino Di Celmo returns to Havana’s Copacabana Hotel, walks through its halls, greets the employees, embraces the workers. In the lobby, he places a kiss on his hand and caresses the bronze plaque engraved with the face of Fabio, his son and the innocent victim of a crime. The grief-stricken Di Celmo family have never ceased demanding justice and an end to acts terrorism against Cuba.

• Gilbert Brownstone visits Gerardo in prison, says he exudes strength
September 22.11
GERARDO Hernández, one of the five Cubans imprisoned in the U.S. for 13 years, is a strong-willed man, according to renowned American art critic Gilbert Brownstone.

• Call to action following court decision to further punish René González
September 22.11
 WASHINGTON.— The International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5 imprisoned in the U.S. has called for an international mobilization denouncing the continuing punishment of René González, one of the Five.

• Alianza Martiana denounces Judge Lenard decision in Miami
September 22.11
MIAMI, September 19.— Described as a resounding and important success was the conference held here addressing the case of the Cuban Five, attended by 100 members of the Alianza Martiana, who denounced the decision by Judge Lenard requiring René González to remain in the United States to complete three years of probation after having served his full sentence in prison.

• UNICEF confirms Cuba as the only Latin American country with no child malnutrition
September 22.11
THE latest UNICEF report, titled Progress for Children: a Report Card on Nutrition, indicates that there are currently 146 million children under five in the world with serious malnutrition problems. According to the report, 28% of these children live in Africa, 17% in the Middle East, 15% in Asia, 7% in Latin America and the Caribbean, 5% in Central Europe and 27% in other developing countries.

• Approximately 40,000 Cubans studying Medicine
September 22.11
IN the recently commenced academic year, 5,613 Cubans entered Faculties of Medicine and, according to preliminary figures given to Granma, they are joining 40,000 others at various stages of the six-year course.

• Palestine to defend its legitimate right before the UN
September 20.11
"ON September 23, our petition that the UN recognize an independent Palestinian state will mark the beginning and not the end of a battle," affirmed Akram Samhan, the Palestinian ambassador in Havana during a press conference September 19.

• Judge Lenard’s Cruel and Bizarre Decision against Rene
September 19.11
ON Friday, September 16, a federal district court judge made a bizarre ruling concerning one of the Cuban Five defendants who completes his jail sentence on October 7.

• Damages caused by the blockade amount to $975 billion
September 16.11
THE damages caused by the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba totaled $975 billion through December 2010, stated Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno on September 14.

• Update on the situation of the Cuban Five
September 15.11
HAVANA.— Richard Klugh, a member of the defense team of the five Cuban anti-terrorists incarcerated in the United States for close to 13 years, has given an update on their current situation.

• The singular story of the Five
September 15.11
IN March of this year, the eminent attorney Leonard Weinglass died. He graduated from Yale University in 1958 and some of his cases are studied today in law schools across the United States.

• Weinglass' Questions for Hillary Clinton
September 15.11
ON April 22, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a number of statements in which she included the issue of the downing — in a Cuban government decision in defense of national sovereignty — of two airplanes belonging to the terrorist organization Brothers to the Rescue, in 1996.

• Letter to the families of the September 11, 2001 victims
September 15.11
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 is a sad date which we feel as if it were ours; that day, the scourge of terrorism ended the lives of innocent people.

• 13 YEARS OF UNJUST IMPRISONMENT
Breaking down the wall of silence
September 13.11
THE people of Cuba, represented by their political and mass organizations, accompanied families and friends of the Five in condemning the 13 years of their unjust incarceration in U.S. jails at a political-cultural event in the capital on September 12.

• Telephone interview with Richard Klugh
September 5.11
Gerardo Hernandez, one of the Cuban Five, submitted his request for a habeas corpus relief in March based on new evidence. He received the US reply on April 25 this year opposing his request. He has now submitted a reply with additional information.

• New blockade reprisals
United States fines another bank for its connections with Cuba
August 30.11
WASHINGTON.—The powerful U.S. bank JP Morgan Chase has confirmed that it paid a fine of $88.3 million for violating restrictions imposed by the United States on commercial agreements with Cuba, Iran and Sudan.

• Cuba assumes presidency of UN Disarmament Conference
August 24.11
GENEVA.—Cuba has assumed the presidency of the UN Disarmament Conference in Geneva with a call to preserve and strengthen the group as a guarantor of world peace.

• Cuba calls for respect for Syrian sovereignty
August 23.11
GENEVA, August 22.—Rodolfo Reyes, Cuba’s representative to the UN Human Rights Council, stated today that the island rejects "any attempt to ignore Syria’s sovereignty." Reyes added, "It is in the hands of the Syrian people and their authorities to determine their will and future."

• U.S. authorities still not allowing Gerardo Hernández access to appeal documents
August 12.11
GERARDO Hernández, one of the Cuban Five incarcerated in the United States, remains a victim of arbitrary treatment on the part of U.S. authorities, who are not allowing him access to legal documents related to his case.

• "Reporters for Hire" website publishes complete list of U.S. government contracts
August 11.11
THE National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, Liberation newspaper, and the Partnership for Civil Justice Foundation, have now released the documents obtained in the latest FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) petition by Liberation newspaper.

• ERNESTO CHE GUEVARA CARDIOCENTER 25TH ANNIVERSARY
A heartbeat for life
August 4.11
ON her tenth birthday, Yanet Melián Castillo imagined having a quince, a really lovely 15th birthday party surrounded by friends, taking lots of pictures in the white dress she had always dreamed of.

• African Americans urge Obama to release Cuban anti-terrorists
July 14.11
MEMBERS of the African-American community in the United States have sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to free the five Cuban anti-terrorists imprisoned in that country for close to 13 years.

• José Martí Solidarity Brigade: Cuba is my second home
July 14.11
THE José Martí Solidarity Brigade is currently in Cuba. Friends of the Cuba Revolution have come from a number of European countries, some for the first time, while others have already visited the island on more than 20 occasions.

• Message from President Chávez to the Venezuelan people
July 1.11
"I hope for much from time. Its immense belly contains more hopes than past events and future events have to be superior to past ones." Simón Bolívar.
- Demonstrations of support in Venezuela

• The Mariposas of Antonio Guerrero
June 30.11
AS many people are learning, Antonio Guerrero, one of the five Cuban anti-terrorists incarcerated in the United States, has emerged as a proficient painter during his lengthy confinement in prison in Florence, Colorado.

• Community of Latin American and Caribbean States Summit postponed
Official communiqué from the Foreign Ministry of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
June 30.11
AS the national and international public is fully aware, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Comandante Hugo Chávez Frías, is presently in the midst of a process of recovery and extremely strict medical treatment.

• Statement from Josefina Vidal, director of the North American Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba
June 29.11
THE inclusion of Cuba in the worst of the categories of the State Department report on countries which "do not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and are not making significant efforts to do so," is a...

• Yánez-Barnuevo’s ridiculous statement
June 23.11
A cable from the Spanish EFE news agency, datelined Madrid, June 15, reports that Juan Antonio Yánez-Barnuevo, secretary of state for foreign and Ibero-American Affairs, has stated that the situation of a lack of respect for human rights in Cuba is still "of concern."

• UNESCO confirms high standard of writing in Cuba
June 22.11
THE Second Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (SERCE) on the quality of education of orthographic and calligraphic standards, which assessed third and sixth grade children in 16 countries of the region, put Cuba at between first and third place in all parameters, according to a recent UNESCO report.

• Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs on sanctions imposed by the United States on Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA)
June 1.11
THE government and people of Cuba forcefully condemn this aggression against the people of Venezuela, the Bolivarian Revolution and the Bolivarian company, PDVSA.

• President of Timor-Leste honors Cuban Literacy Brigade
May 24.11
DILI.— In the official act and military parade held May 20 at the Government Palace within this capital city, on the occasion of the ninth anniversary of the Timor-Leste’s restored independence, President José Ramos Horta awarded Professor...

• Gerardo’s cartoons in Maryland
May 18.11
WASHINGTON, May 16.— The CASA which for years provided shelter in Washington, D.C. for Central Americans persecuted in their countries of origin, has opened its doors to the imagination of a man incarcerated outside of his own homeland.

• Reverend Jesse Jackson described blockade as obsolete and out-dated
May 12.11
DOHA, Qatar, May 11.— The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday termed the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba outdated and obsolete, and said he hoped for the restoration of relations between the two neighboring countries.

• European Union opens office in Benghazi to support Libyan opposition
May 12.11
STRASBURG, May 11.— While NATO forces intensify their attacks in Tripoli, the European Union’s high representative for the foreign affairs, Catherine Ashton, announced in a plenary meeting of the European Parliament that the EU would open an official representative’s office in Benghazi to support the opposition Transition Council for which "we will have to find adequate resources."

• Alarcón calls on the revolutionary press to unite efforts
May 4.11
RICARDO Alarcón de Quesada, member of the Political Bureau and president of the National Assembly of People's Power, has called on the revolutionary press to unite around cases like that of the Cuban Five, unjustly incarcerated in the United States.

• A giant of his era
April 22.11
THE life and work of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin are worthy of admiration. Today as we celebrate the 141st anniversary of his birth, the continuators of his ideas are proud to describe them as ageless. He was the founder a new epoch, establishing the 20th century as the era of socialist revolution, breaking the power of the exploiters in...

• Hu Jintao’s message to Fidel
April 21.11
Beijing, April 19, 2011
Havana
Esteemed Fidel Castro Ruz:
On the occasion of the closing of the 6th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, allow me to convey, in the name of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee, and my own, our most sincere respect and cordial greetings.

• Message from Chávez
April 21.11
Caracas, April 19, 2011
ON the occasion of the closing session of the 6th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, I would like to extend a most fraternal greeting, full of revolutionary fervor, in the name of the Liberator Simón Bolívar’s people and the Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela.

• National Conference Convocation
April 21.11
THE 6th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba has concentrated its efforts on an analysis of the Economic and Social Policy Draft Guidelines for the Party and the Revolution, conscious of their decisive importance for the future of the homeland. It is up to the Party to devote itself immediately to the implementation of the resolution approved by the 6th Congress as to the Guidelines.

• U.S. Senate does not acknowledge climate change
April 8.11
THE United States Senate voted April 6 against an amendment acknowledging global climate change and human responsibility for its development. The amendment was proposed by Democratic senator Henry Waxman, who asserted that the content of the document is recognized by the scientific community.

• Cuba is firmly convinced that the humanitarian situation in Haiti is not an issue to be addressed by the Security Council but rather by the General Assembly
April 7.11
Mr. President of the Republic of Colombia and the Security Council, Juan Manuel Santos:
Mr. President of the Republic of Haiti, René García Preval:
Barely 12 months ago, more than 150 governments and other international agencies committed ourselves in the headquarters of this organization to make substantial support available for the recovery and reconstruction of Haiti after the disastrous earthquake of January 12 of that year. As a statement, it was a commendable demonstration of solidarity.

• 2012 elections in the United States
Obama and the billions
April 7.11
THIS past April 4, Barack Obama formally announced his candidacy for the presidential elections scheduled, as established, within 20 months; that is to say for November 6, 2012. This step opens the election process for the person who will take office as U.S. president on January 20, 2013.

• Former US President Carter to visit Cuba
March 28.11
IN response to an invitation from the Cuban government, ex-President James Carter arrives in the country this morning.The distinguished visitor is to meet with President Raúl Castro Ruz and, as part of his program of activities, with other Cuban leaders.

• Death of Leonard Weinglass, exceptional fighter for the Cuba Five
March 24.11
U.S. attorney Leonard Weinglass, legal representative for Antonio Guerrero and untiring fighter for the cause of the Cuban Five, died yesterday in New York, sources close to him confirmed. From the Chicago Eight to Jane Fonda, from Angela Davis to the kidnappers of Patty Hearst, from Daniel Ellsberg to Amy Carter, Weinglass represented defendants in many of the most spectacular court proceedings in the United States.
- MIAMI 5

• Gerardo and Antonio present key documents
March 23.11
WASHINGTON.– Recent documents filed by two of the five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters unjustly imprisoned in the United States substantiate the manipulation of their original trial and their innocence, according to activist Gloria de la Riva.

• Why the invasion via the Ciénaga?
March 10.11
WITH the approval of President Ike Eisenhower, and as part of the strategy against the Cuban Revolution, government agencies and the CIA in particular, developed a military operation to prevent the consolidation of a “communist government” in the U.S. backyard.

• The Cuban Five congratulate women of the world
March 9.11
THE five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters unjustly incarcerated in U.S. prisons since 1998 congratulated the women of Cuba and the world, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, according to Prensa Latina.

• The fiasco of an experiment
March 3.11
MOISES Rodríguez Quesada knows the history of the counterrevolutionary mini-groups in Cuba. He lived among them. For that reason, when he is asked to lift the veil of memory, he alludes to one year: 1980.

• The Ventura-Varona controversy ends in a brawl
March 3.11
A chair flying through the air landed on the anatomy of Carlos Prío Socarrás, one of the latest politicos to arrive in Miami as part of plans for invading Cuba.

• Cuba categorically rejects any attempt whatsoever to take advantage of the tragic situation created in order to occupy Libya and control its oil
March 2.11
Mr. President:
Humanity’s conscience is repulsed by the deaths of innocent people under any circumstances, anyplace. Cuba fully shares the worldwide concern for the loss of civilian lives in Libya and hopes that its people are able to reach a peaceful and sovereign solution to the civil war occurring there, with no foreign interference, and can guarantee the integrity of that nation.

• "Our America: a guide for our times"
January 27.11
IN the words of introduction to this series which concludes today, I recalled Carlos Rafael Rodríguez who, on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of our national hero in 1953, affirmed: "Martí was not only a guide for his times, but at the same time, has to be considered as an anticipator of our own."

• Statement from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs
January 17.11
ON January 11, 2011, the United States government announced new measures in relation to Cuba. Although it is necessary to await the publication of the regulations in order to understand their true significance, according to preliminary information released by the White House press office, the measures will:

• Terrorist Posada Carriles’ defense limited to attacking Cuba
January 14.11
WASHINGTON, D.C. January 13.— The defense team of terrorist Luis Posada Carriles at his trial for immigration offenses in the United States is limited to attempting to demonize Cuba, a U.S. activist stated today.

• Posada Carriles' lawyer rejects potential jurors aware of the Barbados crime
January 12.11
EL PASO, Texas, January 11.— Luis Posada Carriles' lawyer, Arturo Hernández, challenged all potential jurors with any knowledge of the 1976 bombing of a Cubana de Aviación airliner which killed 73 passengers, according to an AFP...

• Billboard to the Five in downtown Miami
January 12.11
MIAMI, January 11.—Right in the heart of Miami, on Northwest 37^th Avenue and 4^th Street, facing the entrance to the Flagler Dog Track, a billboard appeared today with portraits of the five Cuban anti-terrorists unjustly incarcerated on U.S.

• The event begins!
December.16.10
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA.— It seemed like the perfect magic spell for that Tower of Babel turmoil, a mish-mash of a thousand languages, which possessed those who attempted to construct that tower to the sky.

• We Cubans are dissatisfied with the documents presented
December.14.10
Speech by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, in the closing session of the
16th UN Environmental Summit

• Another year has been lost since the deception of Copenhagen
December.10.10
Speech by Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, at the high-level segment of the 16th COP/CMP6 of the UNFCCC, Cancun, Mexico, December 8, 2010.

• Raúl sends message of solidarity to Venezuela
December.3.10
CARACAS.— PRESIDENT Raúl Castro Ruz sent a message Thursday, December 2 to the valiant Venezuelan people who are suffering serious hardships as a result of intensive rain over the last few days, according to Prensa Latina.

• Esteban Lazo travels to Argentina to convey condolences of the Cuban government and people to the president
October.29.10
VICE President Esteban Lazo Hernández has traveled to Argentina to personally convey to the people, government and the president of that sister country, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the condolences of the Cuban government and people for the death of her husband and former president, Néstor Kirchner.

• Overwhelming rejection of the blockade
October.27.10
UNITED NATIONS, October 26.—The United Nations today ratified for the 29th consecutive time, the worldwide rejection of the blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba for almost a half century and Washington’s isolation in maintaining it, PL reports.
- Ambassadors address General Assembly

• The blockade is a hostile and unilateral act that must end unilaterally
October.27.10
Speech given by Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla to the UN General Assembly under the item "The necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba," New York, October 26, 2010.
- Reply of our foreign minister to the United States and the European Union

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