HAVANA, 24 Feb Cuba’s annual cigar festival is getting under way in the capital Havana – with American visitors able to take cigars home legally for the first time in decades. A thaw in US-Cuban relations means American smokers will be able to stock up on products worth up to $100 (£65). Havana cigars have […]
HAVANA, Feb 23. (Prensa Latina) Darryl Jones and Bernard Fowler, two active members of the music group Rolling Stones, will perform in Cuba along with the international rock superband The Dead Daisies. Jones, the legendary ‘Munich’ has played bass with legends like Miles Davis and Bob Dylan, noted when he reached Havana that he feels […]
HAVANA, 23 Feb. (Sam Steverlynck) So you walk into El Floridita, one of many Havana bars that prides itself on being a former haunt of barfly Ernest Hemmingway, and there is Guillaume Bijl, the Belgian artist known for absurd installations in which he brings a driving school or travel agency into a museum context. On […]
LA HAVANE, 22 février (Reuters) – Cuba a libéré samedi Cy Tokmakjian, un chef d’entreprise canadien qui avait passé plus de trois ans en détention, a fait savoir la société de l’homme d’affaires. Cy Tokmakjian, 74 ans, avait été condamné en septembre dernier à 15 ans de prison par la justice cubaine pour corruption et […]
Havana, 21 Feb. (AFP) – Cigar aficionados will pay tribute to Winston Churchill in Havana Monday as the world’s largest Cuban cigar festival opens with a nod to the late leader’s favorite brand of cheroot. The 17th Habanos festival will honor Churchill’s beloved “Romeo and Juliet” cigars at the opening of the five-day event […]
HAVANA,21 Feb. (AP) — A Canadian automobile executive imprisoned in Cuba on corruption charges for more than three years was released Saturday after Cuba’s government ended a case that it called a demonstration of the fight against bribery and critics said was a warning against doing business here. Cy Tokmakijian’s case was seen by some […]
HAVANA, 22 Feb. (Sputnik) The creation of a transcontinental aviation hub in Havana is an interesting prospect, but will only be possible after the economic embargo on the country is lifted, the CEO of Mexican carrier Interjet said Tuesday. “It’s only a dream now, first of all, the problem with lifting the economic embargo in […]
HAVANA, 22 Feb. While some are using the Internet to hack into personal information, others use it to support their dreams. Crowdfunding has reached the island of Cuba. Now the rest of the world can invest in emerging Cuban artists. Cuban rumba beats like “guaguanc” and the Afro-Cuban sounds of the Bat drum mixed in […]
The rooftop pool at the Iberostar Parque Central hotel in Havana America is ready for Cuba. Are Cuban hotels ready for Americans? HAVANA, Feb 21 Imagine booking a $4,000 weeklong vacation to an -exotic locale near the ocean. Now imagine that when you get there, your room has no hand towels, the air conditioning is […]
LA HAVANE, 21 Feb. On ne revient jamais vraiment d’un voyage à Cuba. Pays coincé dans le temps, entre 30 et 40 ans en arrière, on ne peut être que dépaysé en arrivant sur l’île. Pourtant, la vie sur place coûte plus cher que ce qu’on pourrait s’imaginer de ce pays où de vieilles américaines […]
HAVANA, Feb 20 (Reuters) – U.S.-based telecom company IDT Corp has reached an agreement with Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA), Cuba’s national telecom provider, to provide international long distance telephony between the United States and Cuba directly. The company said that the agreement was filed today with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and […]
LA HAVANE, 20 Feb. Des critiques et experts de l’art contemporain cubain s’interrogent sur l’avenir de l’art dans l’île. Le rapprochement entre la Havane et Washington ne risque-t-il pas de lui faire perdre son identité ? “L’art cubain sera-t-il un vecteur de conciliation ?” C’est la question que se pose le critique d’art cubain Píter […]
HAVANA, 19 Feb.(Paul Duran) Since President Obama eased tensions with Cuba late last year, the film community in the island nation has been optimistic, if cautiously so, about striking new relationships with its counterpart in Hollywood, and hopeful it can reform the Cuban film industry to compete on the world stage. “Many (American) directors have […]
HAVANA, 19 Feb. ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons is going to Cuba this June to play a jazz summit. And even he doesn’t know why. “How did my name get on a jazz roster? I’m a blues and rock & roll player,” Gibbons tells Rolling Stone. “But I’m not going to look a gift horse in […]
HAVANA, 19 Feb. (AP) Cuba has temporarily reduced the hourly charge for using state-run Internet cafes in the country’s first small but substantive public move to increase online access since the declaration of detente with the U.S. President Barack Obama said late last year that Cuba had promised to increase Internet access, although U.S. and […]
HAVANA, 19 Feb. The Cuban Ministry of Transportation’s Trans-Metro company has been operating a new articulated bus to improve the Santiago de las Vegas – Vedado service in Havana since December 22 of last year. This novel express metro-bus operates Monday to Friday during rush hours, making a total of 17 stops, from the town […]
HAVANA, 18 Feb. With travel restrictions to Cuba eased since last year, a Fort Lauderdale-based company is looking to start a ferry service from the Marathon City Marina to Havana,by the end of the year. Catamaran broker Brian Hall, owner of KonaCat, said he’s confident he can get clearance for his 200-passenger catamaran to travel […]
HAVANA, 18 Feb. (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is traveling to Cuba on Tuesday with a delegation of congressional Democrats, Pelosi’s office announced. Late last year, President Barack Obama moved toward normal relations with Cuba and some members of Congress favor further relaxation of trade and travel restrictions with the […]
HAVANA, 17 Feb. (Café Fuerte) With his own, personal infantry tank, Jesus Leiva is most probably the only Cuban civilian who owns a war machine in Cuba. If we add that he keeps it parked outside his house, letting troops of children climb its belts, hang from its 75-mm cannon and enter and exit the […]
HAVANA, 17 Feb. (CNN) Conan O’Brien and his late-night show are no stranger to road trips, but this time it looks like he’s pulled off a major one: filming in Havana. O’Brien spent the past weekend with his crew filming the March 4 episode of his TBS show in Havana, Cuba. It marks the first […]
Les spécialistes du sida craignent l’apparition d’une nouvelle souche du VIH plus virulente.LA HAVANE, 16 Feb. Des chercheurs de l’Université catholique de Louvain (Belgique) et de l’Institut de Médecine Tropicale Pedro Kouri de La Havane ont mis au jour une nouvelle souche du VIH plus virulente. Selon leurs recherches, celle-ci développerait le sida beaucoup plus […]
HAVANA, 16 Feb. Moving so fast that the use of retroviruses may be of little use, an aggressive form of HIV has been found in Cuba with the virus progressing to AIDS within just three years. Alarmed by the speed at which some HIV patients were developing AIDS, officials in Cuba reached out to Professor […]
HAVANA, 15 Feb. Under newly relaxed regulations governing travel to Cuba, Cuba Cruise is offering Americans seven-night trips that circumnavigate the island. In the past, American passengers had to book lengthier land-and-sea itineraries with a sanctioned American tour operator. Now securing passage aboard the 1,200-passenger Louis Cristal involves reserving the trip with Cuba Cruise, a […]
HAVANA, 13 Feb. (Reuters) – The United States on Friday dramatically eased restrictions on imports of goods and services from private Cuban entrepreneurs as part of Washington’s rapprochement with Havana after more than half a century of enmity. The U.S. State Department said the import of all goods and services was now permissible except in […]
HAVANA, 13 Feb. The mystery of whether Ernest Hemingway’s widow volunteered or was coerced into leaving their Cuban house to the nation has come a step closer to being solved, with the discovery of a letter in which she states that her late husband “would be pleased” that Finca Vigía be “given to the people […]
In this Jan. 31, 2015 photo, a horse trainer braids the main of the horse he’s been training, before the start of an auction at the National Equestrian Club in Lenin Park on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba. Cuba splits proceeds from the auction with a Dutch equine company and uses much of its share […]
HAVANA, 12 FEb. JetBlue Airways the largest airline to the Caribbean, today announced an agreement with its partner, ABC Charters, to add a new charter flight to Cuba beginning this summer. The weekly flight, which begins on June 5, will operate on Fridays from Tampa (TPA) to Havana (HAV). JetBlue will have the most flights […]
HAVANA, 12 Feb. It’s been a busy few weeks for the half-dozen or so companies licensed to charter flights between the United States and Cuba. In December, President Barack Obama announced the restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba, and the easing of travel and trade restrictions started in mid-January. “We have just been inundated,” says […]
LA HAVANE, 12 Feb. (AFP) Le groupe de rock américain The Dead Daisies, composé en partie d’anciens membres de Guns’n’Roses, partira en tournée à Cuba ce mois-ci, le premier concert d’un groupe américain depuis 2005. Les musiciens ont notamment prévu une semaine d’enregistrement en studio avec des artistes locaux. En clôture, le groupe se produira […]
HAVANA, 11 Feb. Step by step, Turkey is showing its strong interest in the Caribbean region. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Havana Tuesday for the beginning of an official visit to Cuba. The trip is slated to include meetings with Cuban President Raul Castro and other Cuban officials. Erdogan’s trip is part of a […]