HAVANA,  may 29  The Obama administration on Friday formally removed Cuba from a U.S. terrorism blacklist as part of the process of normalizing relations between the Cold War foes.

Secretary of State John Kerry signed off on rescinding Cuba’s “state sponsor of terrorism” designation exactly 45 days after the Obama administration informed Congress of its intent to do so on April 14. Lawmakers had that amount of time to weigh in and try to block the move, but did not do so.

“The 45-day congressional pre-notification period has expired, and the secretary of state has made the final decision to rescind Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, effective today, May 29, 2015,” the State Department said in a statement.

“While the United States has significant concerns and disagreements with a wide range of Cuba’s policies and actions, these fall outside the criteria relevant to the rescission of a state sponsor of terrorism designation,” the statement said.

The step comes as officials from the two countries continue to hash out details of restoring full diplomatic relations, including opening embassies in Washington and Havana and returning ambassadors to the two countries for the first time since the U.S. severed diplomatic relations with the island in January 1961. The removal of Cuba from the terrorism list had been a key Cuban demand.

U.S. and Cuban officials have said the two sides are close to resolving the final issues but the most recent round of talks ended last Friday with no announcement of an agreement.

Even as many of the biggest hurdles, including the terrorism designation, have been cleared, Washington and Havana are still wrangling over American demands that its diplomats be able to travel throughout Cuba and meet with dissidents without restrictions. The Cubans are wary of activity they see as destabilizing to their government.

Both the U.S. and Cuba say the embassies are a first step in a larger process of normalizing relations. That effort would still have to tackle bigger questions such as the embargo, which only Congress can fully revoke, as well as the future of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay and Cuba’s democracy record.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/29/cuba-removed-from-us-terror-sponsor-list/

HAVANA, may 28  The Pensacola Yacht Club gives preliminary notice of an offshore rally and race from Pensacola, Florida in October, 2015 to the Hemingway International Yacht Club near Havana, Cuba.

The rally and race is intended for experienced sailors and seaworthy cruising sailboats. The rally and race will be conducted consistent with the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) 2013-2016 including US Sailing Prescriptions, the GYA-PHRF prescriptions, and with the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions to be distributed at later date. The start for the Cuba rally race will be October 31st, 2015.

The race management will be biased towards cruiser sailboats with the objective of doing an initial “trial balloon” race to Cuba to consider the feasibility of a recurring series, encouraging cruiser type sailboat participation, and controlling participant costs. To accomplish these ends the organizing committee has planned the rally and race to include:

° Placing the full responsibility on the participating skippers to ensure the seaworthiness of their vessels using the US Safety Equipment Requirements as a guideline, and the competency of their crews. Some equipment will be mandated by the committee, and this will include offshore communication (SSB or Sat phone) and tracking.

° A starting window of up to three days to avoid poor weather at the discretion of either the race committee or participating skippers.

° A Bermuda start so that the vessels will finish closer together, and the start will not be en masse.

° Including classes of Classic Cruisers (older than 25 years, with a SA/D of less or equal to than 16); Modern Cruisers (newer than 25 years old with a SA/D of less or equal to 20); Racer Cruisers, and Multihull Cruisers. The organizing authority will have the authority to make specific exceptions if warranted and necessary.

° Including handicap adjustments for size, material, and age of sails; cruising equipment adding weight (dinghy, davits, radar, other gear not normally found on racers); cruising propellers, cruising canvas left in place (dodger, etc). Specifics will be included in the notice of regatta.

All participants in the race will require licensing from the Department of Commerce; and, instructions will be provided to entrants. The anticipated time frame for issuance of individual licenses is thirty to 45 days; and, individual applications should be made as soon as practical.

If you are interested, plan on it and let us know. Additional information, including a notice of rally and race, will be distributed in the next 45 days. Feel free to contact Bob Kriegel (850) 455-7695 or Dave Oerting, PYC Fleet Captain, (850) 444-6512 with any questions or comments.
http://www.sail-world.com/2015-Pensacola-a-La-Habana–Preliminary-announcement-of-rally-and-race/134820

A Brief History of U.S. – Cuba Relations

HAVANA, may 27  (ABCnews) Cuba and the United States are expected to formally announce the re-opening of embassies in Havana and D.C. next week, ABC News has been told by two sources close to negotiations.

The announcement is expected to come from their respective capitals, following Friday’s anticipated announcement of Cuba’s removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Cuba is expected to be formally removed from the list 45 days after President Obama announced his intention to remove them, which came in mid-April, and just days after he returned from Panama and the first high level meeting between the two countries since the diplomatic freeze.

The listing, which included them on a list alongside nations such as Syria, Sudan and Iran, has been a sticking point in the negotiations.

Last week, Cuban diplomats met in D.C. with U.S. diplomats in the latest round of talks since the U.S. and Cuba began negotiating normalization in December.

Both sides expressed optimism and called the talks “very productive,” foreseeing an agreement soon, but sticking points remain.

The major sticking point for Americans has been the freedom for staff to move throughout the country; for the Cubans, it was courses provided to Cuban journalists by the U.S. government at the interests section in Havana, which they say fall outside normal diplomatic activities.

The two countries have only operated lower level Interest Sections since the late 1970s in buildings run by the Swiss.

Diplomatic relations were cut off in 1961, with Fidel Castro calling the U.S. embassy a “nest of spies.”

Today, renovations are underway in Havana and D.C. as the two buildings are prepared for full embassies staffed with full level ambassadors.

The date of the re-opening has not been confirmed, but that too may be announced next week.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cuba-us-expect-announce-embassy-openings-week/story?id=31345385

Long held at arm’s length by a US trade embargo, Cuba has done things its own way. For the population, that has implied certain hardships. But the marine environment, it seems, has emerged victorious.

HAVANA, may 27  When visitors disembark the bus at a dusty fishing port five hours from Havana, they have reached the halfway point to what is known as Cuba’s accidental Eden. It takes another five hours by boat to complete the journey – but that’s worth it.
The marine park off southwestern Cuba known as the Jardines de la Reina, or Gardens of the Queen, is alive with fish and coral species that have all but disappeared in other parts of the Caribbean and Florida.

Only 1,500 people per year are permitted to visit the Gardens of the Queen, which Christopher Columbus named after Queen Isabella I. of Castile. Its paradisical qualities are partially a consequence of recent political history.

In the early 90s, the United States embargo and the collapse of the Soviet Union created a dire economic reality, which among other things meant Cubans were unable to build infrastructure for tourism or buy the pesticides once provided by the Soviets to protect their crops.

And as a result, Cuba became relatively free of the kinds of pollution that has affected its island neighbors. Daniel Whittle, Cuba Program Director with the Environmental Defense Fund, has spent 15 years trying to protect these waters and remembers his first time diving in the Gardens.

“What really struck me was not just the color or diversity of the coral, but how many fish were there,” Whittle said. “Really big fish, such as grouper and snapper, and sea turtles, and a lot of sharks.”

Sharks have a great value for ecotourism

Tracking species numbers

Researchers are particularly interested in sharks, whose numbers are in massive decline as a result of the commercial value of their fins, which – since they are believed to have beneficial health properties – are sold on Asian markets.

Cuba, which works with the Environmental Defense Fund to protect the local shark population, recognizes the ecotourism potential of these majestic creatures. A draft economic report suggests the value of each shark alive is worth anywhere from $300,000 to a million dollars.

But sharks are by no means the only marine species of interest to the Cuban government. It is spearheading a national plan of action supported by EDF and the Food and Agriculture Organization to create a blueprint for conservation management – including measures to combat overfishing.

To manage fisheries, scientists need to establish baseline population numbers for different marine species. That can be tough in Cuba, where data is not necessarily available. Scientists often have to rely on what fisherman tell them about the size of their catch.Fishermen play a critical role in maintaining the health of Cuba’s waters

“Fisherman really have to be part of the process. We need their buy-in, their support to collect the science,” Whittle said.

Choppy times ahead

But other issues on the horizon are clouding the clear waters around Cuba – about a quarter of which are official marine protected areas. US President Barack Obama’s announcement of a gradual normalization of relations with Cuba has seen American companies roll up their sleeves for potential trade deals ahead.

This includes the US Agriculture Coalition for Cuba, a commodity group made up of corporations selling soybean, livestock, and wheat, and possibly other products like seeds and fertilizers.

“It’s going to be a little bit of David versus Goliath,” said Greg Watson, director for policy and systems design at the Schumacher Center for New Economics, told Global Ideas. He says the reintroduction of pesticides and chemicals to agricultural practises could contaminated groundwater.

And the concerns don’t stop there. Although Cuba currently covers most of its daily oil needs through imports from Venezuela, it is striving for energy independence.

“It’s a policy priority,” said Whittle, adding that Cuba has billions of barrels of oil in deep water off the country’s western shore.If Cuba exploits is oil riches, the unspoilt nature of its waters could come under threat

Oil drilling does not excite environmentalists, but an energy-independent Cuba also opens the doors for renewables.

Marine scientist and environmental economist David E. Guggenheim, founder of the Washington nonprofit, Ocean Doctor, says the thawing of US-Cuba relations will facilitate research on the island and will allow scientists to apply for federal grant dollars previously unavailable for projects on Cuba.

He would like to see Cuba and the US push for a greater conservation plan in the region, establishing a model similar to the Red Sea Marine Peace Park between Jordan and Israel, and where scientists worldwide carry out studies.

That is unlikely to happen immediately. In the meantime, Guggenheim will continue to explore the rich biodiversity of the Gardens of the Queen, a place he first set eyes on more than 15 years ago.

“It was like traveling back in time 5,500 years,” he said. “It’s still the most pristine coral environment I’ve ever seen.”

http://www.dw.de/in-a-post-embargo-era-cuba-serves-as-a-model-for-marine-protection/a-18475940

HAVANA, may 26  (AP)  The thaw in relations between the U.S. and Cuba has led to a stunning 36 percent increase in visits by Americans to the island, including thousands who are flying into Cuba from third countries like Mexico in order to sidestep U.S. restrictions on tourism.

The dramatic rise was seen in the number of Americans with no family ties to Cuba who visited between Jan. 1 and May 9 of this year compared to the same period in 2014, according to statistics provided to The Associated Press by a University of Havana professor.

In addition to the boom in American visitors, Cuba has seen a 14 percent jump in arrivals from around the world between January and early May compared to the same period last year.

INCREASED TOURISM BY THE NUMBERS
From Jan. 1 to May 9, 51,458 Americans visited Cuba, compared to 37,459 over that period last year, according to new statistics provided exclusively to The Associated Press by Jose Luis Perello Cabrera, an economist in the University of Havana’s tourism studies department with access to official figures.
The figures also included revealing details on the thousands of Americans who are entering Cuba through third countries, many to sidestep U.S. restrictions on tourism.

There were 38,476 visitors who flew directly from the U.S. to Cuba, compared to 29,213 in the same period last year.

Another 12,982 Americans came in via third countries, a whopping 57 percent increase over the 8,246 Americans who flew to Cuba from elsewhere in the same period last year.

Mexico, the Bahamas, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands are the top choices for Americans entering Cuba from non-U.S. points, Perello said.

David Perez, a New Yorker who works in public relations, traveled to Cuba in May through Cancun. “I had just always wanted to go to Cuba and I decided now was the time,” he said.
Cuba also has seen a 14 percent rise in overall tourism. Arrivals from 206 counties from Jan. 1 to May 9 rose from 1,349,903 last year to 1,547,104 this year. Visitors from Germany were up 22 percent; France, 25 percent; the United Kingdom, 26 percent and Spain 16 percent.

A LOOSENING OF RESTRICTIONS
Travel to Cuba “for tourist activities continues to be prohibited,” said Hagar Chemali, a spokesperson for the U.S. Treasury Department, which publishes the rules on Cuba travel. But in January, after President Barack Obama announced detente with Cuba’s communist government, “we eased the travel regulations,” Chemali said.

The new rules make it easier to get the necessary paperwork, and that has led some Americans to flout the restrictions. While many Americans still travel with expensive, organized “people to people” tours that are approved by the U.S. government, it’s not uncommon to encounter Americans who have traveled to Cuba independently to drink mojitos and head to the beach.

Charter companies flying travelers from the U.S. to Cuba say travelers now need only “self-certify” that their trip falls under a permitted category. “The person calling us needs to tell me, ‘I’m going in support of the Cuban people, or professional research, or a family visit,’” or any one of the 12 allowed categories, said Tessie Aral of ABC Charters. After that, “all they do is sign a certification.”

The federal register states that travelers “must retain specific records related to the authorized travel transactions” for five years, but what those records consist of is not spelled out, and Aral said travel providers are not required to review travelers’ itineraries or receipts.

THE RULES AND THE REALITY
Bob Guild of Marazul Tours, another charter company, worries that some travelers may be viewing the process of planning a trip to Cuba too casually by claiming that they’re going for a sanctioned purpose when in fact they are going on vacation.

But Guild acknowledges that “there’s a disconnect” between what’s on paper and what’s happening. “It’s a foggy land right now,” he said.

Attorney Robert Muse, an expert on the legal aspects of Cuba travel, says “there’s been almost no active enforcement” of the tourism ban under the Obama administration. He added that the increase in U.S. visitors to Cuba is “what the Obama administration wants. … They favor engagement. That’s why they take this liberalized approach to travel.”

The Cuban government did not respond to a request for comment, but Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero recently said visitors were up by 30 percent and that Cuba was willing to accept the increase.

As for those rushing to see Cuba “before it changes,” Muse said, they think that in the future “there are going to be Burger Kings on every corner. That’s not going to happen, but people still want to see the end of revolutionary Cuba.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/26/stunning-36-percent-rise-in-us-visits-to-cuba-sinc/

HAVANA, May 26    A few hours and a mojito or two after arriving in this 500-year-old city, with its ocean vistas and dazzling architecture, American visitors often ask: Can I buy a piece of this?

They cannot. The Cuban government doesn’t allow it. The U.S. government doesn’t allow it.

Not yet, at least
But with the two countries moving to restore diplomatic relations and end decades of estrangement, it is not difficult to imagine a day when pent-up global market forces will wash over this city’s sagging buildings and mansions in distress. Cubans are already angling to get ahead of the flood.

Three years after Raúl Castro cast aside decades of  housing dogma and allowed homeowners to buy and sell their properties for the first time since the 1960s, the island’s real estate market is proving to be a powerful engine of economic and social change.

On seemingly every Havana street, contractors are mixing cement, fixing cracks and giving makeovers to moldy facades that haven’t seen paint since the ­Brezhnev era. New bathroom fixtures arrive in couriers’ suitcases from the Home Depot aisles of South Florida. Havana’s skilled electricians and plumbers earn more in a day than a doctor makes in a month.

“It isn’t only the ability to buy property,” said Magda Mora, 39, who returned to Havana in 2012 after 14 years in Italy and Miami. “It’s buying property that can be used for a business.”

Mora bought a 3,300-square-foot duplex in the heart of the city’s Vedado neighborhood, renovated it and now lives upstairs with her family, converting the lower unit into a mini-hostel. It has five rooms that rent for $35 a night each, earning good reviews on TripAdvisor.

Anyone who has driven around Havana has seen that a tremendous amount of wealth was invested in stone, marble and mahogany in the years between Cuba’s founding as a republic in 1902 and Fidel Castro’s takeover in 1959. Few cities in the Americas can compare.

Wealthy and middle-class Cuban families who fled for the United States saw their homes expropriated by the government. Many went to poorer Cubans or the caretakers that the wealthier families had left behind. The city’s exclusive neighborhoods became racially mixed, and Havana became a much more “heterogeneous city,” according to architect and city historian Miguel Coyula.

Today, many of those families are selling, finding themselves suddenly in possession of a valuable asset. But that trend ­appears to be re-gentrifying the city along racial lines and class divisions, particularly because lighter-skinned Cubans are more likely to have relatives abroad with money to invest.

Castro’s 1960 housing reform led to a ban on property sales and a decree that no Cuban could possess more than one urban dwelling, while converting hundreds of thousands of renters into owners — albeit owners who couldn’t sell.

Although Cubans were allowed to “swap” houses in deals that often involved under-the-table cash, the lack of a formal market, along with government restrictions on private home construction, worsened a shortage.

The problem is exacerbated by a supply crunch as the Cuban government consistently falls short of its housing-construction goals. More than 130,000 city residents are living in shelters or substandard housing, according to government data.
Migrants from poorer eastern Cuba settle in shantytowns on the city’s edge or crowd into crumbling urban tenements that the real estate boomlet has yet to reach.

Meanwhile, elderly Cubans whose children left the island remained in large homes they couldn’t afford to maintain.

“There were thousands of homes sitting vacant or half-empty,” Coyula said.

Ways around the rules
Market forces are now fixing such absurdities, brokers say, ­allowing older Cubans to easily downsize and get the cash they need to live on, while new investors are transforming tattered properties into boutique hotels before an American tourist surge hits.

Significant restrictions remain. Cubans are limited to one property in the city and one vacation home. Titleholders must be Cuban citizens or permanent residents, not foreigners. The deals are almost always done in cash, and the transactions must pass through Cuban banks, though buyers and sellers often agree to exchange additional sums outside the country to minimize tax payments.

Communist authorities are in the game, too, building high-end condominiums for sale to non-Cuban buyers, with plans to erect more alongside golf courses and yacht marinas in partnership with Chinese investors.

As usual, Cubans have found ways to skirt their government’s attempts to control the market, as have Cuban Americans (and U.S. residents) blocked by the U.S. trade embargo. Some buyers acquire additional properties in the names of their children, while foreigners find Cubans to put on the deed, despite the risk that they would have no legal claim to the property.

At a deeper level, Raúl Castro’s limited real estate liberalization has brought a sea change in Cubans’ regard for their homes, transforming them from yet another domain of state control into a tangible asset whose value needs to be preserved, if not improved.

The reform is even altering the relationship between local government officials and Cuban property owners, who are no longer passive about broken sewer pipes, uncollected garbage and perpetually neglected city parks.

“People see that the value of their homes is related to their surroundings,” said Nery Galindo, who obtained a license as a private real estate broker as soon as the government legalized the trade in 2013.

Her company, Espacio Cuba, has two offices in Havana and a Web site in Spanish and English with photo galleries and a database of properties listed for as much as $650,000.

Similar sites have advertised 1940s- and ’50s-era mansions for more than $1 million. The phrase “capitalist construction,” referring to properties built prior to Fidel Castro’s revolution, is used as shorthand for “quality.”

Most of the listings are in Havana’s most desirable districts, especially Vedado and ­Playa. A typical three-bedroom, two-bath apartment in those neighborhoods sells for about $60,000, while detached houses there are often listed for $100,000 or more.

That’s a fortune in a country where the average government salary is stuck at $20 a month. But those Cuban workers aren’t the target demographic, unless they’re the ones selling. With salaries that low, many of them are — especially if they live in Havana’s more coveted districts.
Mora, the mini-hostel owner, said the family that sold her their house used the money to buy a Russian Lada sedan and two smaller apartments in a less central part of the city. “Their son uses the Lada as a taxi,” she said. “So it worked out well for everyone.”

Overseas money
It’s no secret that much of the money flowing into the Cuban market comes from outside, ­especially Europe and the United States.

Galindo said inquiries through her site have doubled since President Obama and Raúl Castro announced plans in December to restore relations. The biggest spike is from Cubans in the United States who have relatives on the island able to occupy the properties or manage them as rental units.

A surge in tourism this year has left the city with an acute shortage of hotel rooms, and millions of American visitors are expected in the next several years if Congress approves legislation to lift travel restrictions. Apartments in the city’s most desirable neighborhoods are quickly being converted into rentals, spurred by the recent arrival of companies such as Airbnb that allow Americans to book rooms online.

Brokers say many of the new buyers are Cubans who, like Mora, left the island and want to regain a foothold or secure a cheap place to retire. This appears to have the indirect political consequence of making them stakeholders who prefer a gradual evolution in Cuba rather than an upheaval that would hurt their investment.

“The number of serious buyers has increased significantly on hopes for change after the [Dec. 17] speeches by Obama and Castro,” said Milly Diaz, owner of Cuba Homes Direct, another start-up real estate agency. She returned to the island after working for several years as a broker in England. She said prices were all over the map when the market first opened up in 2011.

“The market is still immature, but there’s a bit more experience now, and sellers are more and more willing to negotiate,” she said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/75000-will-get-you-a-lot-of-house-in-havana–if-youre-cuban/2015/05/25/bbed3d78-fd8f-11e4-8c77-bf274685e1df_story.html

Havana,May 23. (ACN)  Cuba and the United States will soon continue bilateral talks at a technical level particularly on health and law enforcement, Foreign Ministry official Josefina Vidal announced in Washington at the end of the third round of negotiations to reestablish diplomatic relations.

Vidal, who is the director of the United States Division at the Foreign Ministry and headed the island´s delegation to the talks, said that the issue regarding infectious disease control will be on the agenda of a meeting of health experts who will address measures to counter such conditions increasingly affecting many countries of the world.

At Washington´s Foreign Press Center, Vidal also announced a dialog on law enforcement, which refers to the fight on illegal events. Terrorism, drug trafficking and trafficking in persons are present in the region and raise world concern, so experts consider that cooperation among nations to fight these events is crucial.

Havana and Washington have also addressed other topics, such as civil aviation, human rights, migration fraud, protected marine zones, and nautical charters.

HAVANA,  May 23   The National Railway Company of Cuba, Ferrocarriles de Cuba, is the sixth oldest railroad in the world, having opened its first 17-mile long route in 1837. Now the railway covers more than 2,600 miles, stretching from Havana in the west to Santiago de Cuba on the eastern coast.

It has a reputation for being the cheapest — but also the slowest — way to travel from one side of the country to the other.

Passengers watch TV while they wait to board the train in the Central Station in Havana.

A man looks out of the railway car at a passing train that is heading west towards Havana near San Luis, Cuba. Cuba was the 6th nation in the world to have a train system.

The inside of one of the mismatched train cars.

People arrive at the Havana Central railway station up to 4 hours early to secure their reservation and obtain a ticket east towards Santiago de Cuba.

The trip from Havana to Santiago de Cuba can take 20 hours, while driving would take about half the time. Tourists and many Cubans choose not to take the train because of its unreliability: It often breaks down or is delayed, sometimes for multiple days.

The train itself is made up of a patched together array of rail-cars largely from Germany, Canada, France, China and the former USSR. After the USSR fell, the railroad was forced into using mostly secondhand and refurbished trains and parts.

A man smokes in between train cars.

The train rounds a bend a few miles outside of Santiago de Cuba during the ride from Havana to Santiago de Cuba.

Cuba was the first country in Latin America and the sixth in the world to have a railroad system.

Early morning fog is seen out of the train car near Hatuey, Cuba during the ride from Havana to Santiago de Cuba.

The Cuban railway was originally built by the Spanish as a means to transport sugarcane to the ports. This is interesting, as Spain had yet build a railroad in its own country at that point.

By 1958, Cuba had upgraded to newer diesel trains and the country held the record for most trackage per square mile in the world.

A man walks along the tracks.

A man looks out the car door during the train ride from Havana to Santiago de Cuba. Many of the doors do not work properly and remain open the entire ride or are permanently stuck in a closed position.

A man takes a nap in between train cars following a night of drinking as the train approaches San Luis, Cuba during the ride from Havana to Santiago de Cuba.

But what was once state-of-the-art has fallen into disrepair; high maintenance costs and lack of materials make basic maintenance all but impossible. The line from Havana to Santiago de Cuba is one of the last remaining in use, a testament to its importance to mobility in the country.

As a photojournalist it provided an authentic way to meet many Cubans, and allowed me to see more of the island nation than any other mode of transportation.

A man sleeps on the train ride from Havana to Santiago de Cuba as the sun rises near Camagüey, Cuba.

The train stops in Camaguey, Cuba.

see also : http://www.havana-live.com/news/havana-train-information

http://mashable.com/2015/05/23/cuban-railroad/

HAVANA, May 22,   Eastern Air Lines Group, Inc. and HavanaAir Charters, LLC, have signed today an  agreement, to support HavanaAir’s charter operations to Cuba.

HavanaAir is the largest provider of passenger traffic to the island, currently operating 65 flights a month to Havana from Miami with additional service to Santa Clara and Camaguey. The partnership will eventually include additional approved U.S. gateway cities.

Eastern will operate the Boeing 737-800 (Next Generation) aircraft, configured with 16 First Class seats and 129 Coach seats in the main cabin on all flights to Cuba.

“We are very pleased to partner with Eastern Air Lines.  Eastern earned iconic status in the U.S. airline industry for decades and we are both honored and privileged to partner with their highly experienced management.
Our partnership with Eastern will provide an entirely new level of service to Cuba with their Next Generation Boeing aircraft and their commitment to excellent customer service.” said Mark Elias, President and COO of HavanaAir Charters.

“We are excited to partner with HavanaAir Charters. Eastern was formerly the largest provider of air seats in the Cuba market, and with this agreement, Eastern will once again provide more seats to Cuba than any other U.S. carrier.
Cuba is and always will be a very important market for Eastern as we grow our airline and we look forward to proving service from additional U.S. gateways along with our home airport of Miami International”, said Ed Wegel, President & CEO of Eastern.

Key Facts:

1. Eastern will operate for HavanaAir twice daily service to Havana and weekly service to Camaguey and Santa Clara.
2. Eastern will support HavanaAir’s existing operations to Cuba with some 65 flights monthly.
3. Eastern and HavanaAir will be launching service from other U.S. gateways within 60 days.
   http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eastern-air-lines-and-havanaair-charters-to-provide-daily-air-service-to-cuba-300087876.html

HAVANA, May 22   Stonegate Bank has confirmed that it has established a banking relationship with the government of Cuba.

“At the request of the U.S. Department of State, Stonegate Bank has reached an agreement with the government of Cuba to provide banking services to the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C.,” Dave Seleski, president and CEO of the Pompano Beach-based bank, said in a statement.
A U.S. banking relationship will help the Cuban Interests Section issue travel visas and deal with other issues related to the association with any embassy in Washington, D.C.

“We hope this is the initial step to normalize banking ties between the two countries, which will benefit American companies wanting to do business in Cuba, as well as the Cuban people,” Seleski said.

The Cuban government previously had a banking relationship with Buffalo, N ew York-based M&T Bank. M&T began to close all accounts with foreign governments in 2013 after increased compliance requirements, including the account with Cuba.
Cuba’s account was the last remaining one, and eventually M&T closed it after another bank couldn’t be found for the island nation’s government.
The Cuban Interests Section was without a U.S.-based bank for about a year.
http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2015/05/21/stonegate-bank-explains-relationship-with-cuba.html

HAVANA, May 21  (Reuters) The United States and Cuba resume talks on Thursday aiming to overcome obstacles to opening embassies in each other’s capitals and re-establishing diplomatic ties, the crucial next step in their historic detente.

Both sides have reported progress in closing in on a deal, part of an agreement clinched between U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro in December. Once diplomatic relations are restored, the long-time adversaries will work on the more complicated task of normalizing overall relations.

But Washington wants assurances that its diplomats will have more freedom of movement, while Castro this week reiterated Cuban concerns that dissidents are receiving “illegal” training at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson assured lawmakers in testimony on Wednesday that Washington would not agree to the opening of an embassy in Havana without its diplomats being able to travel outside the capital.

The two countries have interests sections rather than embassies in each other’s capitals. Currently, U.S. and Cuban diplomats cannot leave the capitals.

Jacobson, the lead U.S. negotiator with Cuba, said Washington also wanted assurances that Cubans would be able to visit the U.S. embassy without being harassed by police and that there would be in an increase in U.S. embassy personnel.

She acknowledged, however, that any the embassy would likely operate under restrictions similar to those in other countries run by authoritarian governments. China and Vietnam could serve as models for new rules governing U.S. diplomats movements in Cuba.

One of the most contentious issues between the former Cold War adversaries is Washington’s so-called pro-democracy programs for Cuba, which Castro argues are “illegal” and in breach of international treaties on diplomatic missions.

The U.S. Interests Section in Havana offers Cubans free courses on journalism, English and information technology, and also allows Cubans to use the Internet.

In November 2012, the Cuban Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing the U.S. Interests Section in Havana of “serving as headquarters of political subversion” against Cuba by creating an opposition movement and fomenting instability.

The talks are the first since Obama announced on April 14 that he had decided to remove Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, which Havana had said was a necessary step for further progress.

The Cubans have signaled that any formal announcement on the re-opening of embassies would likely have to wait until after the 45-day Congressional review period for removing Cuba from the terrorism list. Cuba considers May 29 as the date when the review period ends.

HAVANA, May 20  (Reuters)   The US State Department declined to the name the bank, but a senior official expressed optimism ahead of Thursday’s talks between the US and Cuba.

Conditions are favorable for restoring diplomatic relations with the United States, Cuba said on Monday ahead of upcoming talks in Washington.

The two longtime adversaries are scheduled to meet on Thursday for their fourth negotiating session on re-establishing diplomatic ties, which were severed in 1961 amid Cold War tensions.

The so-called interests sections in Washington and Havana would be upgraded to embassies if diplomatic ties were restored.

Even though progress had been made, the two sides still need to reach agreement on the conduct of diplomats, said Gustavo Machin, the deputy director for US affairs in the Cuban foreign ministry.

Cuba wants the Americans to halt training courses in journalism and the Internet that it considers subversive and a violation of the Vienna convention on diplomacy.

“We don’t see obstacles but rather issues to resolve and discuss,” Machin told reporters.

Cuba, which tightly controls its media and blocks websites run by independent journalists, views the courses at the US mission in Havana as subversive and remnants of the US policy of regime change in Cuba.

“We should reach a common interpretation on what the rules of the Vienna convention establish,” Machin said.

The United States sees the courses as normal diplomatic functions similar to what embassies of other countries do in Havana and on par with what Cuban embassies do around the world.

Cuban President Raul Castro last week complained that dissidents were receiving “illegal” training at the US interests section.

The United States in turn wants freedom of movement for its diplomats, who currently need permission to leave Havana.

Since Castro and US President Barack Obama announced in December plans to reset hostile relations, negotiators have met twice in Havana and once in Washington. The two presidents also met in April at a summit in Panama, where Obama said, “On Cuba, we are not in the business of regime change.”

Machin declined to predict how soon they might reach a deal but did say it was possible Thursday’s meeting could be the last.

The United States said last month it would remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, effective May 29. The designation imposed sanctions on some companies doing business with Cuba and discouraged banks from handling Cuba’s accounts in the United States.

That decision, combined with helping Cuba find a bank, have created “favorable conditions for the re-establishment of diplomatic relations,” Machin said.

http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/americas/71861-150520-cuba-finds-a-bank-to-handle-its-business-in-the-us

HAVANA, May 19   At a conference focused on opportunities in emerging markets this month, Cuba found some love.

A panel of investment professionals at the IFC EMPEA Global Private Equity Conference in Washington DC discussing opportunities in Latin American was optimistic about the chances of Cuba reforming enough to attract new investment dollars. The U.S. and Cuban governments announced on Dec. 17 efforts to restore diplomatic relations after 50 years of hostility.

The first step is to build an ecosystem that allows businesses to grow and flourish, according toSusana Garcia- Robles, principal investment officer at the Inter-American Development Bank. “One lesson we’ve learned is, it’s not only about, ‘Is there a business opportunity?’ but ’Is there an ecosystem that supports a business environment?” Garcia-Robles said. “I don’t think Cuba will be able to absorb private equity activity for a while.”

Felipe Vilá González, chief executive officer at funds-of-funds manager Fondo de Fondos, was confident changes would happen in Cuba to make it an attractive place for investment. “In some sectors it’ll happen sooner, like entertainment…and tourism,” he said.

It’s not clear if any private equity money has flowed into Cuba in past years. In March, CNBC reported that Thomas Herzfeld, manager of closed-end Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund, was raising money for direct investments into Cuba.

Entrepreneurs interested in starting businesses in Cuba should seize the opportunity now, said Luc Gerard, founder and chief executive officer of Tribeca Asset Management. Gerard said he has visited Cuba three times in the last decade.

“There’s tremendous potential,” he said, citing the educational system and the entrepreneurial drive of the people. “I’m more bullish on Cuba than on Venezuela…”

For all the negative perceptions surrounding the Castro government in Cuba, the World Bank last year named the Cuban education system the best in Latin America. Cuba’s system of universal education has led to “universal literacy,” the World Bank said.

“Only Cuba…has a truly efficient education system and high-quality teachers,” the World Bank said. “The Caribbean island is also the nation in the world that allocates the highest share of its national budget, 13 percent, to education.”

Another factor that will drive economic growth is the mass of immigrants ready to travel back to the country as it opens for investment. Around 1.1 million Cuban immigrants lived in the United States as of 2013, according to the Migration Policy Institute, citing data from the U.S. Census Bureau and American Community Surveys. Cubans represented the seventh largest immigrant group in
the United States, the Institute said.

“It’s going to be the powerhouse of the Caribbean,” Tribeca Asset Management’s Gerard said.
Still, despite the optimism, people continue to flee the country for the United States. In the first three months of 2015, 9,371 Cubans arrived in the United States, Reuters reported earlier this month. That is more than double the number from the same period last year.

The increase was driven by a surge of migration after the U.S. and Cuban governments made the December announcement, Reuters reported. This caused uncertainty over the special immigrant status Cubans have been granted since 1966 in which they have the right to stay and seek residency if they can reach U.S. soil.

HAVANA, May 19  Conditions are favorable for restoring diplomatic relations with the United States, Cuba said on Monday ahead of upcoming talks in Washington.

The two longtime adversaries are scheduled to meet on Thursday for their fourth negotiating session on re-establishing diplomatic ties, which were severed in 1961 amid Cold War tensions.

The so-called interests sections in Washington and Havana would be upgraded to embassies if diplomatic ties were restored.

Even though progress had been made, the two sides still need to reach agreement on the conduct of diplomats, said Gustavo Machin, the deputy director for U.S. affairs in the Cuban foreign ministry.

Cuba wants the Americans to halt training courses in journalism and the Internet that it considers subversive and a violation of the Vienna convention on diplomacy.

“We don’t see obstacles but rather issues to resolve and discuss,” Machin told reporters.

Cuba, which tightly controls its media and blocks websites run by independent journalists, views the courses at the U.S. mission in Havana as subversive and remnants of the U.S. policy of regime change in Cuba.

“We should reach a common interpretation on what the rules of the Vienna convention establish,” Machin said.

The United States sees the courses as normal diplomatic functions similar to what embassies of other countries do in Havana and on par with what Cuban embassies do around the world.

Cuban President Raul Castro last week complained that dissidents were receiving “illegal” training at the U.S. interests section.

The United States in turn wants freedom of movement for its diplomats, who currently need permission to leave Havana.

Since Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama announced in December plans to reset hostile relations, negotiators have met twice in Havana and once in Washington. The two presidents also met in April at a summit in Panama, where Obama said, “On Cuba, we are not in the business of regime change.”

Machin declined to predict how soon they might reach a deal but did say it was possible Thursday’s meeting could be the last.

The United States said last month it would remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, effective May 29. The designation imposed sanctions on some companies doing business with Cuba and discouraged banks from handling Cuba’s accounts in the United States.

That decision, combined with helping Cuba find a bank, have created “favorable conditions for the re-establishment of diplomatic relations,” Machin said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/18/us-cuba-usa-idUSKBN0O32BW20150518
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Bernard Orr)

HAVANA, May 18  (EFE) The intense drought in Cuba is affecting more than 1 million people, the official Juventud Rebelde newspaper reported Sunday, citing specialists.

The situation is being classified as “critical” in Cuba, where rainfall levels were insufficient in every region at the end of the February-April period, Weather Institute Climate Center researcher Cecilia Fonseca told the newspaper.

The areas most affected by the drought are the provinces of Pinar del Rio, in westernmost Cuba; Cienfuegos, Villa Clara and Sancti Spiritus, located in the central part of the island; and the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Camaguey, Ciego de Avila and Las Tunas, Juventud Rebelde said.

Las Tunas is the most affected province, with average annual rainfall of just 1.038 millimeters (0.04 inches) and reservoirs at 25 percent of capacity.

The rainy season, when Cuba gets about 80 percent of its precipitation, is starting, but the forecast for this year “is not currently favorable,” Fonseca said.

National Hydraulic Resources Institute Water Management Department chief Yunior Gonzalez, for his part, said rainfall patterns had been “pretty erratic” this year in terms of their effect on reservoirs.

Water trucks are being used to supply water to some of the people affected by the drought, Gonzalez said.

The government is staging the “Meteoro 2015” exercise this weekend to provide emergency management personnel with training in dealing with hurricanes, powerful earthquakes, tsunamis, forest fires, chemical spills, epidemics and other types of disasters.