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cuba

Oil exploration suspended

HAVANA, Cuba, CMC – A Russian state oil company drilling off Cuba’s northern shores says it is temporarily halting its exploration. Zarubezhneft said it was halting work because of “geological” problems but will resume oil exploration next year. The announcement signaled an end to the only active exploration program in Cuba which now relies on highly subsidized oil from Venezuela. Cuba reportedly relies on an estimated 96,000 barrels of oil it receives daily from Venezuela which amounts to about two thirds of its consumption.

St. Lucia PM receives one of Cuba’s highest honours

HAVANA, Cuba, CMC – Cuba has bestowed the Jose Marti medal of honour on St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony, who is on an official visit to the Caribbean Communist country. The award is the highest honour bestowed upon a foreign dignitary by the Cuba government. On Tuesday, Anthony laid a wreath at the base of the monument of the National Hero at Revolution Square, Havana, before holding talks with President Raoul Castro “on a wide range of subjects of mutual interest in a private meeting”.

CUBA-POLITICS-St. Lucia PM underscores importance of diplomatic relations with Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, CMC – St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony began a five-day official visit to Cuba on Monday praising the Caribbean Communist country for support to his island “with no strings attached”. Anthony met with the President of the Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, Kenya Serrano as well as mothers of five Cubans imprisoned in the United States. During the visit, Anthony reaffirmed his commitment to working closely with the Institute to promote the relationship now enjoyed by both countries as well as the rest of the region.

Decline in food production

HAVANA, Cuba, CMC – The Cuban government says it has seen a dramatic and unexplained drop in the harvest of vegetables and fruit in the first three months of the year. In a report, the Cuban National Statistics Office (ONE) gave no reason for the production decline, despite government reforms to increase production in the Spanish-speaking country that spends more than US$1.5 billion on food imports. ONE said overall agricultural production with the exception of sugarcane, declined by 7.8 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the first three months of 2012.

CUBA-TECHNOLOGY-US firm says Cuba activates fibre optic cable link with Jamaica

MAINE, CMC - An American company that monitors global Internet traffic, says Cuba has activated a branch of its submarine fibre optic cable that connects to Jamaica, giving it greater bandwidth and a backup in case the main leg to Venezuela is not available. Senior analyst at Renesys Corporation, Doug Madory, said that the company has noticed that ETECSA, the Cuban government’s telecommunications monopoly, has started to receive international Internet service through Cable & Wireless Jamaica.

UNITED STATES-POLITICS-Cuban president’s daughter gets permit to attend gay forum

WASHINGTON, CMC – The United States has changed its mind in allowing the daughter of Cuban President Raúl Castro to attend a gay rights forum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, reversing a previous rejection. Sexologist Mariela Castro, the director of Cuba’s National Center for Sex Education and a vocal proponent of same-sex marriage and gay rights, has received a US visa to attend several gatherings in May at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan in New York.

Cuba, Venezuela ink deals worth two billion dollars

Cuba and Venezuela have signed accords for 51 joint projects worth $2 billion US dollars in Havana, local media reported Sunday. At the close of 13th Cuba-Venezuela Intergovernmental Meeting Saturday night, Cuban President Raul Castro and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced the deals for projects in such areas as education, health, sports, culture, food production, construction, transport, communications, energy and support of social missions.

Tertiary education expert says: UWI must reach out to Haiti, Cuba

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Visiting Moroccan tertiary education expert Dr Jamil Salmi says UWI should reach out to its French and Spanish speaking neighbours like Haiti, Dominican Republic and Cuba to truly establish the academic institution’s reputation as a regional and international giant. Salmi made this comment during a Distinguished Open lecture at Daaga Auditorium, St Augustine campus last week Wednesday. Its theme was The Challenge of Establishing World-Class Universities.

Expert warns of consequences of opening up of Cuba

ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Jeffrey Robinson, considered the world’s leading financial crime author, is warning the nation and all Caribbean countries that a “financial tsunami” will hit the region in a few years and the time to plan a response is now. “In the next three to five years, Fidel Castro will die and when he does Raul (Castro) will not be able to hang on,” he said. “The invasion of Cuba is now being planned and it will be massive. It will be something the likes of which no one has seen before.”