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☆ Low voter turnout may hurt Cuba's one-party system
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Reuters Editorial | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PoliticsLow voter turnout may hurt Cuba's one-party systemPostedAs Cuba's legislative elections approach, declining voter turnout could threaten the new assembly's credibility and add to a growing sense of malaise in a country that has been a Communist-run state since shortly after the 1959 Cuban Revolution. Tamara Lindstrom produced this report.

☆ As Cuba election day nears, some voters ask, 'why bother?'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Dave Sherwood | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HAVANA, March 22 (Reuters) - Like a growing number of Cubans, 77-year-old Havana resident Humberto Avila says he will likely sit out Sunday's legislative elections. The retired university professor says he's done the math - 470 candidates, 470 open seats - and sees no point in voting. Abstention has spiked in recent elections, rising to a four-decade high of 31% of eligible voters in municipal elections in November. "This vote is for the Revolution ... and to continue to defend our socialist system," Diaz-Canel told textile workers in Santa Clara. Rey Lazaro Blanco, a 19-year old geography student at the University of Havana, told Reuters he will vote on Sunday.

☆ Ecuador, Peru authorities assess damage after earthquake that killed at least 15
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] A woman sitting on a hammock holds her baby next to the destroyed wall of her house following an earthquake in Isla Puna, Ecuador March 18, 2023. REUTERS/Maria Fernanda Landin/File PhotoMarch 19 (Reuters) - Ecuadorian and Peruvian authorities worked on Sunday to assess the damage caused by the previous day's strong earthquake that shook the region, leaving at least 15 dead and hundreds injured. State-run oil company Petroecuador reported that an offshore platform near the epicenter suffered damage that caused machinery to fail, temporarily reducing production. Peruvian authorities reported one death, four collapsed homes and five more left uninhabitable, while essential services and transportation infrastructure were undamaged. During his Sunday message, Pope Francis sent his condolences for the losses and "all those who suffer" due to the earthquake.

A large fire last year destroyed a portion of the country's largest oil terminal, Matanzas, and has created obstacles to discharge fuel imports. The Panama-flagged supertanker Nolan this week is loading 400,000 barrels of fuel oil for power generation at Venezuela's Jose terminal. Seeking to avoid its own fuel crisis, Venezuela's oil supplies to Cuba last year fell about 6% to 53,600 barrels per day (bpd), independent data based on tanker movement showed. PDVSA, Venezuela's oil ministry and Cuba's Center for International Press did not immediately reply to requests for comment. The tanker has not sent a signal from its transponder since mid-December while in Venezuela, according to Refinitiv Eikon vessel monitoring data.

☆ Southwest Airlines plane makes emergency landing in Havana after cabin fills with smoke
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HAVANA, March 5 (Reuters) - A Southwest Airlines plane bound for Fort Lauderdale from Havana was forced to return to Cuba's Jose Marti Airport Sunday after an engine reportedly caught fire following a bird strike, according to passenger cell phone video and media reports. NBC 6 News in Florida reported a Southwest Airlines spokesperson had confirmed the incident. Cell phone footage showed smoke filling the cabin as panicked parents appeared to explain to their children how to fit oxygen masks. Emergency lighting inside the plane was lit and footage showed customers evacuating the jet via emergency slides on the runway at Cuba's largest airport as firemen and trucks looked on. The news report said there had been no serious injuries and that all passengers were safely on the ground in Havana.

☆ A Southwest passenger says they felt their lungs 'burning' after the cabin filled with smoke mid-flight
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Florida-bound Southwest flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Cuba on Sunday. The plane's cabin filled with smoke after the Boeing 737 was hit by birds. A passenger told NBC's "Early Today" show they felt their lungs "burning" in the smoke. Marco Antonio, a passenger on the flight, told NBC's "Early Today" show that people on board the Boeing 737 jet were "screaming," adding: "Nobody could breathe. A spokesperson for Southwest told Insider the plane's engine and nose were struck by birds, which prompted an emergency landing.

☆ Cuba's president meets CEO of Russia's Rosneft amid fuel shortage
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HAVANA, March 5 (Reuters) - Russian oil firm Rosneft's CEO Igor Sechin met with Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel late on Saturday, the island's leader said, amid an acute fuel shortage that has service stations temporarily shuttered and hours-long gasoline queues. Several tweets on Cuba's Presidency account emphasized the good relations between the two countries, but did not specify the reason for the visit by the state-run oil firm's boss. Cuba's former leader Raul Castro has also flown to Caracas for the occasion, Cuban state-run media said. Russia, hit by Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, is looking to strengthen political and economic ties with other countries opposed to what it calls U.S. hegemony. Cuba has been under a U.S. economic embargo since 1962 after a Communist revolution led by former leader Fidel Castro.

[1/5] Maylin Amador, 42, poses for a photo with Gucci, her bichon habanero, the national dog of Cuba, in Havana, Cuba, February 7, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandre MeneghiniHAVANA, March 1 (Reuters) - Maylin Amador breeds and styles one of Cuba's most attractive dogs - the Havanese bichon, a small but lively lapdog with abundant waves of tobacco-colored hair, and the Caribbean island's only native breed. "It is difficult to raise this animal because it bathes every four days," she said, as she prepares her dog Gucci for a national competition. The dog - considered the island's national breed - was popular among Cuban aristocrats before the Fidel Castro-led 1959 revolution. Evelio Fernandez, president of the Cuban "Bichon Havanese" club, told Reuters the association currently counts over 1,400 Havanese, and that the dog was officially recognized as Cuban in 2016.

☆ Cuba blasts US govt for granting asylum to pilot of stolen plane
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HAVANA, March 1 (Reuters) - Cuban authorities have accused the U.S. government of being "complicit in piracy" for granting political asylum to a pilot who fled to Florida on a small "kidnapped" plane last October. In a statement late Tuesday, Cuba's foreign ministry said it had summoned Washington's charge d'affaires in Havana to communicate Cuba's "protest" to the asylum granted to the Cuban pilot, arguing he violated regulations. The Cuban ministry said it had made four requests to the U.S. to "return" the 29-year-old pilot and the aircraft, a Russian-made Antonov An-2 single-engine used for fumigating crops, owned by the national air service company. The Caribbean nation's authorities warned that the U.S. decision could encourage similar unlawful acts with negative repercussions for the national security of both countries. Reporting by Nelson Acosta; Writing by Valentine Hilaire Editing by Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Cuba's top cigar maker puffs out more sales, led by European buyers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HAVANA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Sales at Cuban cigar maker Habanos rose 2% last year compared with the previous year, the company announced on Monday, as it recovers business following the COVID-19 pandemic and the havoc caused by a major hurricane. Habanos reported sales of $545 million last year, the company said during the inauguration of a festival in the Cuban capital of Havana. The cigar company said it has 40% of the global premium tobacco market while controlling up to 80% of sales for hand-rolled cigars. In Europe, sales have grown mainly in Spain, France and Germany. In Asia, China has also become an important market for Cuba's signature export and "the driving force" for sales in its region.

☆ Massive forest fires rage on in eastern Cuba
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Nelson Acosta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HAVANA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Forest fires raged on in Cuba's eastern region on Monday, inching toward more populated ground more than a week after sparking near a national park. More than 2,000 hectares of forest, including plantations and coffee crops, have been devoured by the flames, authorities said, as firefighters, park employees and soldiers battled the blaze. The fires have moved away from the Mensura-Piloto National Park and toward the province of Santiago de Cuba, home of the populous city of the same name, according to officials. The latest fires add to the dozens in January, which authorities said was a higher-than-average figure. Pinar del Rio and Artemisa, in western Cuba, and Camaguey and Holguin, in the central-eastern region, were the areas most affected.

HAVANA, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Cubans suffering long lines for food, fuel and medicine now have a new problem: painfully slow internet. "The internet keeps getting worse and worse and we're reaching the point where getting online is becoming impossible for the average Cuban," he said. But getting online can still be a touchy subject. Global internet watchdogs have also said Cuba has restricted internet access during recent protests to suppress coverage of the demonstrations and limit their spread. Cuba's government has since announced another cable project, called Arimao, which aims to connect Cuba to the Caribbean island of Martinique by April.

☆ Judge could take months to decide case of Castro-era Cuban debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Michelle Caruso-Cabrera | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The trial ended last week, but it could be months before the judge, Sara Cockerill, renders judgement in the case of CRF vs Banco Nacional de Cuba & Cuba. Her decision is central to whether Cuba may finally be forced to pay back billions of dollars in unpaid debts. At one point the barrister for CRF cited a British property case regarding the lease of a fried fish shop. The question before the judge is of whether the fund has the right to sue Cuba. No matter how the judge rules, the Cuban government will still owe the money.

☆ Chaos and intrigue reign in UK court fight over Castro-era Cuban debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Michelle Caruso-Cabrera | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The Cuban government and an investment firm are battling in a British court over decades-old debts racked up by the communist-run island nation. Kin Cheung | APIllegally recorded videos, chaotic protests and testimony from an imprisoned Cuban bank official marked the first week of a high-stakes trial in the UK High Court between Cuba and an investment fund. Adding to the intrigue: a court attendee who's a dead ringer for Raul Castro's son and Fidel Castro's nephew, Alejandro. Cuban officials say the man is just a press officer for the Cuban Embassy in the UK. Debt in distressDefaulted sovereign debt, like that of Cuba, trades on the secondary market.

[1/2] An oil tanker is docked while oil is pumped into it at the ships terminal of PDVSA's Jose Antonio Anzoategui industrial complex in the state of Anzoategui April 15, 2015. It reinforces measures implemented last year after several buyers skipped out on payments for oil, which provides most of the South American country's income. After taking the helm, Tellechea launched an extensive audit of supply contracts, according to a written order to PDVSA seen by Reuters. The new terms narrow a wide variety of contract modalities to a few requiring prepayment of cargoes entirely in cash or allowing payment via goods and services to Venezuela, but they must be received before Venezuela will release the oil, according to the documents. Even long-term buyers must abide by the new rules that require payment in full by cash before each oil delivery.

☆ Cuba begins London court battle over unpaid Castro-era debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Students hold images of the late Cuban President Fidel Castro during an event commemorating the five year anniversary of his death, in Havana, Cuba, November 24, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini/File PhotoLONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Cuba began a high-stakes legal battle in London's High Court on Monday over unpaid Fidel Castro-era government debt now held by one of the communist-run country's creditors. CRF originally launched the claim almost three years ago after Havana refused a debt relief offer made by CRF and some other bond holders back in 2018. But having not dealt with its commercial creditors in the so-called London Club the country remains shut out of international capital markets. ($1 = 0.9210 euros)Reporting by Marc Jones and Sam Tobin; Editing by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Here's what you need to know about a blockbuster court fight over Cuba's debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Michelle Caruso-Cabrera | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The legal battle is over a portion of Cuba's unpaid commercial debt dating back to the 1980s. If they don't reach a deal, Cuba could then face yet another court fight over whether it finally has to pay. Because of the U.S. embargo against Cuba, American investors are prohibited from owning and trading Cuban debt, which frustrates some frontier-market hedge fund managers in the U.S. They argue that holding Cuban debt would better serve U.S. foreign policy interests because it would give Americans a seat at some future negotiating table. CRF, meanwhile, says in court filings that it first reached out to Cuba 10 years ago to settle the debt but were ignored.

HOUSTON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The new head Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA has suspended most oil export contracts while his team reviews them, according to an internal document seen by Reuters and two people familiar with the matter. The freeze is leading to port delays, as vessels that were loading have been sent away and are waiting for new directions, the people said. Cargoes chartered by U.S. oil firm Chevron Corp (CVX.N) and Cuba's Cubametales have not been affected by the contract revision, according to separate documents and the sources. As of Jan. 17, most berths at Venezuela's main oil terminal, Jose port, were empty after vessels were moved away while awaiting further directions. Venezuela's oil exports last year declined 2.5% to 616,540 barrels per day due to infrastructure outages, U.S. sanctions and rising competition in its key Asia market despite assistance from ally Iran, according to shipping data and documents.

☆ Cuba says vulture fund seeking 72 mln euros never a creditor as UK court begins proceedings
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Such firms, described as "vulture funds" by the Cuban Central Bank, typically purchase distressed or defaulted debt then sue in international courts to get paid in full. Cuba's Central Bank (BNC) said in a statement on Friday it does not recognize CRF as a creditor. "CRF is not a creditor of the BNC or of Cuba and never has been," the Central Bank superintendent said. The firm claims Cuba owes it 72 million euros in debt in proceedings currently under way in the London court, according to the Central Bank statement. The case will be closely watched by Cuba's creditors, some of whom have struggled to recoup loans as the country wrestles with a dire economic crisis made worse by the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions put in place by former U.S. president President Donald Trump.

☆ 'Deadly' double agent Ana Montes who was a US spy for communist Cuba freed from prison after 20 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ana Montes, seen as "one of the most damaging spies" in US history, has been released from prison. When she was working a clerical job at the Department of Justice, Cuban authorities identified her as someone who would be sympathetic to their cause. She was able to pass highly sensitive information over to Cuban authorities through memory alone. "She compromised everything — virtually everything — that we knew about Cuba and how we operated in Cuba and against Cuba," Van Cleave said. Chris Simmons, a former investigator with the DIA, described Montes as "a very deadly woman, a very dangerous woman," NBC reported.

☆ MLB players to join Cuba's team for World Baseball Classic
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HAVANA, Jan 6 (Reuters) - A handful of Major League Baseball players will join Cuba's team for the first time in the upcoming World Baseball Classic tournament, an unprecedented event, the sport's Cuban Federation said on Friday. Now, Cuba has signed off on a team including a dozen Cuban players who emigrated and joined U.S. or other international teams. The Caribbean island is now working "to achieve a competitive team," Juan Reinaldo Perez, president of the Baseball Federation of Cuba, told a news conference. More than 650 Cuban baseball players have defected to the United States and elsewhere in recent years, according to state-run media. Countries must present their final roster of 30 players for the World Baseball Classic tournament by Feb. 7.

☆ U.S. embassy in Cuba resumes full immigrant visa processing for first time since 2017
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] People wait in line to enter the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, January 4, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandre MeneghiniHAVANA, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Havana resumed full immigrant visa processing and consular services for the first time since 2017 on Wednesday in a bid to stem the record-breaking flow of illegal migrants from Cuba north to the United States. Cubans were instead required to travel to Guyana for visa processing, a costly trip well out of reach for most on the island. The U.S. embassy in Havana began limited visa processing last year and in September announced the 2023 full reopening, to "ensure safe, legal, and orderly migration of Cubans," it said. Cuba and the United States have also resumed once-regular talks on migration in a bid to tamp down the flow.

☆ Cruise lines to appeal U.S court's big award to owner of Havana dock
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Royal Caribbean logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami ruled last week to award a total of $440 million to the plaintiff, Delaware-registered Havana Docks Corp; registered to two U.S. citizens who claim to be descendants of the original owners of the Havana Cruise Port Terminal. It comes after Bloom ruled in March that the use of the port constituted trafficking in confiscated property owned by Havana Docks Corp. Royal Caribbean in a comment to Reuters said it "disagree(d) with the ruling and will appeal. Havana Docks sued the cruise lines under the Helms-Burton Act, which allows U.S. nationals to sue over use of property seized in Cuba after 1959.

☆ Pioneering U.S. television journalist Barbara Walters dead at 93
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Bill Trott | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Television personality Barbara Walters arrives for the premiere of the film "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" in New York September 20, 2010. "I asked Yeltsin if he drank too much, and I asked Putin if he killed anybody," Walters told the New York Times in 2013. "These two men were really quite brutal to me and it was not pleasant," Walters told the San Francisco Examiner. The New York Times called her "arguably America's best-known television personality" but also observed that "what we remember most about a Barbara Walters interview is Barbara Walters." Walters' three marriages - to businessman Robert Katz, theatrical producer Lee Guber and television executive Merv Adelson - ended in divorce.

☆ Factbox: Key facts about pioneering broadcast journalist Barbara Walters
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 30 (Reuters) - The following are key facts about the life and career of pioneering broadcast journalist Barbara Walters, the first woman to anchor an American network evening newscast, who died on Friday:* Walters was born in Boston on Sept. 25, but she did not like to reveal the year, which reportedly was 1929, 1930 or 1931. * Walters started at NBC's "Today" show as a writer in 1961 and in 1976 became the first woman to co-anchor a network evening news broadcast on U.S. television. * Walters singled out her "Today" co-host Frank McGee and Reasoner on ABC News for making her life miserable. * Walters felt she was unfairly mocked for her asking actress Katharine Hepburn what kind of tree she would like to be. * Walters' marriages to businessman Robert Katz, theatrical producer Lee Guber and television executive Merv Adelson all ended in divorce.

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