Cuban Migrants Describe Ordeal With Smugglers.

LAHT/
Four men who tried to escape Cuba by boat, described their rough treatment in Granma, the official state newspaper. The four were in a group of 14 that left Cuba on a motorboat in September and were tortured by the traffickers so their relatives in the U.S. would pay the $10,000 fee to leave the island.
“What happened to them in the hands of their captors will show others the cost of trusting their future to people who only care about dollars."

Cuba's Trading Declines Sharply.

REUTERS/
Trading between Cuba and four of its top five partners has declined sharply so far in 2009. Reductions in exports to and imports from Cuba ranged from 20 percent to 50 percent.

Facebook Invades Cuba.

REUTERS/
Cubans are getting a better look at the world through Facebook.
"All my Cuban friends who have access to the Internet are now on Facebook," said one Cubana.
"The number of users in Cuba is growing fast. There are more every day, but they are not very active. They might just log on every other week or two," said a computer scientist who emigrated to the United States six years ago.

Cuba Says No To U.S Telecoms.

GLOBAL POST/
In April, the U.S. said it would provide exemptions from long-standing U.S. sanctions against Cuba’s communist government allowing Verizon, Sprint and AT&T to bring better phone and internet service to the island to “promote the freer flow of information.”
But the Cuban government says there are two major obstacles: $160 million in frozen funds seized from ETECSA in 2000, and trade restrictions imposed by the 1992 Cuban Democracy Act, which forces Cuba to pay U.S. companies through third countries, incurring additional transaction fees."

Cuba Cracks Down On Unauthorised Home Improvements.

AP VIA YAHOO/
A new decree allows authorities to undo unauthorized home improvements, even tearing down exterior walls and new balconies, or demolishing extra rooms and other additions.

Cuba Reopening Abandoned Factories To Make Goods.

LAHT/
Cuba is reopening abandoned factories to increase manufacturing output and reduce imports.
One of the industrial facilities reopening is a plant in the eastern city of Santiago that makes crackers and had been shuttered for nearly a decade.

Cuba's Skilled Recyclers.

DESDE CUBA/GENERACION Y/YOANI SANCHEZ/
"In the early morning they removed the first bricks from the exterior wall to sell—each one—at three pesos on the black market. Like an army of ants, the poorest people in the area took the old closed factory and began to dismantle it."

A Snag In Cuba/US Cultural Thaw As OFAC Denies Symphony Patrons.

GLOBALPOST/
The New York Philharmonic announced it was postponing a trip to Havana planned for this month, after U.S. Treasury Department officials denied travel permission to the orchestra patrons who were financially supporting the performances.
It would have been the most high-profile American cultural event in Cuba in a half-century. But without supporters to cover the roughly $10,000 in travel costs per musician, “the trip is not possible,” orchestra spokesman Eric Latzky said in a statement.

Cuba To Fight Swine Flu...Without Vaccine.

AP/
"Cuba is ready to use just about everything at its disposal, from its well-oiled civil defense system to the soldiers of a totalitarian government, to keep swine flu cases to a minimum. Everything but a vaccine.
As the U.S. prepares an extensive health survey for side affects from its massive inoculation plans, Cuba's No. 2 health official says relying on a shot to contain a world pandemic is risky as best — and demoralizing at worst."

Foreign Firms Still Blocked From Cash Access In Cuba.

REUTERS/
"Delegations from foreign banks and investor funds holding commercial paper from Cuban state banks have repeatedly traveled to Cuba this year seeking answers from the central bank or other authorities -- without success -- the sources said.
Representatives of some companies with investments or joint ventures on the island said they were bracing for the possibility of not being able to repatriate year-end dividends paid to their accounts in Cuba."

China's Geely Invades Cuba Roads.

REUTERS/VIA KYIVPOST/
"Cuban ministers, communist officials and police are switching their Ladas, with its stiff manual steering, for the smooth hydraulics of the Chinese-made Geely CK, a modern sedan that symbolizes the island's new alliance with Beijing."

Cuba's Free Lunch... Coming To An End.

AFP Via GOOGLENEWS/
In Cuba, workers earn about 17 dollars a month, and state subsidized monthly food baskets are not enough for families so more than 3.5 million Cuban government employees -- out of a total population of 11.2 million -- benefited from the free lunch with a pricetag of 350 million dollars a year, not counting energy costs or facilities maintenance.
But that will end starting October 1st.
With the cutback, workers salaries will increase by 15 pesos per workday(.60 dollar US).

Juanes Nearly Cancelled Cuban Concert Because Secret Police Followed Him.

COLOMBIA REPORTS/
A radio station aired a recording of Juanes angrily denouncing being shadowed while on the island.
"This is it, we're leaving now! We're very angry, very angry, very angry. We came here to sing to the young people of Cuba, and that's why we are here. But we've encountered strong obstacles, and this is it!" the singer is heard saying in the recording.
"I just noticed that the person that brings me breakfast and drives my taxi also showed up at the concert, and now he's there behind us, taking notes. I don't want to go back to my room," Juanes explained to Cuban officials.

China Cultivates Cuban Economic Ties.

MIAMI HERALD/
A series of deals by China with Cuba are the result from Chinese economic expansion across the world. Trade between China and Latin America grew from $10 billion in 2000 to $140 billion in 2008.
"The growing relationship suggests that China's financial clout has put it in a position to cultivate something like client states, in the case of Cuba at least, among smaller countries that receive relatively large amounts of Chinese funding and in return toe the line when it comes to issues such as Beijing's controversial policies toward Tibet and Taiwan."

Castro Wanted Russians To Nuke U.S.

NYTIMES/
Fidel Castro wanted the Soviet Union to launch a nuclear attack on the United States. But "Moscow dissuaded him by patiently explaining how the radioactive cloud resulting from such a strike would also devastate Cuba."

The Juanes Concert: Eyewitness Account.

DESDECUBA/YOANI SANCHEZ/
Noted dissident blogger Sanchez writes about her concert experience Sunday with perhaps a million other Cubans...under the hot Havana sun.

Juanes Havana Concert Makes Waves In Miami's Cuban Community.

NYTIMES/
Planning tomorrow's Juanes concert in Havana has been complicated. Juanes lost several interested acts, including Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias but picked up others. Though he gainied some critics and supporters of the Castros in Cuba, he has faced divisions in Miami. A poll suggests that three quarters of Cuban-Americans thought the rally hurt their image.

Cubans Release Man Who Denounced Hunger On TV.

REUTERS/
The Cuban government released Juan Carlos Gonzalez Marcos, alias “Panfilo,” from prison after he was sentenced to two years behind bars for drunkenly denouncing food shortages on the communist-ruled island before television cameras. The 48-year-old Panfilo was released from prison and sent to a psychiatrist to be treated for alcoholism. He got international attention when his denunciation was posted on YouTube and viewed over 450,000 times.

Juanes' Havana Concert Loaded With Latin Stars.

LAHT/
Grammy winning singer Juanes announced that 15 artists from six countries will accompany him at a Havana concert, including Spain’s Victor Manuel, Miguel Bose, Luis Eduardo Aute, Puerto Ricans Dany Rivera and Olga Tañón, Ecuadorian Juan Fernando Velazco and Italy’s Jovanotti.
The numerous Cuban artists preparing to appear include Perez, Silvio Rodriguez, Los Van Van, Los Orishas, Carlos Varela, X Alfonso and Cucu Diamantes & Yerbabuena.
“The list is closed. None of them have acted like the stars they are, they’ve all been pretty humble, nobody has asked for anything, they haven’t even asked what hotel they’ll be staying at.”

One Cuban's Dream: A Ferry From Miami To Havana.

NYTIMES.COM/
Armando Ruiz, 72, a Cuban exile and former concert promoter, has dreamed of an inexpensive ferry from Miami To Havana for a decade. Now he thinks it might actually happen — if the Obama administration approves his application for a license.