The Cuban government announced this Friday the gradual implementation of measures to regulate and control the sale of food products and toiletries to avoid hoarding, due to the shortages and scarcity of supplies that has existed for months in the country’s network of retail commercial establishments Minister of Domestic Trade Betsy Díaz explained that the regulatory measures aim to guarantee a "fair and rational" distribution of basic products such as chicken, eggs, sausages, and hygiene items, according to the official media on the island. Díaz noted that the policy of the Cuban state is to "increasingly increase the offers," but indicated that in the face of shortages it is necessary to "regulate and control" the sale of certain goods. However, she said that the new provisions "do not mean that they will again be regulated products" through the "ration card" that distributes to the population several products of the subsidized family food basket. Chicken received as part of a monthly quota of food distributed by the State in Bauta, Cuba, on Friday, April 12, 2019. Photo: Ramón Espinosa/AP. Each Cuban adult receives per month through the "ration card" ―established since 1962― 7 pounds of rice, 4 of sugar, half a...

Cuban researchers are developing a technique that maintains the green color in dried tobacco leaves and provides greater sweetness to the layers, which are used in "low strength" cigars, which are highly appreciated by new smokers, the island’s official media reported this Thursday. The procedure, which has its antecedents in studies carried out more than six decades ago in the country, is being applied in the westernmost province of Pinar del Río, where the famous Vueltabajo tobacco plantations are located, which concentrate more than 60% of tobacco production in Cuba and produce the appreciated Cuban habano. "The objective is to achieve leaves that after the drying process have the characteristics of fineness and elasticity typical of any layer with which a cigar is dressed, without losing its green color," Nelson Rodríguez, the director of the San Juan y Martínez Tobacco Experimental Station, told the state newspaper Granma. To prevent the tobacco leaves from adopting the usual brown color after drying, the researchers vary the temperature and humidity parameters applied in the tobacco "cure houses" after the harvest, which also "requires other specific management in the agricultural stage," explained Rodríguez. As a result, the leaves treated with this technology do not...

Cuba announced the opening of its first hotel exclusively dedicated to the LGTBI community, in the midst of a controversy started this week with the cancellation of the annual gay pride parade in Havana and fueled by the refusal to let the foreign journalists who were going to cover the event enter the country. The new facility will be managed by Gaviota, one of the main Cuban hotel groups belonging to the military group Gaesa. It will be located in Cayo Guillermo (north center), one of the island’s most popular tourist destinations. The new 250-room hotel and its startup is among the "immediate projections" of the company, said the vice president of marketing of the hotel chain, Frank Oltuski, quoted by Cubadebate. Gaviota, included on the "blacklist" of Cuban entities with which the United States prohibits its citizens from doing business, currently has 33,020 rooms in 95 tourist facilities throughout the country and soon plans to add three more in the northern keys, with more than 850 new capacities. This announcement coincides with the state’s decision to cancel the 12th edition of the "conga against homophobia," the most awaited annual event with which Cuba makes visible the struggle of that...

Several cases of drug trafficking were detected in recent days by the General Customs of Cuba at the airports of Havana, Matanzas and Camagüey, the state media reported this Tuesday. One of these events occurred last May 3 at Havana’s José Martí International Airport, when based on "radiological marking" and canine techniques a box of markers containing synthetic cannabinoid was found in the luggage of a passenger. The passenger alleged that the invoiced baggage was not hers and that it was "a favor," according to a note posted on the website of the General Customs of the Republic (AGR). "As individuals, passengers are not authorized to carry with them commissions for other individuals or legal entities," insisted Customs. It also stressed that commissions are understood as "the goods, luggage or packages sent from abroad for third parties using the passenger to transport them." Among the new cases reported, the Cuban Customs authorities also referred to an attempt to introduce bottles of "Gel de Mariguanol," a substance that is made from marijuana. The international cargo department of the eastern province of Camagüey was the one that detected, for the first time in shipments to a consignee, five bottles of "Gel de...

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and CEO and president of the Canadian Sherritt oil company David Pathe confirmed the stability and "good progress" of the joint investments during a meeting in Havana, Cuban government sources reported this Wednesday. The CEO of Sherritt, one of the foreign companies with the biggest presence on the island, was received by Díaz-Canel amid renewed pressure from the U.S., which last week activated Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which allows filing lawsuits in U.S. courts for property confiscated after the Revolution. Both agreed on the "good march of joint investments and their rejection of the 'blockade' (U.S. embargo on Cuba) and the Helms-Burton Act," Cuban Foreign Trade and Investment Minister Rodrigo Malmierca, who did not give more details of the meeting, said on Twitter. Cuba is going through a period of economic uncertainty due to its inefficient economy and Washington’s new measures to intensify the embargo, coupled with the plight of its ally Venezuela, which significantly reduced shipments of subsidized oil to the island. The country, which defaulted on exports in 2018 and maintains a high level of indebtedness, has approved a series of measures to avoid falling into a new "special period," the intense...

This Monday Cuba reached the two million tourists received so far this year, with Canada and the United States as the main issuers of visitors, as announced in the preliminary day of the FitCuba 2019 International Tourism Fair, the island’s major leisure event. "Today we reached 2 million visitors, 12 days before last year," Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero wrote on his Twitter account. During the sector’s high season (from November to last April) the main European markets ―France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain― registered decreases of between 10 and 13% in the issuance of travelers to Cuba, according to the Caribbean country’s authorities. Despite this, Cuba closed the first four months of 2019 with a growth of 7.2%, when more than 1.9 million international visitors arrived on the island, according to data from the Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR). This result corresponds to the plan to reach 5.1 million tourists this year, said the commercial director of MINTUR, Michel Bernal. In that period, Canada remained in first place among the issuing markets, with 624,530 travelers (+3%), after registering four successive annual decreases until 2018, although it has increased for the eighth consecutive month, according to the state media. Bernal...

Kenya reiterated this Saturday to Cuba it’s "intense" efforts for the return of the Cuban doctors kidnapped more than three weeks ago on the border of that country with Somalia, Cuban Minister of Public Health José Ángel Portal reported on Twitter. "In a new conversation held today with the minister of health of Kenya, as part of the efforts of our government for the safe return of the two kidnapped Cuban doctors, she confirmed the intense efforts being made by the Kenyan authorities in this regard," wrote the Cuban minister on the social network. Portal did not specify if the dialogue with his Kenyan counterpart, Sicily Kariuki, took place by telephone or through other means. The ministers of health of Cuba and Kenya had already established communication on April 23, when the African nation assured the island that they were still investigating the case. Cuban doctors Landy Rodríguez and Assel Herrera were abducted on Friday, April 12 by alleged members of the Somali jihadist group Al Shabaab in the Kenyan city of Mandera, which borders Somalia. Rodríguez, a surgeon from the central province of Villa Clara, and Herrera, a specialist in Integral General Medicine from the eastern province of Las...

The Swiss group Kempinski, which manages the first "five stars plus" hotel in Cuba, announced this Thursday that it will open a new tourist facility on the island based in Cayo Guillermo, a sun and beach destination that is part of the northern Jardines del Rey archipelago. The Cayo Guillermo Resort Kempinski Hotel is currently under construction and its opening is scheduled for 2019, says a statement posted on the website of the Swiss company. Kempinski's new bet will be a unique resort, which will be located in Playa Pilar, an area of ​​Cayo Guillermo named like the yacht of famous U.S. novelist Ernest Hemingway. The tourist complex will have 245 rooms and suites and 11 three-floor bungalows, and its structure will resemble the bow of a ship that advances towards the Atlantic Ocean, according to the description of its design advanced by the Swiss company. https://www.facebook.com/kempinskihotels/posts/10156300897105817 In addition, it will have seven cabanas built with traditional Cuban materials such as wood and palm leafs, located in the water of this key that stands out for its dunes, considered the highest in the insular Caribbean at 15 meters, as well as an exuberant and varied avifauna. The leading hotel chain...

The European Union (EU) on Thursday "deeply" regretted the full application of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act by the United States, which allows filing lawsuits in that country for property confiscated in Cuba, and considered that it "weakens" the transatlantic partnership. The entry into force of this law, which was suspended since its enactment due to the rejection caused on an international level, "is a violation of the commitments assumed in the EU-U.S. agreements of 1997 and 1998, which both parties have uninterruptedly respected since then," said the community’s high representative for Foreign Policy, Federica Mogherini. "This will create unnecessary friction and weaken the trust and predictability of the transatlantic partnership," Mogherini said in a statement on behalf of the 28 countries members of the bloc. The EU considers that the extraterritorial application of unilateral restrictive measures "contravenes international law," which is why "it will resort to all appropriate measures to address the consequences of the application of the Helms-Burton Act, including its rights in the World Trade Organization and the use of the EU blockade statute," she recalled. She added that she will continue working with her international partners, "who have also expressed their concern in this regard." The entry...

Cuba "forcefully" rejected this Tuesday U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to impose a "full and complete" embargo on the island, called his security adviser John Bolton a "pathological liar" and denied Havana’s alleged interference in Venezuela. "We forcefully reject the threat of full and complete blockade of #Trump against #Cuba," Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote on his Twitter account. Díaz-Canel reiterated that "there are no military operations, nor Cuban troops in #Venezuela" and called on the international community "to stop the dangerous aggressive escalation and preserve #Peace. No more lies #SomosCuba." https://twitter.com/DiazCanelB/status/1123360394121293824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1123360394121293824&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba-ee-uu%2Fcuba-rechaza-nueva-amenaza-de-trump-por-apoyo-a-venezuela%2F For his part, the island's foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, said that the "U.S. Nat Sec Adviser # Bolton is a pathological liar who misinforms Pres Trump," in a message via Twitter. Rodriguez said that "there are no troops" from Cuba in Venezuela "nor do Cubans participate in military or security operations" and insisted that his country only maintains in Venezuela "medical personnel as a humanitarian mission." "I forcefully reject Trump’s threat of full blockade," he said, in response to the announcement made a few hours earlier by the U.S. president. https://twitter.com/BrunoRguezP/status/1123342927391076352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1123342927391076352&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba-ee-uu%2Fcuba-rechaza-nueva-amenaza-de-trump-por-apoyo-a-venezuela%2F Trump threatened, also via Twitter, to intensify the embargo on Havana and impose "a full and complete...

The documentary "The World or Nothing," which narrates the life in Barcelona of two Cuban twins who want to fulfill their dream of becoming music and dance stars, premiered this Saturday at Toronto’s HotDocs Festival. It is the first documentary by Canadian director, actress and writer Ingrid Veninger, one of Canada's most recognized "indie" filmmakers with six fiction feature films so far. In the film, Veninger, 50 years old, follows for 10 days the brothers Rubert and Rubildo Donatién Dinza, two 29-year-old Cuban twins who had arrived in Barcelona a few weeks before the filming to realize their dreams and make a space for themselves in the world of music and dance. Hours before the premiere, the two brothers confessed to EFE that they were "nervous but very excited." In an interview, Veninger acknowledged that when she started shooting she had no idea what kind of story to tell and that she was simply following a hunch that started in 2015. That year, Veninger and her partner spent Christmas, like many other Canadians, in a tourist complex in Holguín, Cuba. "On Christmas Eve, I saw them on stage at the hotel. They were the best dancers. They impressed me with...

A forest fire of medium proportions was recorded in the vicinity of El Salto dam, just over a kilometer from the tourist town of Viñales, in the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio, the state media reported on Sunday. The incident began at noon last Thursday in a wooded area dominated by plantations of pinus caribaea, a species typical of the forest area of Pinar del Río, Cuba’s second most reforested province after Guantánamo in the east, according to a report published in the newspaper Juventud Rebelde. Drought, widespread throughout the territory, strongly affected the place and contributed to the spread of the fire due to the large amount of combustible material accumulated in the forest, as the head of the town’s forest fire brigade, Cirilo Seata, explained. https://www.facebook.com/guerrillero.cu/photos/a.436448183045651/2434445966579186/?type=3 The fire ―the number of hectares affected has not been specified― was completely put out this Saturday after the actions taken by joint forces of the Forest Rangers Corps (CGB), the Fire Department and the Ministry of Agriculture. However, surveillance has continued to avoid a new outbreak and because the dry season lasts until the end of next May, while the causes that initiated the incident are being investigated. The Fire...

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez spoke last Friday in Havana with U.S. House of Representatives member Charlie Crist on the state of relations between the two countries. Crist, a Democratic representative from the state of Florida, is visiting Cuba at the head of a delegation made up of legislative assistants from other Congress offices and businesspeople, the island's Foreign Ministry reported. During the meeting, about which more details were not revealed, Rodríguez and Crist also discussed current international issues. This is the first visit to Cuba by the U.S. congressman and it was organized by the Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA), the note said. The meeting was also attended by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Director General for the United States, Carlos Fernández de Cossío. In recent weeks U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has strengthened more its stance towards Cuba with the announcement of new measures to pressure the island, including the activation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act and new restrictions on family remittances and Americans’ travel to the Caribbean country. On April 17, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that starting next May 2 Washington will activate for the first time in more than...

Cuban authorities are investigating the appearance of a corpse in a water cistern of the Iván Portuondo Hospital in the western province of Artemisa. The identity of the body does not correspond to that of any person hospitalized there, state media reported. Artemisa’s local newspaper published, through its Facebook social network page, that the hospital took "urgent measures" because of the incident, which occurred on April 20 and which was now confirmed by the provincial director of public health, Alden Peláez The finding came after a "comprehensive review" of the hospital's cisterns, after workers and patients complained "about the fetid water in some of the services," the newspaper reported. According to what was said by Peláez and cited by the provincial newspaper, the inspection by the specialists of Hydraulic Resources resulted in the detection of a corpse, "a fact that is being investigated to define its causes and that is not related to any hospitalized patient or outpatient receiving care at the institution." For the time being, no information has been released on the identity of the remains found, although foreign media that previously published the story say that it is a former employee of the hospital. https://www.facebook.com/Artemisadiario/posts/2678335805527189:0 The incident...

Some 25,494 people were living with HIV in Cuba at the end of 2018, when more than 2,200 new cases of the disease were detected on the island, according to the most recent data from the island’s Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP). Of the diagnosed, 80% (20,446) are men and the rest (5,048) women, while the vast majority (74%) are between 15 and 49 years old, revealed an extensive article on the website Cubadebate. At the end of 2017, Cuba registered 23,283 people with HIV, with a mortality rate of 17%. According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) there are around 2,000 new infections every year in Cuba, figures "with a tendency to stability." Of the total of infected men, about 86% are men who have sex with other men, the text says. "These, like the people who practice transactional sex, women and young people constitute the groups most vulnerable to HIV infection," adds the article in Cubadebate. In 1985, four years after the disease was discovered, the first case of HIV/AIDS in a Cuban who had been in Mozambique, Africa, for two years, was detected in Cuba. Since that date, more than 30,000 people have been...

Coppelia, the most popular ice cream parlor in Havana, will leave its unconditional visitors without being able to enjoy their products due to a general repair from May 2 to the first half of June. During the maintenance and restoration of the facilities of the ice cream parlor, which takes up a block of the central 23rd Avenue of El Vedado, production of the ice cream factory of the same name will also cease, as explained by a note of the Council of the Provincial Administration (CAP) released this Friday by state media. "The objective is to make technological improvements in the factory, perfect the ice cream production processes, and create the conditions for the definitive and stable production of Coppelia ice cream," the note explained. This stoppage will also be used to carry out maintenance work in the ice cream parlor, in order to improve services in the iconic gastronomic establishment for the works being carried out in the Cuban capital for the 500th anniversary of its foundation on November 16. The provincial newspaper Tribuna de La Habana pointed out in a report about the temporary closure of Havana's famous "cathedral of ice cream" that it hoped that the...

Out of the workers employed in the Cuban economy 32 percent are self-employed, representing 584,477 private workers registered in the Caribbean island, or have another type of employment in the incipient although still limited private sector. The 123 activities authorized for the exercise of private work have led to the creation of more than 434,000 new jobs, according to data released this Monday at the 21st Congress of the Central Organization of Cuban Trade Unions (CTC, the only union organization) held until this Wednesday in Havana. Currently, more than 62 percent of the workers registered in the non-state sector are affiliated to the CTC, which represented, at the end of 2018, 248,274 workers grouped into 7,109 grass-roots union organizations. Private workers demand the creation of an administrative structure that serves them directly, as well as the need to have access to a wholesale market for the acquisition of raw materials and materials to carry out their work, legally and with receipts, a report in the official Cubadebate website pointed out. They have also expressed concerns about the delay in responding to their proposals before the governing bodies and the establishment of mechanisms for the recognition of their work, including the...

Cuban Minister of Health José Ángel Portal reported this Tuesday that the Kenyan government is continuing its actions for the return of the Caribbean island’s doctors kidnapped in the African nation. "I had a conversation this morning with the minister of health of Kenya. She informed us that her government is continuing its actions to ensure that our kidnapped physicians return safe and sound," Portal wrote on the Twitter social network.  https://twitter.com/japortalmiranda/status/1120739311945695233 Kenyan Health Minister Sicily Kariuki told her Cuban counterpart, José Ángel Portal, on Tuesday that the government of the African country is still investigating the case of the two Cuban doctors kidnapped almost two weeks ago near the border with Somalia. The Kenyan official told the Cuban minister "that the actions taken by her government to ensure the safe return of our kidnapped doctors are continuing," Portal wrote on his official Twitter account. The Cuban minister said he had a conversation with Kariuki on Tuesday, without specifying whether it was by telephone or by other means. He said, also on the social network, that "the other members of the Cuban medical brigade in Kenya are well, providing their services to the people of that country." Cuban doctors Landy...

Paraguay is confident that the visit of a delegation of technicians from the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture to the South American country will serve to increase the sale of meat products to the Cuban market and improve the 2018 figures, according to a statement by the Paraguayan Foreign Ministry this Monday. The technicians of the Department of Animal Health of the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture initiated their agenda in the country, which will last until May 7, with tours of different processing plants, as Paraguayan meat freezing companies are known. So far, a total of 17 Paraguayan meat companies are authorized by the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture to send their products to Cuba, ranging from cuts of beef, pork and poultry to dairy products. In November 2016 Cuba authorized the import of beef, pork and poultry from Paraguay, as well as dairy products and derivatives from the South American country and without any type of quota. The Cuban delegation will be accompanied during their stay in Paraguay by their counterparts from the National Health and Animal Health Service (SENACSA). The Department of Foreign Trade and Investment of the Paraguayan Foreign Ministry reported that exports from Paraguay to Cuba, in general...

The lack of control in accounts, breaches of payments and corruption caused damages amounting to about two billion pesos to 369 Cuban public enterprises in 2018, according to the result of an inspection by the Comptroller General of the Island. Of the economic damages 68% were caused by the chain of defaults with a figure of more than 1.579 billion pesos in "Total Currency (TC)," according to Cuban Comptroller General Gladys Bejerano, cited this Thursday by the state portal Cubadebate. The term "Total Currency" refers to the monetary duality in official circulation in Cuba: the Cuban peso (CUP, equivalent to 4 cents) and the convertible peso (CUC, equal to the dollar), with which enterprises operate and the population carries out its commercial transactions. Bejerano specified that the amount of two billion includes the 14% corresponding to the breach of economic plans and 1.5% to alleged criminal acts. The report also indicated that the damages caused to third parties due to non-compliance with payment obligations amounted to more than 23.91 million in TC, while losses due to non-compliance of the economic plans exceeded 327.4 million pesos, but without breaking down the figures in each currency. https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/economy/how-will-cuba-avoid-a-second-special-period/ The comptroller general stressed that...

The European Union (EU) will donate 61.5 million euros to Cuba to finance cooperation projects in various fields, from the fight against climate change to cultural exchanges, according to a document signed in Havana this Tuesday by authorities from both sides. The General Director for Cooperation and Development of the European Commission Stefano Manservisi and Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Ileana Núñez signed the memorandum of intent for the approval of the Financing and Cooperation Projects Agreement between the island and the EU. The agreement was signed at the end of the first Dialogue on Sustainable Development, one of the five areas of bilateral rapprochement opened by the Agreement on Political Dialogue and Cooperation between the bloc and the island that provisionally came into force in November 2017. The 61.5 million euros, which will be contributed entirely by the EU as a non-refundable subsidy, will serve to strengthen cooperation in food security, adaptation to climate change, renewable energy, culture and exchange of experiences, according to the parties. Highlighted is the contribution of 15 million euros to the Transcultura project, a regional initiative that includes other Caribbean countries, to contribute to the 500th anniversary of the founding of...

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this Wednesday announced the activation for the first time ever of a measure that will allow the filing of lawsuits before U.S. courts for properties expropriated starting in 1959 with the Cuban Revolution. "The (Donald) Trump administration will no longer suspend Title III (of the Helms-Burton Act), a decision that will take effect on May 2," Pompeo said at a press briefing. https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1118511981013680128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1118511981013680128&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba-ee-uu%2Feeuu-permite-demandar-a-companias-extranjeras-por-bienes-expropiados-en-cuba%2F This is the first time that a U.S. administration has activated Titles III and IV of the Helms-Burton Act, which have been suspended by all presidents since the approval of the regulation in 1996. This policy change will open the door to U.S. lawsuits against companies from all over the world, including Spanish hotel chains such as Meliá, Barceló and Iberostar; as well as the Canadian company Sherritt, dedicated to the mining sector and one of the main foreign investors on the island. https://oncubanews.com/mundo/europa/gobierno-espanol-respaldara-absolutamente-a-empresas-de-espana-en-cuba/ Specifically, the application of Title III will allow Americans, including nationalized Cubans, to sue before U.S. courts the companies that supposedly benefit from properties in Cuba that were theirs or their family before the Cuban Revolution. https://twitter.com/BrunoRguezP/status/1118518863103254534?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1118518863103254534&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba-ee-uu%2Feeuu-permite-demandar-a-companias-extranjeras-por-bienes-expropiados-en-cuba%2F Meanwhile, the application of Title IV will restrict entry to...

China condemned the strengthening of U.S. sanctions against Cuba, which allows the suing of companies from third countries linked to expropriated goods during the Revolution, and again asked the U.S. to lift the blockade on the island. "China is always opposed to the imposition of unilateral sanctions outside the framework of the work of the United Nations Security Council. The U.S. blockade has already caused great damage to Cuba’s economic and social development and has disrupted the lives of the Cuban people," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lu Kang said at the daily press briefing. Lu asked Washington to "follow the basic principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and International Law and lift its blockade on Cuba, which is in line with the interests of Cubans, the development of the island and the United States itself." Watch Video Here The most controversial measure approved is the reactivation of Title III of the U.S. Helms-Burton Act, which allows filing lawsuits before U.S. courts regarding assets expropriated after the Revolution, which could lead to thousands of lawsuits against foreign companies. "Many countries have expressed their rejection, and China has always called on the United States to act according to...

Cuba established "clear" priorities in a plan until 2030 to avoid at all costs relapsing into a serious crisis similar to the so-called "special period" of the 1990s, given the renewed pressures from the United States and the inefficiency of its economy, announced this Saturday President Miguel Díaz-Canel. "The severity of the moment requires establishing clear and well-defined priorities, so as not to return to the difficult moments of the 'special period,'" Díaz-Canel said at the close of an extraordinary session of the National Assembly, which approved the new Constitution last week. The president, who next Friday will have served one year as head of state, acknowledged that Cuba still carries "the burden of administrative inefficiency, import mentality, lack of savings and insufficient income from exports." "We can’t exclude the manifestations of corruption and illegalities, unacceptable in the Revolution," said the president, who outlined "two absolute priorities: preparation for defense and economic battle." https://youtu.be/OlURxdo70AU The planning of the Cuban economy until 2030 is conceived in three stages (2019-2021, 2022-2026 and 2027-2030), with a primary focus on six "strategic sectors." The priority will be tourism, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, renewable energy sources, food production, construction and export of professional services, the...

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez held this Saturday a telephone conversation with his Kenyan counterpart Monica Juma about the actions that the African country is carrying out in connection with the kidnapping on Friday of two Cuban doctors, allegedly carried out by members of the Somali Al Shabab jihadist group. Our health collaborators are safe in #Kenya. The #Cuban Embassy in #Nairobi maintains permanent communication with them and keeps family members informed. We maintain constant follow-up with the Kenyan authorities. - Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) April 13, 2019 "I held a telephone conversation with #Kenyan Foreign Minister Monica Juma. We talked about the kidnapping of the two Cuban doctors and the actions carried out by her country’s government in the face of this unfortunate incident. She passed on her solidarity with the relatives," Rodríguez announced on his Twitter account. In another post, Rodriguez stressed that the health professionals who are carrying out their mission in Kenya "are safe" and added that the Cuban embassy in Nairobi "maintains permanent communication with them and keeps family members informed." "We maintain constant follow-up with the Kenyan authorities," adds the Cuban foreign minister’s tweet. https://www.facebook.com/OnCuba/posts/2165479373548001 The Cuban government has formed a working group to...