Mayors conference adopts resolution on ending embargo

The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) has adopted a resolution calling on Congress to end the embargo against Cuba, citing their leaders’ recent trip to Cuba, organized by the Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA), in the case that the organization made for endorsing its official pro-normalization policy.

The action came during the recently concluded 84th annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors which took place in Indianapolis, Indiana.

CDA executive director Sarah Stephens worked with Tom Cochran, CEO and executive director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, in organizing a fact-finding delegation to Cuba for USCM officers from May 25-29. While mayors and municipal officials frequently visit the island, this was the first official visit by the U.S. Conference of Mayors since 1978.

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http://progresoweekly.us/mayors-conference-adopts-resolution-ending-embargo/

Courier Services to Cuban Embassy in Austria Suspended

The TNT Österreich Company, an Austrian subsidiary of TNT Express N.V. (Netherlands), has permanently suspended the international courier services normally offered to the Cuban embassy in Austria, the Cubaminrex Web site reported on Thursday.

The text specifies that the company informed the measure in writing to the Cuban mission through its Customer Service Office, because the company has been purchased by the U.S. company FedEx Corporation.

The note adds that as a result of the above and “on the basis of established guidelines” (by the United States), TNT will not be able to receive orders from Cuba or from other countries under sanctions by Washington.

Cubaminrex points out that TNT does not recognize the antidote regulations in force in Austria and the European Union and applies extraterritorially U.S. blockade measures to Cuba.

Read more:

http://www.cubanews.acn.cu/economy/5016-courier-services-to-cuban-embassy-in-austria-suspended?

Third Meeting of Cuba-USA Commission To Be Held in Havana

The third meeting of the Cuba-USA Bilateral Commission will be held in this capital on May 16 to review the development of relations between the two countries, the Cuban Foreign Ministry announced.

This working group, formed in the wake of the visit paid to Cuba by US Secretary of State John Kerry on Aug.14, 2015, held its first meeting on September 11 in Havana and a second meeting on Nov.10 in Washington D.C.

Gustavo Machin, Assistant Director for US Affairs in Cuba Foreign Ministry (Minrex), said this will be a bright opportunity to review the agreements of the previous meeting.

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http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4874071&Itemid=1

Michael Ratner: Activist for justice (1943-2016)

An irreplaceable activist has left us. Michael Ratner died Wednesday (May 11) at the age of 72. The Nation magazine described him perfectly: “He pursued justice fearlessly, in the face of daunting odds.” May he rest in peace.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, where Michael was president emeritus, issued the following statement:

From Attica to Assange, Michael Ratner has defended, investigated, and spoken up for victims of human rights abuses all over the world. For 45 years, Michael brought cases with the Center for Constitutional Rights in U.S. courts related to war, torture, and other atrocities, sometimes committed by the U.S., sometimes by other regimes or corporations, in places ranging from El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Guatemala, to Yugoslavia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Iraq, and Israel. Seeking to hold Bush administration officials accountable for torture, he turned to filing cases under the principle of Universal Jurisdiction in international courts—in Germany, Spain, Canada, Switzerland, and France. Michael dedicated his life to the most important fights for justice of the last half century.

Read more:

http://progresoweekly.us/michael-ratner-activist-justice-1943-2016/

Cuban Hero Urges Russia to Redouble Solidarity Against US Blockade

The Cuban national hero Gerardo Hernandez, today urged a redoubling of solidarity in Russia for the definitive cessation of the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba and the return of the territory in Guantanamo.

After thanking the Russians for their solidarity and support for the release of the five Cubans, who were held in U.S. prisons for fighting against terrorism for more than 15 years, Hernandez stated that Cuba now needed solidarity in order to “celebrate together the lifting of the blockade and the return of the territory illegally occupied by the U.S. at Guantanamo naval base.”

Hernandez also insisted, as did Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Ramon Labañino, that illegal U.S. broadcasts and subversive plans against their country, which have persisted since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, should end.

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http://www.plenglish.com//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4872801&Itemid=1

Cuba and the U.S. Cooperate in Restoration of Havana’s Hemingway Museum

During the past year, Cuban institutions and U.S. companies have advanced in cooperation projects to support the restoration of the Ernest Hemingway Museum, asserted on Wednesday in this capital Gladys Collazo, President of the National Heritage Council.

At the meeting, which took place in the former residence of the U.S. writer in the Havana locality of San Francisco de Paula, experts from both countries met to announce the remodeling that the house and nearby facilities of Finca Vigia will soon undergo.

The U.S. Caterpillar Inc. Company will be one of the driving forces behind the project, with the donation of CAT machinery, which will allow the construction of a building-workshop, a laboratory to preserve documents and personal belongings of Hemingway, confirmed Collazo.

We are happy to be able to help with materials for the foundations of this new building that will be used to preserve the legacy of Hemingway, said Douglas R. Oberhelman, President and Director General of the U.S. Company.

Before the end of the meeting, participants stated that this cooperation is a bridge to protect the cultural heritage shared by the U.S. and the Cuban communities.

(Cuban News Agency)

Cuban minister: US blockade of island a Cold War ‘iceberg’

Cuba’s foreign minister says the United States’ embargo of his country is a lingering “iceberg of the Cold War” that needs to be lifted unconditionally.

Speaking after talks with his German counterpart in Berlin, Bruno Rodriguez said Tuesday that U.S. steps to loosen the decades-old blockade have been “very limited.”

U.S. President Barack Obama said during his trip to Cuba in March that it was time to lift the embargo, but Congress has resisted so far.

Rodriguez voiced optimism that Cuba and the U.S. can put aside their differences in the interest of improving relations, but said progress won’t happen overnight.

He also repeated Cuba’s demand for the return of the Guantanamo Bay territory where the U.S. military has a base.

(AP)

Cuban Company Irene Rodriguez To Perform in New York

The Cuban company Irene Rodríguez, specialized in Spanish classic dancing (flamenco) will present its show Entre Luces y Sombras (Among Lights and Shadows) on May 19-22 at the Joyce Theater of New York as part of the Cuba Festival, its director announced.

Director Irene Rodriguez told Prensa Latina that on May 22 they will perform twice in that theater, one of the most prestigious in the world.

The Joyce has been acknowledged internationally; it is a place of reference, closely followed by critics and the expert public, she said.

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http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4864451&Itemid=1

Cuba Denounces at UN Extraterritoriality of US Blockade

Cuba denounced today at the United Nations that the extraterritoriality of the blockade set by the United States against this country prevails, given the recent situation of a British bank subjected to the unilateral economic, commercial and financial blockade.

In a press release, the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations said that the British bank The Co-operative Bank (Co-op Bank) confirmed that it followed the sanctions established by the Office for Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), as part of the implementation of the extraterritorial blockade that lasts more than 50 years.

This mission reiterated that in November 2015, Co-op Bank decided to close the bank accounts of the Campaign of Solidarity with Cuba in the United Kingdom due to changes in its “risk assessment” and “global regulations”.

Recently, Niall Booker, director of the Co-op Bank, confirmed in writing that the reason for the closure was due to the risks arising from sanctions implemented by OFAC.

“Obeying such measures is illegal, according to the UK and the European Union (EU) laws”, said the Cuban mission.

(Prensa Latina)

ETECSA and T-Mobile USA sign service agreement

Negotiations between the Cuban Telecommunication Enterprise S.A. (ETECSA) and T-Mobile USA, have concluded with the signing of a direct interconnection agreement for the exchange of international voice traffic between the United States and Cuba, as well as voice, text and data roaming services for T-Mobile USA clients traveling to Cuba.

These agreements will initially enable the two companies to offer call services through direct interconnection between the two countries, while T-Mobile USA clients traveling to Cuba will be able to use their cell phones via the ETECSA network once the implementation and technical testing stages have been completed by both operators.

T-Mobile USA, based in Washington, is a global communications service provider.

(Granma)