Embassy of Cuba - Upcoming Events

Embassy of Cuba - Upcoming Events

Huge Cuban hotel project demands designers
May 13th
A huge tourist investment aimed at building a large number of hotels on the keys off the northern Cuban coast demands the services of many designers from all companies, said the executive secretary of the Design Office Jesus Lacera.
Lacera told the Cuban News Agency that the sector pursues a very ambitious project from the qualitative and quantitative perspectives, in tune with the government’s consideration that tourism currently is the locomotive of Cuban economy.
Over 45 thousand new hotel rooms will be added to the tourist center on the northern keys, in five-star hotels, plus thoroughfares, airports and marinas, as well as gulf courses, said the Marketing vice-president of the Gaviota Hotel Group.
Other important works include the Mariel Special Development Zone, at the Mariel harbor located 49 kilometers west of Havana. This zone will operate on a specific customs system for the imports and exports of goods, local productions and the sale of merchandize with added value, Lacera noted.
He also referred to prioritized housing programs in the industrial and mining sectors, as well as the Santa Lucia-Castellanos ore mines, on the northwestern section of western Pinar del Rio province.
Open pit operations began at the ore reserves in the 1970s to extract pyrites, which are used to produce sulfuric acid, as well as to extract gold and silver.

Agricultural diversification cushions climate change effects
May 14th
Cuban experts insisted in the need to diversify agricultural production as a way to mitigate climate change effects and increase the local food supply to the population.
The strategy allows securing stable food supply in the event of tropical storms, said the director of the Tropical Vegetable Research Institute Sergio Rodriguez during the opening session of the 12th International Conference on Food-related Science and Technology, underway in Havana.
Crop cultivation must be in tune with the characteristics of each zone in order to gain efficiency and sustainability, said the expert at the forum, which gathers specialists and students from Cuba and another 15 nations.
Rodriguez said that the diversification of varieties and species guarantees a direct source of energy and nutrients, and contributes to food security for the families, because the crops can be cultivated in small plots of lands on small amounts of resources.
The lands being dedicated to the National Sub-urban Gardening Program are very appropriate to encourage this practice, said the expert.
Rodriguez recalled that the Cuban state dedicates millions of dollars each year to purchase foodstuffs at the world market, which suggests the need to increase local productions in order to lower the costly imports.
Visit the conference website

Cuba and the Netherlands boost bilateral relations
May 14th
Cuba and The Netherlands signed a joint declaration Tuesday, in Havana, to boost bilateral cooperation in several areas.
The document was penned by Cuba’s deputy foreign minister Rogelio Sierra and by the general director of Political Affairs with Holland’s Foreign Ministry, Karen van Ooesterom.
According to the Cuban Foreign Ministry, the signing of the joint declaration is a step forwards in advancing bilateral relation, promoting and developing cooperation in areas, such as trade and investment, agriculture, water resources, health, biotechnology, culture, sports and others.

Cuba hosts Central American and Caribbean medical congress
May 14th
The 23rd Congress of the Central American and Caribbean Internal Medicine Association (AMICAC) opens sessions on Tuesday in Havana with the attendance of renowned national and foreign experts.
The Tuesday session includes a key-note lecture by Doctor Alfredo Espinosa and a symposium titled “the crisis of the clinical method,” said the president of the congress’ organizing committee Doctor Alfredo Nasiff.
Hospital security is another subject high on the event’s agenda, according to Nasiff, who noted that medical institutions must guarantee the security of patients from intra-hospital infections to all services they are to receive.
Other issues include the assessment of high-prevalence diseases, cancer, heart and cerebro-vascular conditions, diabetes mellitus, among others.
Doctor Nassif said that the Congress will grant two prizes, a first one to the best presentation, in homage to prestigious professor Jose E. Fermandez, who headed the Cuban Internal Medicine Society for many years, and another for interesting cases, named after Professor Ignacio Macias Castro, one of the Cuban masters of clinical medicine.
Visit the congress website

Cuba strengthens capability against natural disasters
May 14th
In an effort to further reduce vulnerabilities in the face of strong hurricanes and other extreme natural phenomena, Cubans will carry out the Meteoro 2013 readiness exercise on May 18 and 19.
According to Granma newspaper, the drill will strengthen the island’s capacity to face such events.
The vice-chief of the Civil Defense Staff, Colonel Luis Angel Macareno, said that the exercise includes concrete actions to reduce community risk.
The population is the main link in the civil defense chain because the success of established disaster reduction actions depends on the people’s knowledge and participation, the official told the newspaper.
The exercise will evaluate the performance of civil defense bodies in mitigating vulnerabilities, particularly with a massive community mobilization during one of the two days. In the end, each working body with the National Defense Council will report on the exercise and submit proposals to improve the disaster risk reduction process.
“With these criteria in mind, we will aim major efforts to address the shortcomings we are still facing,” said the Colonel.
Meteoro 2013 will include entities such as the central state administration bodies, top entrepreneurial agencies and units from the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Interior Ministry.

Washington D.C. event demanding freedom for Cuban Five nears
May 15th
The upcoming event in Washington D.C. for the Cuban anti-terrorists imprisoned in the United States "will be the most important in support of their cause during 2013, right in the heart of the empire," said a solidarity group today.
Many well-known intellectuals, writers, artists, lawyers, union members, religious leaders and friends in solidarity will attend the meeting scheduled from May 30th to June 5th, said the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five. This is the second "Five Days for the Five" event that the group has organized in Washington D.C."
Alicia Jrapko, who is the group's coordinator in the United States, highlighted that the campaign for the Cuban anti-terrorists (known as The Cuban Five) has a fresh impetus: Rene Gonzalez, one of the Five, is home again in Cuba.
"Rene's return to join his family only took place after he had completed his sentence." Jrapko said, "We cannot allow that to happen to the rest of them, otherwise Gerardo will never leave prison, since he was unfairly given two life sentences plus 15 years in prison."
The activists acknowledged that while the Committee is the organizer, the event is being sponsored by the Institute for Policy Studies and is supported by more than 50 organizations and individuals.
On June 1st, a peaceful demonstration at the White House is scheduled, where activists from Quebec, Canada and different U.S. cities, including a large delegation of Cuban-Americans who live in Miami, will participate.
Arrested on September 12th, 1998, the Five monitored the movements of violent organizations and individuals of Cuban origin, who were planning and executing terrorist actions against Cuba like the ones that have caused more than 3,400 fatalities and more than 2,000 injuries over the past 50 years.
The call to free the Cuban Five has been echoed by politicians, artists, parliaments and 10 Nobel Prize winners, something that has been ignored by the U.S. government.
Visit the Cuban 5 supporters website

Cuba advances in respect to sex rights, says Mariela Castro
May 16th
The promotion of tolerance and the struggle to eliminate all kinds of discrimination is a reality in Cuba, asserted Mariela Castro, director of the National Center of Sex Education (CENESEX).
During a meeting with the press in Ciego de Avila, venue of the 6th Meeting against Homophobia, Castro pointed out that this objective, approved at the Conference of the Cuban Communist Party in 2012, is not abstract, since it has institutional support.
She said that thanks to this support, provinces and municipalities feel they can play their part to eradicate homophobic mentalities, by way of educational strategies.
The director of the CENESEX specified that, in spite of having developed over the last 54 years a society based on equality, there are many elements that haven’t been modified in the population, so it is necessary to talk in a frank and open way.
Community fairs for diversity with sports expressions, passacaglia, theater play presentations and book and craftwork sales are among the activities to be held in Ciego de Avila until May 17, World Day against Homophobia.
World Day against Homophobia website

Cuba to host general assembly of Latin American Council of Churches
May 17th
Some 300 representatives from 20 countries are expected to attend the 6th General Assembly of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI), to be held May 20-26, organizers announced today.
In a press conference in Havana, Secretary General of CLAI, Brazilian minister Nilton Giese, said that the meeting, under the slogan "Affirming Ecumenism of Concrete Gestures”, will seek to coordinate actions to have a more efficient impact on society.
He said churches in the region want to know what their peers in this Caribbean island do, start links of solidarity with Cuba and its people, learn from this country and share experiences generated in other nations.
Giese recalled that the event, originally scheduled for February this year, could not be held because the funds were frozen in the United States due to the economic, commercial, financial blockade against the Island.
He said that with help and solidarity, mainly from European churches, the program was re-scheduled for this month.
President of the council of Churches of Cuba, Joel Ortega, expressed the satisfaction of members of Cuban religious orders for holding the Assembly here, considered as a gesture in recognition of the long-standing ecumenical work of Cuban churches.

Professional dancers to gather for CubaBallet in July
May 18th
Havana-based center Prodanza will host the International Practical Course of the Cuban Ballet School (ECB), CubaBallet, from July 8th to August 4th, expected to be attended by ballet dancers and professors from different countries.
In interview with Prensa Latina, Director of Prodanza Laura Alonso said that every year the meeting is attended by people from around the world, interested in becoming professionals through ECB techniques and methodology.
According to Maitre Alonso, the objective of the course is to create and maintain a space of artistic creation that encourages the professional development and appreciation of ballet, extended to all expressions of dance and any social group.
Alonso explained that this project, created in 1984, involves a group of renowned professors who teach students and other professors different subjects, including pas de deux, points, ballet, repertoire, physical training, makeup, acting, Spanish dance, modern dance and folklore, among others.
She said that Prodanza has brought Cuba ballet to other countries like Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, where the ECB technique is very much appreciated because of its sensuality, strength and beauty.

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