HAVANA (Reuters) – Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is getting “much better” as he recovers from cancer surgery almost two months ago in Havana, Communist Party newspaper Granma reported yesterday. Castro, 86, spoke to reporters as he voted on Sunday in Cuba’s parliamentary elections_ in one of his increasingly rare public appearances. He said he gets daily reports on the condition of Chavez, who is Cuba’s top socialist ally and benefactor. “He is much better, recovering.
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HAVANA (Reuters) – Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is getting “much better” as he recovers from cancer surgery almost two months ago in Havana, Communist Party newspaper Granma reported yesterday. Castro, 86, spoke to reporters as he voted on Sunday in Cuba’s parliamentary elections_ in one of his increasingly rare public appearances. He said he gets daily reports on the condition of Chavez, who is Cuba’s top socialist ally and benefactor. “He is much better, recovering.
ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has praised the relationship between his country and Venezuela adding that he hopes the ailing Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez makes a full recovery so that he could continue his work of deepening regional integration. Speaking at a ceremony on Monday night in honour of outgoing Venezuelan ambassador Carmen Martinez de Grijalva, the prime minister said the relationship Roseau has enjoyed with Caracas under Chavez goes beyond “just government to government.
SAO PAULO, (Reuters) – The U.S. government is shipping emergency medical supplies to Brazil to treat survivors of a deadly nightclub fire who are suffering from exposure to cyanide gas released in the blaze, the Brazilian health ministry said yesterday. Officials say 119 people remain hospitalized after Sunday’s fire at the Kiss nightclub in southern Brazil that killed 236. Brazilian doctors have said cyanide was among the toxic chemicals produced when fire consumed the soundproofing foam on the club’s ceiling, contributing to the high number of fatalities.
NEW YORK, CMC – A New York state legislature is seeking to expand college aid for young people from the Caribbean and other countries. The State’s Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has joined with his counterpart, Francisco Moya, and the State’s Higher Education Committee Chair, Deborah J. Glick, in introducing the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. The bill, if it becomes law, would provide educational support for tens of thousands Caribbean and other immigrant youth.
WASHINGTON, CMC – A major think tank here is urging the Obama Administration to quickly adopt three important initial steps that would “trigger a speedy rapprochement” with the Spanish-speaking nation.
In its latest report, the Washington-based Council of Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) urged Washington to “immediately phase out the embargo, free the ‘Cuban five,’ and remove Havana from the spurious State Department roster of nations purportedly sponsoring terrorism.
MEXICO CITY — A mysterious explosion at the headquarters of Mexico’s state-owned oil company here on Thursday killed at least 25 people and injured 101, according to government officials, as windows shattered, the ground shook and thousands of employees fled into a panicked downtown. The cause of the explosion was not immediately known. It occurred just before 4 p.m. in the basement of an administrative building next to the 52-story tower of Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex.
WASHINGTON, CMC – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that despite a “difficult economic environment,” the overall fiscal position of St. Kitts and Nevis through the end of September last year was “stronger than expected.” After undertaking the fifth review under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA), the Washington-based financial institution said on Wednesday that the latest update on the twin-island federation was “due to buoyant non-tax revenue and lower-than-expected capital outlays.” An IMF mission, led by George Tsibouris visited St.
NEW YORK, CMC - Two immigrant advocacy groups say they have found that United States Immigration border patrol agents who arrest Caribbean and other immigrants in New York State get gift cards, bonuses and extra vacations.
The Families for Freedom and the New York University (NYU) Immigrant Rights Clinic said in a new report that the rewards include US$100 Home Depot gift cards. They said some agents also got as much as US$2,500 a year each.
Who says magical realism is dead? In Latin America, where that form of imaginative literature was born, the absurd is the stuff of everyday headlines. Events that defy belief are just another aspect of the daily routine of life in the region. Or, to put it another way, you can’t make this stuff up.
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