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Cuba drilling for oil 6,000 meters deep at sea A service by the Radio Progreso Alternativa Havana Bureau Alexis Rodríguez, from Cuba Petróleo (CUPET), told Cuban TV that operations at the Varadero West 1000 drilling site, about 5 kilometers out to sea, advances satisfactorily. The well will reach 6,000 meters deep and drilling is being done from land, which is a first for Cuba. The CUPET-financed project has foreign advisers and it was reported that its investment will be recouped in its first year of production. Order of the Quetzal to Fidel Castro Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom delivered to President Raúl Castro the Order of the Quetzal in its degree of Commander to be given to Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The Order is Guatemala's highest decoration. President Colom said that awarding the Order to Fidel Castro is a token of gratitude for the solidarity that the former President has offered Guatemala. Raúl Castro thanked the Guatemalan president for decoration and in a brief speech spoke about the historical links between both nations. Cuba renews its air fleet Rogelio Acevedo, president of Cuba's Institute of Civil Aeronautics (IACC) told journalists that Cuba will continue to renew its air fleet. The coming arrival of a new Russian-built TU-204 cargo plane is part of that endeavor. The assertion was delivered by Acevedo at Varadero's International Airport during the celebration of Cuban Civil Aviation Day. Inauguration of a plaza dedicated to Guatemala Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom, on Monday, Feb. 16, during his visit to Cuba, inaugurated a plaza in Havana dedicated to his country, a sample of brotherhood between both. Referring to the sculptures that will rise on the site of the Cuban capital, President Colom underlined that the plaza will represent the collective memory of both nations linked by their national symbols. The group of sculptures, by Andrés González, will perpetuate the memory of Cuban José Joaquín Palma and Guatemalan Rafael Álvarez Ovalle, authors of the lyrics and music, respectively, of Guatemala's national anthem. President Colom praised the symbolic value of placing the founding stone of the monument between a royal palm tree and a ceiba, the national trees of Cuba and Guatemala. In a subsequent declaration to the press, he reiterated his -- and Latin America's -- condemnation of the U.S. economic, finance and trade blockade against Cuba. Cuba, he said, is an admirable island because of its achievements and for its developments in all fields, in spite of material limitations and imperialist hostility. He also praised Chávez for last Sunday’s referendum victory in Venezuela, which he said is proof that the countries of the region are building models most adequate to their needs and demands. Venezuela has achieved advancement for its people, because the people themselves have decided their destiny, he concluded. After the ceremony, President Colom met with members of the Union of Guatemalan Residents in Cuba and with diplomats present at the ceremony. |
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President Obama, his latent example and inspiration for Cuba
By Rolando H. Castañeda y Lorenzo Cañizares
One hundred days into his administration, President Barack H. Obama shows the world a series of examples and challenges that are also particularly applicable to Cuba. He proposes to confront -- simultaneously and with determination -- several fundamental problems that affect U.S. society, and he wishes to establish good relations and détente with the rest of the world, especially with his closest neighbors.
By Virtin
On Sunday, death came to our dear poet, writer and comrade Mario Benedetti in Uruguay, his native country.
He taught us that our dead ask us to sing.
An example they’d like to impose on Cuba
By Germán Piniella
An article signed by Rolando H. Castañeda and Lorenzo Cañizares, published in this issue of Progreso Weekly (see “President Obama, His Latent Example and Inspiration for Cuba”) seems to pose an alternate position in regards to the relations of the island’s émigré.
It is convenient to remember similar perspectives in another moment in Cuban history. Halfway through the 19th century, when the country’s national conscience began to emerge, a roadway for the independence struggle was paved in the thoughts of the educator Felix Varela and the incendiary lyrics of Jose Maria Heredia. There were sectors of the bourgeoisie who feared that the “black danger” of the Haitian revolution would overpower Cuba, or that the “Jacobin” chaos would take the country towards the path of ruin. For these and other reasons two solutions arose: the autonomy linked to Spain and annexation to the United States.
Cuba and Obama's contradictions
By Salim Lamrani
On April 13, 2009, on the eve of the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad & Tobago, Barack Obama alleviated the economic sanctions against Cuba by lifting the restrictions that affected Cubans living in the United States. Now, they can travel to their land of birth whenever they wish (an activity previously limited to a 14-day stay every three years) and send unlimited remittances to their relatives (previously limited to US$100 per month.)
The summit -- in which Havana did not participate because it was expelled from the Organization of American States in 1962 -- was dominated by the topic of Cuba. In her inaugural speech, 
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner exhorted Washington to eliminate the state of siege it has imposed on the people of Cuba since August 1960. The other 32 Latin American and Caribbean leaders also called on the White House to end an anachronistic and cruel situation that affects all sectors of the population.
By Bill Press
It's been 81 years since legendary coach Knute Rockne urged his players to "win one for the Gipper." But no Notre Dame football team ever faced a tougher challenge than President Obama does.
Since he was invited by university president Father John Jenkins to give this year's commencement address, Obama has faced a growing wave of protest. Judging from the howls of some critics, you'd think the devil himself was presiding over this year's graduation.
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