Cubans

After controlling the comings and goings of its people for five decades, communist Cuba appears on the verge of a momentous decision to lift many travel restrictions. One senior official says a "radical and profound" change is weeks away. The comment by Parliament Chief Ricardo Alarcon has residents, exiles and policymakers abuzz with speculation that the much-hated exit visa could be a thing of the past, even if Raul Castro's government continues to limit the travel of doctors, scientists, military personnel and others in sensitive roles to prevent a brain drain.

Cuban first daughter Mariela Castro is planning to meet with San Francisco's lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual community during a U.S. visit next week that is being opposed by some Cuban-American politicians. The San Francisco LGBT Center said Friday that it would host the meeting Wednesday night, the day before Castro is scheduled to lead a panel at a conference organized by the Latin American Studies Association. The 50-year-old daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro is a noted gay rights advocate in her country and head of Cuba's National Center for Sex Education.

HOLGUIN, Cuba - The global economic crisis means tougher times ahead for Cuba, but the country has no one to blame but itself for poor farm production that leads to shortages of fruits, vegetables, and other basics, Raul Castro said yesterday. In a speech marking Revolution Day, Cuba’s president said the island can’t pin all of its problems on Washington’s 47-year-old trade embargo. He implored Cubans to take better advantage of a government program begun last year to turn unused state land over to private farmers.

The daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro said during a rousing gay rights march Saturday that her father advocated eliminating sexual discrimination, and reiterated her own hope the country would soon legalize same sex marriage Mariela Castro, a noted gay rights advocate and head of Cuba's National Center for Sex Education, also repeated her praise for U.S. President Barack Obama's public remarks in favor of same sex marriage, saying the...

MIAMI -- Eleven Cubans trying to sail to Florida in a 1950s Buick converted into a tailfinned boat were intercepted at sea by the Coast Guard and will be sent back to their homeland, exile activists said yesterday. Marciel Basanta Lopez and Luis Grass Rodriguez, the two men who turned the classic car into a floating vessel, tried a similar stunt last summer and got caught: They set out for Florida in a 1951 Chevy pickup with pontoons made from empty 55-gallon drums and a propeller that pushed it at about 8 mph. On Monday, the men set out again, with four other adults and five children,...

Archbishop Pedro Meurice, Archbishop Emeritus of Santiago de Cuba, has died at a Miami hospital. He was 79. The Archdiocese of Miami reports that Meurice died Thursday morning at Mercy Hospital. Meurice was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Santiago in June 1955 and became a bishop there in 1967. Three years later, he became archbishop of the southeastern Cuban city. Meurice was not shy about criticizing the Castro government, asserting at Pope John Paul II's papal Mass in the city in 1998 that too many Cubans "have confused patriotism with a party.

HAVANA - Angela Castro, the eldest sister of Cuban revolutionary leaders Fidel and Raúl Castro, has died following a long illness, another sibling who lives in exile confirmed Wednesday. At 88, Angela is the first of the seven Castro brothers and sisters to die, and her passing served as another reminder of the looming mortality facing the entire clan. Fidel Castro, who stepped down in 2006, is 85; brother Raúl, who took his place as president, is 80. Ms. Castro's death was confirmed by Juanita Castro from her home in Miami.

MIAMI -- A federal judge suggested yesterday that the US government may have made an error this week when it sent back 15 Cubans who had landed on an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys. US District Judge Federico Moreno said he would not rule immediately on the emergency lawsuit filed on the Cubans' behalf by an advocacy group that is seeking to bring them back to this country, but he questioned the government's reasoning. Under the government's longstanding "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, as it is generally called in the United States, Cubans who reach US soil...

SIERRA MAESTRA, Cuba - Juan Gonzalez loves Fidel Castro. But he is also a realist. "The people do what they can. They don't just sit around and wait for the government to give them everything," the 59-year-old said, standing on his dusty front porch. "If they waited for the government to keep all its promises, they would have to wait a long time. " It sounds like the kind of rugged individualism that would resonate with Americans, but this is the mountainous Sierra Maestra of eastern Cuba, the cradle of the revolution that brought Castro to...

SANTIAGO, Cuba - Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Cuba Monday in the footsteps of his more famous predecessor, gently pressing the island's communist leaders to push through "legitimate" reforms their people desire, while also criticizing the excesses of capitalism. In contrast to the raucous welcome Benedict received in Mexico, his arrival in Cuba's second city was relatively subdued: President Raul Castro greeted him at the airport, but few ordinary Cubans lined Benedict's motorcade route into town and the pope barely waved from his glassed-in popemobile.

After controlling the comings and goings of its people for five decades, communist Cuba appears on the verge of a momentous decision to lift many travel restrictions. One senior official says a "radical and profound" change is weeks away. The comment by Parliament Chief Ricardo Alarcon has residents, exiles and policymakers abuzz with speculation that the much-hated exit visa could be a thing of the past, even if Raul Castro's government continues to limit the travel of doctors, scientists, military personnel and others in sensitive roles to prevent a brain drain.

In a case of life imitating art, two Cuban actors have gone missing en route to their film's premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Javier Nunez Florian and Analin de la Rua de la Torre disappeared in Miami during a layover last week. The film, "Una Noche," premiered at Tribeca on Thursday. Where the 20-year-old actors went remains unknown, but they are assumed to have defected. Written and directed by Lucy Mulloy, "Una Noche" is about teenagers struggling in poverty who decide to defect to the United States.

MIAMI - Agustin Roman, the first Cuban to be appointed bishop in the United States, has died in Miami. He was 83. The Archdiocese of Miami said that Bishop Roman went into cardiac arrest and died Wednesday evening. He had suffered from heart disease for several years. Archbishop Thomas Wenski called Bishop Roman a "great patriot" to the Cuban nation. Officials said Bishop Roman and 132 other priests were expelled from Cuba in 1961. He arrived in Miami, where he became a spiritual leader and advocate first for Cuban exiles and later for many other...

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had noticed Lamar Odom's uninspired play numerous times before, and kept hoping things would change. It took one reply by Odom during a heated halftime exchange in his last game, when Cuban questioned the player's commitment to the team and Odom told him to quit playing games, to realize it was time for the two sides to part ways. "Just his response to it. Everybody goes through ups and downs. Every player does. We tried to put him in a position to succeed.

Cecilia Dalmau's mother made only one request of her before she flew to Cuba for Pope Benedict XVI's visit: "I would love to see pictures from my childhood home. " When the 29-year-old pediatric dietitian from Miami and her Cuban-exile father, Sergio, located the address in an upscale part of Havana on Tuesday they found a decaying, two-story building with a priest of Cuba's Afro-Cuban Yoruba faith living inside — and a wellspring of powerful emotions. "It looks like it could fall down at any minute," Dalmau said.

HAVANA - Pope Benedict XVI prayed for freedom and renewal "for the greater good of all Cubans" before the nation's patron saint Tuesday, but the island's communist leaders quickly rejected the Roman Catholic leader's appeal for political change after five decades of one-party rule. The exchange came hours ahead of a meeting with President Raul Castro behind closed doors on the pontiff's second day on the island. A video feed showed the two together at the presidential palace. There was no visit to see Fidel Castro, nor were there plans to meet...

HAVANA - Cuba has cut two staple foods from the monthly ration books that most islanders depend on, edging closer to a risky full elimination of the decades-old subsidies. Potatoes and peas were dropped from the list of rationed foods this week, meaning Cubans can buy as much of the products as they want - as long as they are willing to pay as much as 20 times more than they used to. The move comes amid efforts by Raul Castro’s government to scale back Cuba’s subsidy-rich, cash-poor economy.

SANTA CLARA, Cuba — A B-team of socialist speakers spent Cuba’s Revolution Day bashing the United States for everything from its drug consumption to the war in Iraq to its military support for Colombia, portraying Washington as the great villain in world affairs. But the day was more notable for who did not address the crowd: President Raul Castro never took the lectern, brother Fidel Castro was a no-show, and Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez canceled his trip to Cuba. It was the first Revolution Day in memory in which neither Castro spoke.