Both the United States and Cuba would benefit if Washington would lift its longstanding trade embargo against the island, but US President Barack Obama has toughened the sanctions since taking office in 2009, a top Cuban official said.
Cuba's failure to encourage more foreign investment is crippling its economic performance and putting its goal of sustainable growth in danger unless changes are made, local experts and diplomats said this week.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos rejected a proposal on Thursday by FARC rebels for a bilateral ceasefire during talks next month aimed at bringing an end to half a century of war.
Cuba will be the permanent seat for the peace dialogue between the government of Colombia and the FARC guerrilla group, talks which will have the support from Norway, Venezuela and Chile according to a broadcasting station from Bogotá.
The 24-year-old daughter of Cuban Vice President Marino Murillo, sometimes mentioned as a possible successor to ruler Raul Castro, defected earlier this month and is now living in Tampa, Florida, according to Miami’s El Nuevo Heraldo.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has confirmed his government is holding exploratory talks with the country's largest rebel group, the FARC. In an address on state TV, Mr Santos said he was fulfilling his duty to seek peace. Media reports say a deal on further talks was reached in Cuba with the help of Venezuela and Norway.
Colombia's government will soon begin talks that could lead to formal negotiations for peace with the country's biggest guerrilla group, known as the FARC, according to a Colombian intelligence source.
The Cuban Public Health Ministry (MINSAP) this week again called on people's support to help eradicate the proliferation of the dengue transmitter Aedes aegypti mosquito during the summer months, when vector-associated diseases are on the increase.
Cuba adopted a new tax code this week and said it would loosen regulations on some state companies while turning others into cooperatives, as one of the world's last Soviet-style economies moves in a more market-friendly direction.
Cuban police arrested dozens of dissidents Tuesday at a funeral for political activist Oswaldo Paya and after his daughter's vow to seek justice over his sudden death in a road accident.