HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 14 (acn) The novel “Viajes de Miguel Luna” (The journeys of Miguel Luna), the latest literary work of Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto was launched at the Cuba Pavilion in the framework of the 21 International Book Fair, underway in Havana.

The book, by the Letras Cubans publishing house, tells two parallel stories: the main character’s growing up and an eventful journey he takes to the fictitious island of Mulgavia, located in Europe. Read more.

By Greg Allen
February 13, 2012 (NPR.org) -- There are big plans for oil exploration in the Caribbean, not far off the coast of Florida. A Spanish company recently began drilling in Cuban waters — just 55 miles from Key West.

The well is the first of several exploratory wells planned in Cuba and the Bahamas. The drilling has officials and researchers in Florida scrambling to make plans for how they'll respond in case of a spill. Read more.

Havana, Feb 13, 2012 (Radiocadena Agramonte)- Education Ministers, heads of multinational organizations and personalities which include a Nobel Peace laureate will participate in the “University 2012” 8th International Congress of Higher Education  that kicks off this Monday in Havana city.

The role of higher education institutions and their relevance to the pursuit of sustainable development will center the debates of some 3000 delegates from over 50 countries at the Havana’s Convention Center, according to Prensa Latina news agency. Read more.

HAVANA, Feb 9, 2012 (Latin American Herald Tribune)--  Cuba is aiming to transform the northwestern port of Mariel, currently being expanded with Brazilian financing, into a regional trading hub, official media said.

The containers terminal being built at Mariel, 45 kilometers (28 miles) west of Havana, will be an important entry and departure point for merchandise and the heart of the Special Development Zone at the port complex, state television said in a report. Read more.

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 8 (acn)--  Prior to the opening of the 21st International Book Fair, Cuba 2012, scheduled for Thursday evening at the San Carlos de la Cabaña exhibition grounds, Pabellon Cuba has already launched a full program of cultural activities starting this Wednesday, February 8, thru the 25th.

Available at Pabellon Cuba, a centrally-located exhibition and cultural
center in Havana will be 280 new books among a total of 420,000 copies
released by all the publishing houses of the country, among them Ediciones
Extramuros which brings 23 titles to the fair. Read more.

By Peter Orsi – Associted Press
HAVANA, Feb 7, 2012 (BND.com) -- When it started, American teenagers were doing "The Twist." The United States had yet to put a man into orbit around the Earth. And a first-class U.S. postage stamp cost 4 cents.

The world is much changed since the early days of 1962, but one thing has remainedconstant: The U.S. economic embargo on communist-run Cuba, a near-total trade ban that turned 50 on Tuesday. Read more.

Havana, Feb 4 (Prensa Latina) --With his unique work, Janio Nunez Leal, the artist that turns tobacco leaves into sculptures, has pieces in many private collections around the work.

Nunez, who used to be a torcedor (cigar twister) for different cigar factories, first cherished the idea and took the steps for becoming a tobacco sculptor in 1994.

Now, on occasion of the 14th Habano Cigar Festival, to be held on February 27-March 2, the development of this artist arouses great interest. Read more.

Havana, Jan 20 (Prensa Latina) The presence of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Argentine Adolfo Perez Esquivel, will honor the 8th University Congress in February, said First Deputy Minister of Higher Education Rodolfo Alarcon.

For the first time there will be a Nobel Prize laureate in our event, Alarcon told Prensa Latina in reference to these biennial forums held in Havana from 1998.

"This man has fought for peace his entire life, which earned him the prize," added the education official who said there would be some 250 distinguished guests, including ministers and rectors. There will be 3,200 delegates, including 800 from Cuban Universities, to the Feb. 13-17 conference to be held at the Havana-based the Convention Center. Read more.

By MORTIMER B. ZUCKERMAN
Jan 12, 2012 US News & World Report - It is past time to change our policy toward Cuba. For over 50 years, the United States has been obsessed with the Cuba of Fidel Castro's time. So much so that many of the circumstances that animate our conversations and views of Cuba today seem to be drawn from the 20th century. They are a throwback to the days when Cuba was a menacing outpost of an aggressive Soviet Union. Admittedly, it's hard to forget the days of the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis. We forced the removal of those missiles, then sought to punish and bring down the Castro regime by a trade embargo (and some madcap covert schemes).

For over 49 years those policies have failed. And they are inappropriate for the Cuba of today. About 70 percent of Cubans were born after the original revolution. They are pressuring the state to get out of their way. Read more.

Havana, Jan 20 (Brandon Sun) - Cuba says it received 7.3 per cent more tourist visitors in 2011 than during the previous year.

Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero says about 2.7 million travelers arrived last year. That's up from 2.5 million in 2010.

Marrero did not give statistics on tourism income, which was hit by the global economic slowdown. Even as more travelers have been visiting Cuba in recent years, they have also been spending less on the island. Read more.

By Arooj Ashraf, La Prensa Correspondent
Feb 15, 2012 (LaPrensaToledo.com) -- Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) continues cultural enrichment and collaborative education through its Cuba Project Symposium as the second group of artists arrive for the Spring 2012 semester to teach, create, and open the window of possibilities for local audiences.                                                                      

On Feb. 11, 2012, the school held its second symposium welcoming husband-and-wife team José Toirac and Meira Marrero, who collaborate on paintings and installations, and painter and video artist Alex Hernández Dueñas. The keynote speaker for the event was Rachel Weiss, author of “To and From Utopia in the New Cuban Art.” Read more.

By Herald-Leader Staff Report
Feb. 9, 2012 (Kentuky.com) -- World Trade Center Kentucky, an organization promoting trade missions and education, announced this week that it will take its first trip to Cuba from April 16-22.

"The mission will focus on the culture, the education and most importantly the people of Cuba," said World Trade Center Kentucky Chairman Robert Brown in a statement. Read more.

HAVANA, Feb 8 (acn) -- Havana City Historian Eusebio Leal met on Wednesday in Havana with members of the US National Trust for Historic Preservation currently visiting the island.

Leal gave the visitors a brief explanation on how the restoration process
began in the colonial section of the city and how it has expanded not only
in terms of refurbishing old mansions and palaces but how the city
Historian´s Office began getting involved in community projects with the
residents of the old part of the Cuban capital. Read more.

Feb 4, 2012 (Wall Street Journal) -- Miami collector Ella Fontanals-Cisneros was 14 years old when she and her family fled the political upheaval of Cuba's revolution, but now she—and part of her acclaimed collection of contemporary art—are headed home.

This week, Ms. Fontanals-Cisneros said she's planning to send around 85 pieces from her vast art collection to be exhibited in Havana's National Museum of Fine Arts in May. The exhibit, "Multiple Views: Selections from the Ella Cisneros-Fontanals Collection," will open May 12 to coincide with the 11th Havana Biennial, a citywide survey of new art trends. Read more.

By Michelle Miller
Feb 4, 2012 (CBS News) --  The Grammy Awards are due to be handed out next Sunday, February 12. Among the nominees for best large jazz ensemble album is Arturo O'Farrill. As CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reports, O'Farrill's musical journey covers a lot of personal history.

This is Latin jazz and Sunday nights at New York's Birdland, Arturo O'Farrill can't sit still. This blend of American-style jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms is in his blood.

"You can't define jazz without Cuba," he said. "American jazz is just one small strand of a very large fabric." Read more.

Washington, Jan 19 (Radio Cadena Agramonte) - The members of the US university baseball team Lakers, from the Grand Valley University (Michigan) had a unique experience in their recent visit to Cuba and verified the great human quality of the Cuban people.

US newspaper Detroit Free Press quoted regular catcher and captain of the Lakers, Jared Cowan, as saying that he arrived in Cuba expecting hostile attitudes.

However, Cowan found a diametrically different reality. Read more.

Jan 4, 2012 (smithsonianjourneys.org) --Smithsonian will offer multiple departures of a new People-to-People Cultural Exchange Program to Cuba in 2012.

Thanks to a special license issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Smithsonian Institution invites you to participate in this meaningful Cultural Exchange program with the Cuban people who are involved in the arts, cultural traditions, agriculture, natural history and education. Read more.

Travel Dates are: May 4 - 13; May 11 - 20; November 9 - 18; November 30 - December 9, 2012*. (*pending license renewal) See more here.

January 3, 2012 (The Arizona Republic) --  Arizonans have an opportunity to join a rare group visit to Cuba.  The Tempe and Glendale chambers of commerce are sponsoring a nine-day trip leaving Phoenix on July 12.

The tour was organized by a California-based travel agency, Chamber Explorations, which received permission from the U.S. Treasury Department.  "People who take this trip are going to see quite a bit; it's a very inclusive itinerary," said Aphrodite Pastroumasa, district sales manager for the travel agency.

Her colleagues have traveled to Cuba. Read more.

POCATELLO, Feb. 14, 2012 (Idaho State Journal)  — A free Cuban Rueda dance class is now being offered at Idaho State University every Tuesday night starting at 8:30 p.m. inside the aerobics room at Reed's Gym.

Rueda de Casino is a particular type of round dancing of Salsa, which is comparable to square dancing in the sense that the dance steps are called out and you dance with a partner. Read more.

By CALVIN WILSON
New Orleans, February 10, 2012 (STLToday.com) --Jazz was born in New Orleans but has ventured far beyond it, to be embraced by musicians all over the world.

Among the most accomplished is the Grammy-winning Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés, who will perform Saturday at the Sheldon Concert Hall with his band, the Afro-Cuban Messengers. The set is likely to include tunes from the pianist's well-regarded 2010 album, "Chucho's Steps."

The band's name is a nod to the Jazz Messengers, a legendary group led by the late drummer Art Blakey. Read more.

The Ministry of Tourism (Mintur) says this 19th edition of the yearly international event, co-sponsored by MINTUR and Cubanacan Group, is a fiesta with nautical sports, dances and fine Cuban gourmet aimed at fomenting gusto for the 21 km (13 miles) of wide, white golden sandy paradise. Read more.

By AARIK DANIELSEN
Columbiai, Feb 5, 2012 (Columbia Daily Tribune) -- Because diplomatic ties have been strained for more than 50 years, there are few true envoys from Cuba to the United States — and vice versa. However, for a majority of that time frame, Chucho Valdés has unofficially, joyously served as a cultural ambassador from his native country to the United States, spreading an understanding of the pulse of his people through the universal language of jazz.. Read more.

by Irina Echarry, photos: Caridad
HAVANA TIMES, Feb 4 — If you see a tractor or a truck with a roofed flatbed with seats in tow go by, don’t be surprised – it’s a “guarandinga,” which are a widely used means of transportation in rural areas here in Cuba.

But if you hear laughter, music and singing, then you’ve found Rita del Prado and duo Karma giving one of their traveling performances, which are also called “La Guarandinga.” Read more.

By RON GONZALES 
LATINO NOTEBOOK 
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
January 4, 2012 (Orange County Register) --Cuban art: Saltfineart in Laguna Beach is featuring works by 11 Cuban artists in a show called "Cuba!."

A free opening reception takes place Thursday, Jan. 5, followed by a second artists' reception on Feb. 2, both from 6-9 p.m. The exhibit runs through Feb. 29.

"Not all the art is political, and yet all of it has been touched by the every day realities of Cuba," the gallery said. "Exhibited the world over for their unique voice and yet unable to speak freely, these artists live a complex irony." Read more.

BY KEVIN GRIFFIN
Feb 15, 2012 (The VancouverSun) -- In 1960, in the year after Fidel Castro's armed overthrow of the Cuban government, the Latin American revolutionary had to briefly put aside his macho, aggressive style to deal with an artistic question: the future of ballet in his poverty-stricken country.

In a late-night meeting, Castro asked Fernando Alonso, the husband of ballerina Alicia, how much he needed for his ballet company. Alonso replied $100,000. Castro didn't think that was enough. Read more.

VALENCIA, Feb 15, 2012 (Artdaily.org) - The exhibition, organized in collaboration with Photo Library of Cuba and the National Arts Council of Cuba, shows a selection of 107 photographs taken between the decades of the twenties and fifties of last century by a group of 11 Cuban photographers: Joaquín Blez Jose Manuel Acosta, Felipe Atoy, George Rodon Badell, Ricardo Repilado, Abelardo Rodriguez, Roberto Rodriguez Decall, Tito Alvarez, Pedro Yodu Griñán, Raul Corrales and Jorge Figueroa. Read more.

Amidst the tumultuous world events of 2011, the global financial crisis and political upheavals, the global health community continued to highlight the need for sustained commitments to equitable health care for all. MEDICC made steady progress in promoting greater cooperation between the US and Cuban medical communities and highlighting lessons gleaned from Cuba's health care and its outcomes. Read more.