Cuban TV shows a healthier-looking Fidel Castro welcoming Venezuelan students

October 5th, 2009 Buena Vista diva goes to US for 1st time since '03HAVANA — Omara Portuondo, the sultry-voiced diva of the Buena Vista Social Club, has been granted permission to visit the U.S. for the first time since 2003 and hopes a dose of her sensuous sound can inspire both countries to improve frozen relations.

September 18th, 2009 Belafonte calls for better US-Cuba relationsHAVANA — American singer Harry Belafonte said on a visit to Cuba on Friday that he was disappointed President Barack Obama has not done more to improve relations with the communist-run island, but that he was hopeful progress would come soon. "The policy toward Cuba — yes, I like a lot of people am disappointed," the 82-year-old singer known as the King of Calypso said in a brief interview with The Associated Press.

September 15th, 2009 Placido Domingo offers free concert in VenezuelaCARACAS, Venezuela — Spanish tenor Placido Domingo thrilled several hundred Venezuelans on Tuesday by showcasing his soaring voice during a free concert and heaping praise on the founder of the South American country's famed youth orchestras. Domingo said composer Jose Antonio Abreu "deserves a monument" for inspiring more than a million Venezuelan children to take up music since he founded "The System," a network of more than 200 youth and children's orchestras, over 30 years ago.

September 10th, 2009 Venezuelan prosecutors investigate anti-Chavez TVCARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan prosecutors have opened a criminal probe into a television channel opposed to President Hugo Chavez. Prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday they will determine whether Globovision was trying to incite rebellion by airing a viewer's text message calling for a coup.

September 7th, 2009 Chavez walks Venice red carpet with Oliver StoneVENICE, Italy — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez received a movie star welcome Monday at the Venice Film Festival, where he walked the red carpet with director Oliver Stone for the premiere of the documentary "South of the Border." Hundreds of admirers, some chanting "president, president," gathered outside of the Casino for the leader's arrival. A few held up Venezuelan flags and a banner in Spanish that read "Welcome, president." Chavez threw a flower into the crowd and touched his heart, and at one point took a photographer's camera to snap a picture himself.

August 22nd, 2009 Cuba condemns threats against Juanes over concertHAVANA — Cuba is condemning threats made against Colombian pop singer Juanes, who plans to stage a "Peace Without Borders" concert next month in Havana's Plaza of the Revolution. Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto blamed anti-Castro exiles in the United States for the threats and said the Sept.

August 20th, 2009 Juanes receives threats over Cuba concertKEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — Latin singer Juanes says he has received threatening internet messages since announcing he will play a concert in Cuba.

August 3rd, 2009 Rapper Lumidee makes rare US music video in CubaHAVANA — It's well after midnight and the New Yorker is strutting down a crumbling sidewalk in impossibly high — red-sequined — heels, lip-syncing a few seconds of her rap while cameras roll for a music video. Almost inevitably, a misstep on Havana's cracked and uneven concrete sends her pitching forward.

July 31st, 2009 In Cuba, Del Toro wins award with Murray on hand HAVANA — Benicio del Toro accepted a new Cuban government award for international artists at a ceremony in Havana on Thursday, while Bill Murray entertained a small audience by crooning from "As Time Goes By. Fellow actors Robert Duval and James Caan were also on hand as the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba gave Puerto Rican-born del Toro the first Tomas Gutierrez Alea Prize for his career body of work, including the lead in "Che." Steven Soderbergh's two-part, 4½-hour biopic on Argentine-born revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who helped Fidel Castro take power in Cuba in 1959, was a hit on the island, often showing in theaters that had not been refurbished since the 1950s.

July 23rd, 2009 Cuba's Silvio Rodriguez dedicates song to 'Che'HAVANA — Cuba's best-known folk singer says he has a new song intended to "rehabilitate" the image of revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara from the international super-brand seen on everything from coffee mugs to refrigerator magnets. Cuban singer Silvio Rodriguez said Thursday the song on his upcoming album returns the emphasis and meaning of Guevara's life to his struggle against imperialism, his love of being a revolutionary and his concept of socialism.

July 18th, 2009 Prosecutors charge head of anti-Chavez TV channelCARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan prosecutors filed charges against the head of an opposition-aligned TV news channel on Friday, accusing him of usury and conspiracy to commit a crime after authorities seized 24 new vehicles on his property. Guillermo Zuloaga, president and owner of Globovision, called the charges "harassment" as he left a prosecutors' office, insisting he has done nothing illegal.

June 26th, 2009 Yo-Yo Ma feels the music with Venezuelan youthCARACAS, Venezuela — Cello virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma led a workshop with Venezuela's top young musicians on Thursday and said he came away feeling like a student himself. Ma came to Venezuela to perform with conductor Gustavo Dudamel and his Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra, but also took time to listen to youth orchestras at a Caracas music school.

June 5th, 2009 Venezuelan prosecutors charge anti-Chavez TV chiefCARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan prosecutors charged the head of an anti-government television station with usury on Thursday, ending a weeks-long investigation into his business activities that he called politically motivated. Dozens of National Guard troops accompanied prosecutors to the upscale residence of Globovision president Guillermo Zuloaga on Thursday evening to gather evidence, according to state television footage.

May 29th, 2009 Venezuela's Chavez launches 4-day talkathonCARACAS, Venezuela — There's nothing Hugo Chavez relishes more than addressing the nation for hours on end, and on Thursday the loquacious Venezuelan leader seized the airwaves like never before. Chavez began what he said will be a four-day "Hello President" radio and television show celebrating the 10th anniversary of the program that has been widely emulated by other Latin American leaders.

May 4th, 2009 Visa delay keeps Rodriguez from Seeger tributeHAVANA — Cuban singer Silvio Rodriguez says he missed Sunday's tribute to folk music legend Pete Seeger because U.S. authorities failed to approve his visa in time.