Castro denies his close associates replaced by those of Raul

September 26th, 2009 HAVANA - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be meeting Cuban President Raul Castro in Havana during his official visit, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said Saturday morning. Abbas is travelling from New York, where Friday he addressed the UN General Assembly and urged Israel to halt all settlement activity in the West Bank.

August 23rd, 2009 Healthy looking Fidel Castro meets Ecuador leaderHAVANA — Cuba's Communist Youth newspaper is showing a photo of a healthier-looking Fidel Castro talking with the visiting Ecuadorean president. Sunday's photo in Juventud Rebelde shows the 83-year-old Castro wearing a white shirt instead of the sports apparel he has worn in recent photos.

August 2nd, 2009 Raul Castro: Cuba won't undo communist systemHAVANA — Raul Castro announced Saturday that Cuba will cut spending on education and health care, potentially weakening the building blocks of its communist system in a bid to revive a floundering economy. The former defense minister who took over the presidency last year called state spending "simply unsustainable" and said the cash-strapped government would reorganize rural schools and scrutinize its free health care system in search of ways to save money.

August 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Cuban President Raul Castro has said that he is ready to talk about everything and anything with the United States, but added that the country's political system was not on the negotiating table. Castro's remarks came during a speech to the closing session of the Cuban Parliament on Saturday afternoon.

June 5th, 2009 Cuba central bank head replaced in gov't shuffleHAVANA — The head of Cuba's central bank has resigned as President Raul Castro pushes ahead with a government reorganization amid signs of a cash crunch, state television reported Thursday. Francisco Soberon, 64, has been replaced by Ernesto Medina, who heads Banco Financiero Internacional, one of Cuba's biggest banks, according to an official announcement read on the evening news.

April 29th, 2009 Raul Castro: Onus not on Cuba for US relationsHAVANA — Raul Castro dismissed Barack Obama's policy changes toward Cuba as "achieving only the minimum," and said Wednesday that it is up to the U.S. — not Cuba — to do more to improve relations.

April 29th, 2009 Castro: Onus not on Cuba for US better relationsHAVANA — Raul Castro has dismissed Barack Obama's policy changes toward Cuba as "minimal" and says it is up to the U.S. — not Cuba — to do more to improve relations.

March 3rd, 2009 HAVANA - Cuban President Raul Castro Monday undertook a major cabinet reshuffle removing key figures like Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and Carlos Lage, secretary of the Cuban Council of Ministers. In a statement that was read out on Cuban state television, Castro - who formally took over power from his brother, historic Cuban leader Fidel Castro, a little over a year ago - announced the mergers of several ministries and a score of changes in several portfolios.

February 13th, 2009 HAVANA - Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who has not been seen in public since 2006, was 'very agile and active', said Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, Cuban media reported Friday. 'He is in very good condition, we talked for long,' Bachelet told reporters late Thursday after the meeting.

February 6th, 2009 HAVANA - Cuban leader Fidel Castro has said that US President Barack Obama's politics was 'losing its virginity', Spanish news agency EFE reported Saturday. In the third article in two weeks criticising the actions of the new US president, Cuba's ex-president commented on White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's statement that 'what interests president Obama is the Cuban-American community'.

January 29th, 2009 HAVANA - Cuba will not grant any political concessions to the US for a possible return of the Guantanamo Bay naval base, the country's ailing revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has said. In an column titled 'Deciphering the thought of the new US president', posted on the government-run cubadebate.cu website, Castro wrote that US President Barack Obama had to return the territory without any conditions attached.

January 28th, 2009 MOSCOW - Raul Castro has begun the first official visit by a Cuban leader to Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. He will be here from Jan 28 to Feb 4.

January 21st, 2009 HAVANA - Ailing Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro received visiting Argentinean President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner here, Cuban news agency Prensa Latina reported Thursday. The 82-year-old leader, who has permanently relinquished rule to his brother, Raul Castro, has been rarely seen in public since suffering from a serious health crisis in 2006.

January 5th, 2009 HAVANA - In yet another sign of bringing change to the communist country, President Raul Castro has encouraged Cubans to build thier own houses, EFE news agency reported Tuesday. Raul, who soon after becoming president had allowed people to buy electronics gadgets and stay in luxury hotels, said there will be 'no ban' on individuals building their own homes and wanted to develop industrial bases in the country.

January 1st, 2009 SANTIAGO DE CUBA - Cuban President Raul Castro said Thursday that the Cuban revolution after 50 years was 'stronger than ever despite the obsessive and revengeful hate of the United States.' Despite the current difficult times, the revolutionary movement had moved barely a millimetre from its principles, the younger brother of the ailing revolutionary leader Fidel Castro said at the formal celebration of the anniversary. The 77-year-old president spoke in Santiago de Cuba, the southern town where Fidel Castro declared victory from city hall over the Fulgencio Batista regime on Jan 1, 1959.