Communist Cuba acknowledges top left-handed pitcher’s desertion

October 1st, 2009 NY Phil postpones plans for Cuba tourNEW YORK — The New York Philharmonic is postponing a planned trip to Cuba, citing U.S. travel restrictions that prevent patrons from going on the historic journey to the communist country.

September 30th, 2009 Cuba admits failure to pay farmers on timeHAVANA — Cuba on Monday acknowledged a failure to pay cash-strapped farmers on time and said some local officials lied to cover up the problem — a blunt admission from the communist government that crucial agriculture reforms lauded by President Raul Castro have so far fallen short. The public mea culpa came in a full page spread Monday in the state-run Granma newspaper, which acknowledged that the issue is a main cause of discontent in the countryside.

September 15th, 2009 Bill Richardson discusses trip to CubaALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Gov. Bill Richardson, who says he's opposed to the U.S.

September 1st, 2009 OAS chief doesn't expect Cuba to rejoin soonBRIDGETOWN, Barbados — Cuba is not expected to seek to rejoin the Organization of American States anytime soon despite the OAS vote to lift a decades-old suspension, the multinational group's chief said Monday. OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza told reporters it's likely that "some years" and "a lot of changes in Cuba" will happen before the Cuban government asks to return to the 34-nation organization.

September 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US and Cuba will hold talks this month on the resumption of direct mail service between the two countries after a gap of 46 years, according to media reports. The proposed meeting on mail services will be held in Havana, Spanish-language newspaper El Nuevo Herald reported Tuesday, citing unnamed US State Department officials.

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.

June 12th, 2009 Cuba drops ban on letting doctor leave islandBUENOS AIRES — Cuba's government has dropped its refusal to let a prominent physician visit her family abroad, Argentina's government announced Friday. The measure resolves one of the few disputes between the two countries.

June 8th, 2009 Cuba rejects offer to rejoin OASHAVANA — Cuba is formally rejecting an offer to rejoin the Organization of American States, echoing the sentiments of Fidel Castro who has long maintained his island has no use for the group. The OAS voted last week to lift a decades-old suspension of Cuba's membership.

June 5th, 2009 HAVANA - The Cuban government has hailed the decision by the Organisation of American States (OAS) to "unconditionally" reverse its 47-year-old suspension of the communist-ruled island. "On an historic day and one of vindication for the peoples of our Americas, the general assembly of the OAS today unconditionally repealed the resolution by which Cuba was expelled from that organisation," the government said in a statement read on state television.

June 3rd, 2009 SAN PEDRO SULA - The Organisation of American States (OAS) reached a consensus Wednesday on a proposal to re-admit communist Cuba after a 47-year suspension, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Fander Falconi told reporters. Cuba was suspended from the OAS in 1962, at the behest of the US, over Havana's Marxist-Leninist ideology.

May 31st, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US and Cuba are to hold discussions on migration and other issues for the first time since such talks were broken off six years ago, the US State Department announced Sunday. US State Department officials said the talks, agreed to by Cuba Saturday, would also cover mail services between the two countries.

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 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Tuesday said it was feeling hurt by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad's desertion from its camp in Bihar -- all over seat-sharing. 'I do not find any explanation why Lalu Prasad could not accommodate six seats to the Congress out of 40 (in the state).

March 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Tuesday said it was feeling hurt by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad's desertion from its camp in Bihar -- all over seat-sharing. 'I do not find any explanation why Lalu Prasad could not accommodate six seats to the Congress out of 40 (in the state).

February 17th, 2009 HAVANA - Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom has publicly apologized for his country's role in allowing its territory to be used to train the exiles and mercenaries who participated in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, EFE reported. 'Today, I want to apologize to Cuba for our country having offered its territory to prepare the invasion of Cuba,' Colom said during a speech at the University of Havana.