My feeling is that Gino Done, like Che Guevara, was born one century
too late--an 18th-century revolutionary born in the 19th-century.

"Dovunque saremo, colà sarà Roma." (Wherever we may be, there will be
Rome) Giuseppe Garibaldi, 30 June 1849, last speech to the Assembly of
the Roman Republic [G. M. Trevelyan, "Garibaldi's Defence of the Roman
Republic," Longmans, London (1907) p. 227]

"Ma vinceremo di certo; andremo a Roma!" (But we will certainly win;
we will go to Rome), Last words of Giovanni Cairoli, 11 september
1869. [Michele Rosi, "I Cairoli," L. Capelli Ed., Bologna (1929) p.
224]
=============================

http://www.radiohc.cu/ingles/noticias/marzo08/marzo27/cuba6.htm

Italian Revolutionary Gino Done Paro Dies

Havana, March 27 (RHC-Granma)--Gino Done Paro, an Italian
revolutionary who was among the expeditionaries of the yacht Granma,
died in Italy on March 22 at the age of 83. He was born near Venice on
May 18, 1924.

Cuban power shift could help Louisiana
March 31st, 2008 by Natalie Messina
Source: Daily Reveille

With Fidel Castro no longer in office, all eyes are on Cuba, with some
speculating the power shift could reopen a lucrative window in Louisiana.

Cuba was the Port of New Orleans' biggest trading partner before Castro
became president in 1959. Though a handful of products still flow
between the countries, trade remains limited because of a U.S. trade
embargo in place since the 1960s.

Louisiana exported $30 billion in goods this past year according to the
World Trade Center of New Orleans. About $173 million of those exports
went to Cuba, ranking the island No. 45 among more than 200 countries
with which Louisiana did business in 2007.

But this hasn't stopped New Orleans from realizing the potential to
renew profitable ties with the island. Some are optimistic that Fidel's
decision to step down could trigger a change in U.S.-Cuban trade policy
and create more jobs in the Louisiana trading industries located along
the Mississippi River.

Cuba Boosts Domestic Investment To $250 Million - AFP

HAVANA (AFP)--Cuba this year will boost national investment to six
billion pesos ($250 million) - four times what it spent 10 years ago,
Vice President Carlos Lage said Sunday.

"We've put into effect a much bigger investment process than previous
years and of greater importance to the economy and people's lives," Lage
told the Juventud Rebelde newspaper without indicating which sectors
would most benefit from the increase.

Lage, 56, is credited with lifting Cuba from economic crisis after the
Soviet Union fell in 1991. He retained his post as one of the country's
most influential vice presidents when Fidel Castro, 81, was replaced by
his brother Raul, 76, last month.

He told the daily that the government in 2008 "will invest more than
CUP6 billion, four times what it invested between 1995 and 1998, which
was CUP1.5 billion per year."

Thanks to the increase, he said, "we'll be able to cut time and cost (of
development projects), and do everything we've been doing with much
less; which means doing more things, expanding programs with social
benefits."

Cuba loosens controls on hotels

The Cuban government has lifted a ban on its citizens staying in hotels
previously reserved for foreigners, hotel staff say.

It is the latest reform announced under new President Raul Castro.

Last week, the state said Cubans would be allowed unrestricted access to
mobile phones for the first time.

The new Cuban hotel guests, like the foreign tourists, will have to pay
in hard currency - on an island where the average wage is about $17 (£9)
a month.

Correspondents say the ban on Cuban nationals using hotels - often
described as "economic apartheid" - has been a source of frustration for
local people since the Communist island opened up to tourism in the 1990s.

Hotel employees, at locations such as Havana's Nacional, said
unofficially that they had been told by officials that Cubans would be
allowed to stay in hotels across the island from midnight on Monday
(0400 GMT Tuesday).

They will also be able to hire cars from state-run agencies, say reports.

Raul's reforms

US National Telecom Begins Interop Testing of Voice Traffic Route to Cuba

By Anuradha Shukla
TMCnet Contributing Editor

US National Telecom, through its wholesale subsidiary, has begun interop
testing of a voice traffic route to Cuba.

Because there is a trade embargo with Cuba, the subsidiary will legally
operate like all other USA telcos and send traffic to licensed non-USA
telecom carriers. In turn, these carriers will have direct connections
to Cuba.

According to the company, the demand for voice traffic capacity to Cuba
is at an all-time high. The demand is especially high from prepaid phone
card companies in Florida and New York. USNT anticipates millions of
minutes of voice traffic for these new routes, with the potential to
bring in upwards of $550,000 in additional annual revenue.

Both the execution and cost projections have indicated that this venture
will be profitable. USNT said in a press release that this project is
currently pending corporate counsel's review of current trade laws
regarding the embargo in place with Cuba.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Raul Castro ends "tourist apartheid" and opens hotels to Cubans

Cuba has opened as of Monday luxury hotels and resorts to all Cubans,
ending a ban long described in the island as "tourist apartheid". This
is the latest is a series of decision to lift bans and regulations on
goods and services which anyhow most Cubans can't afford.
Cubans with foreign cash allowed into top Hotels
Zoom
Since been confirmed as president Raul Castro has allowed Cubans with
foreign cash to buy computers, DVD players, plasma televisions and in
the coming days cell phones, consumer goods only companies and
foreigners were previously permitted to buy.

However the latest surprise, allowing ordinary citizens into luxury
hotels and resort beaches long reserved for rich foreigners, is a
particularly symbolic victory for Cuba's everyman.

Nevertheless the measure is largely symbolic since tourist hotels in
Cuba can cost anywhere from 60 to more than 200 US dollars a night, well
out of reach for most Cubans who on average earn 20 dollars a month.

Paulson's Fix for the Financial System -

Less regulation, More Power to the Fed -

By Mike Whitney /

31/03/08 "ICH" -- -It is being billed as a "massive shakeup of US
financial market regulation", but don't be deceived. Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson's proposals for broad market reform are
neither "timely"...

Thanks Raul: Cubans can stay in hotels
Posted on Mon, Mar. 31, 2008
By WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press Writer

HAVANA --
Raul Castro's government opened luxury hotels and resorts to all Cubans
Monday, ending a ban despised across the island as "tourist apartheid"
and taking another step toward the creation of a consumer economy in the
socialist state.

Cuba has made a series of crowd-pleasing announcements in the past few
days. Cubans with enough cash will be able to buy computers, DVD players
and plasma televisions starting Tuesday, and soon they'll even be able
to have their own cell phones - consumer goods only companies and
foreigners were previously permitted to buy.

But the latest surprise, allowing ordinary citizens into luxury hotels
and resort beaches long reserved for rich foreigners, is a particularly
symbolic victory for Cuba's everyman.

cuba-prensa 31-03-2008

RSF denuncia cortapisas de Cuba al acceso a blogs

La organización Reporteros Sin Fronteras (RSF) denunció hoy que las
autoridades cubanas ponen cortapisas al acceso de algunos blogs en la
isla, en particular el de Yoani Sánchez, uno de los más populares del país.

En un comunicado, RSF señala que Cuba está tratando de impedir el acceso
a blogs arguyendo que se trata de problemas técnicos.

'Este tipo de restricción va en contra de las recientes medidas
adoptadas por las autoridades para facilitar el acceso de los cubanos a
los medios de comunicación, entre ellos a la red', indicó la
organización defensora de la libertad de prensa.

RSF señaló que 'las muestras de apertura que ha dado Raúl Castro deben
incluir mayor libertad de expresión'.

Según la organización, el acceso a blogs es imposible desde sitios
públicos y muy dificultoso desde las pocas conexiones privadas que hay
en Cuba.

Terra Actualidad - EFE

http://actualidad.terra.es/sociedad/articulo/rsf_cuba_denuncia_cortapisas_acceso_2355181...

Cuba: Quo Vadis?

Lunes, 31 de marzo de 2008 | 10:22
Desde principios de los setenta hasta la fecha no he dejado de visitar,
con alguna empecinada periodicidad, la Isla. Y hasta hoy me impresiona
cómo un país relativamente pequeño y alejado del centro geográfico de la
región latinoamericana tiene un impresionante ascendiente. Derechas e
izquierdas, burgueses y marginados, deben referirse a Cuba, ya sea para
reprobarla, ya sea con admiración y elogios. Ambas posturas exageran sus
adjetivaciones. Es difícil enunciar un juicio ecuánime. Y con superiores
razones, en estos días de anunciado viraje.

Raúl Castro asumió en febrero último una durísima tarea: preservar
la herencia y los mensajes de su hermano incorporándoles cambios que se
ajusten a las cambiantes y cambiadas circunstancias. Los fervores
revolucionarios de los sesenta se han enfriado, la invasión de turistas
e inversiones extranjeras altera actitudes y expectativas, y la Isla
que, en los setenta se vanagloriaba por la ausencia de vandalismo y
prostitutas, hoy debe reconocerlos como plagas sociales acaso incurables.