Canada
Dangerous Liaisons Cuba Tries Entrepreneurs for Corporate Corruption
Dangerous Liaisons: Cuba Tries Entrepreneurs for Corporate Corruption June 6, 2013 Fernando Ravsberg* HAVANA TIMES — Some of the most important entrepreneurs who have been doing business in Cuba for decades have been summoned to courts on the island to respond to serious corporate corruption charges, the visible face of a much broader clean-up campaign [...] Continue reading
British businessmen await Cuba’s verdict as graft trial ends
British businessmen await Cuba’s verdict as graft trial ends By Marc Frank HAVANA | Fri May 31, 2013 7:50pm EDT (Reuters) – The two-day trial of two top executives of a British investment fund ended in Havana on Friday with a five judge panel expected to deliver its verdict within 10 days. The sentences of [...] Continue reading
British fund executives to go on trial in Cuba
Exclusive: British fund executives to go on trial in Cuba Reuters By Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) – The two top executives of a British investment fund in Cuba are scheduled to go on trial in Havana on Thursday, according to sources close to the accused men, as part of an unprecedented government crackdown on corruption [...] Continue reading
Cuba silent on Canadian’s corruption trial
Posted on Friday, 05.24.13 Cuba silent on Canadian’s corruption trial The Associated Press HAVANA — Official silence surrounded the case of a Canadian businessman targeted by a corruption probe in Cuba on Friday, as the initial trial of several foreigners suspected of graft entered its second day. Sarkis Yacoubian, 53, who partnered with the Cuban [...] Continue reading
Canadá sigue de cerca juicio a empresario preso en Cuba
Publicado el jueves, 05.23.13 Canadá sigue de cerca juicio a empresario preso en Cuba Julian Sher del Toronto Star y Juan O. Tamayo jtamayo@elnuevoherald.com Cuando Sarkis Yacoubian entre en una sala de la corte en La Habana el jueves para enfrentar cargos de corrupción que podrían enviarle a prisión por 12 años, el hombre de [...] Continue reading
Canadian goes on trial in Havana for corruption scandal
Posted on Thursday, 05.23.13 Canadian goes on trial in Havana for corruption scandal By Julian Sher, Toronto Star And Juan O. Tamayo jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com When Sarkis Yacoubian walks into a court room in downtown Havana Thursday to face corruption charges that could send him to prison for 12 years the Canadian businessman will have a high-powered [...] Continue reading
Cuba readies corruption trials of Western businessmen
Cuba readies corruption trials of Western businessmen By Marc Frank HAVANA | Tue May 14, 2013 10:50pm EDT (Reuters) – Canadian and British executives of three foreign businesses shut in 2011 by Cuban authorities, ostensibly for corrupt practices, have been charged after more than a year in custody and are expected to go on trial [...] Continue reading
Canadian jailed in Havana corruption scandal speaks out
Posted on Wednesday, 05.15.13 Canadian jailed in Havana corruption scandal speaks out By Julian Sher of The Toronto Star And Juan O. Tamayo jtamayo@elnuevoherald.com Speaking over a scratchy telephone line from inside a Cuban prison, Sarkis Yacoubian’s voice goes suddenly silent. He’s crying. “I was so depressed at times, I wanted to commit suicide,” says [...] Continue reading
Cuba close to passing law for golf resort construction
Cuba close to passing law for golf resort construction After nearly two years of waiting, with ready-to-go blueprints and agreements with joint venture partners in the drawer, at least three golf course resort developers may soon be able to go ahead with construction projects. The government is “taking the last steps” on long-expected laws and [...] Continue reading
Watchdog group Cuba cheated on its UN human rights review
Posted on Friday, 05.03.13 Watchdog group: Cuba cheated on its UN human rights review From the summary of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR): • More than 30 NGOs reported “that there is a separation of powers in Cuba, which ensures that the judiciary can perform its duties without interference from the other branches of government.” [...] Continue reading
Fraud: Cuba Uses 454 Front Groups to Subvert Today’s UN Review of its Human Rights Record
Fraud: Cuba Uses 454 Front Groups to Subvert Today’s UN Review of its Human Rights Record By UN Watch (Bio and Archives) Wednesday, May 1, 2013 Also: Syria, Iran, North Korea took the floor today to sing Havana’s praises GENEVA, – Today’s UN review of Cuba’s rights record was tainted by “massive fraud” committed by [...] Continue reading
Prostitution in Cuba: Denied at Home, Enabled from Abroad
Prostitution in Cuba: Denied at Home, Enabled from Abroad March 30, 2013 Graham Sowa HAVANA TIMES — In Cuba the denial of prostitution is a lie of omission: the government doesn't really talk about it. At the same time American politicians promote a travel ban that seriously damages United States efforts to identify and prosecute [...] Continue reading
No clear successor to Chávez as leader of Latin American left
Posted on Friday, 03.29.13 Latin America No clear successor to Chávez as leader of Latin American left By MIMI WHITEFIELD mwhitefield@MiamiHerald.com Venezuelans will head to the polls April 14 to elect a successor to the late President Hugo Chávez. While Nicolás Maduro, Chávez's handpicked candidate, is favored to win, it's not as clear who will [...] Continue reading
How Cuba became the newest hotbed for tourists craving sex with minors
Posted on Saturday, 03.16.13 Sex Tourism in Cuba: Second of three parts How Cuba became the newest hotbed for tourists craving sex with minors HAVANA — These stories are the result of a joint investigation by Toronto Star reporters Robert Cribb, Jennifer Quinn and Julian Sher, and El Nuevo Herald reporter Juan O. Tamayo. The [...] Continue reading
Canadians are major customers in Cuba’s child sex market
Canadians are major customers in Cuba's child sex market Canada is lax when it comes to stopping its sex offenders from going to Cuba and preying on underage prostitutes. Most tourists are drawn to Cuba by the sand, the sunshine, and the culture. But a few tourists – including some Canadians – are drawn by [...] Continue reading
The ‘Outraged’ of Cuba
The 'Outraged' of Cuba November 8, 2012 Fernando Ravsberg* HAVANA TIMES — Lourdes Machado is a Cuban from Santa Clara who spent $20 USD — the equivalent of her monthly salary — on a pair of shoes that fell apart after only 30 days. She went back to the store for a refund but the [...] Continue reading
Foreign executives arrested in Cuba in 2011 await charges
Foreign executives arrested in Cuba in 2011 await charges Tue Oct 9, 2012 2:48pm EDT * Cubans say cases, investigation complicated * Home countries fret over due process * Potential witnesses barred from leaving island By Marc Frank HAVANA, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Executives of three foreign businesses shut in 2011 ostensibly for corrupt practices [...] Continue reading
Indecision time
Cuba Indecision time Never rapid, Raúl Castro's reforms seem to be stalling Sep 15th 2012 | HAVANA WHEN Raúl Castro, Cuba's president, gave his latest big speech, to a meeting of the National Assembly in July, he repeated his stock response to those who urge him to move faster with reforms to his country's stagnant [...] Continue reading
Foreign business in Cuba: Beware the dangerous embrace
Foreign business in Cuba: Beware the dangerous embrace Havana is at the same time attracting and terrifying entrepreneurs by Nancy Macdonald and Gabriela Perdomo on Wednesday, August 8, 2012 10:16am Until this spring, Stephen Purvis had it all. The British architect, who'd helped launch the Saratoga, Cuba's poshest hotel, was one of the more prominent [...] Continue reading
Risky Business: Investing in Cuba Is More Than Just a Financial Gamble
Risky Business: Investing in Cuba Is More Than Just a Financial Gamble By Justin Rohrlich Jun 20, 2012 1:45 pm "It's hard to argue against weeding out corruption. Sometimes, in the process, you break a couple of eggs." MINYANVILLE ORIGINAL Investment risk can mean a number of different things. This past fall, British businessman Amado [...] Continue reading
Cuba crackdown sees foreign companies exit
May 21, 2012 5:29 pm Cuba crackdown sees foreign companies exit By Marc Frank in Havana Tighter restrictions following President Raúl Castro's crackdown on state corruption and inefficiency is leading foreign businesses to leave Cuba, jeopardising the investment that his reform programme needs if it is to succeed. The number of foreign joint ventures in [...] Continue reading
The Rhetoric on the Cuban Embargo is Loaded with Subterfuge
Monday, April 30, 2012 The Rhetoric on the Cuban Embargo is Loaded with Subterfuge By Jerry Brewer U.S. government and certain close allies' transparency on internal Cuban political issues are by no means totally and currently possible. This at a time when even Pope Benedict XVI's timing in visiting the oppressed Cuban island seemed to [...] Continue reading
For an American, Havana is filled with contradictions
Posted on Tuesday, 04.17.12 For an American, Havana is filled with contradictionsBy Franco OrdonezMcClatchy Newspapers HAVANA — The green 1951 Dodge Coronet clattering along this city'sfamed Malecon coastal seawall looks like the car built more than ahalf-century ago, but lift the hood and things are not as expected. The car's bulging headlights give the classic [...] Continue reading
Communist Cuba’s Collapse (Really, Are You Surprised?)
Michel Kelly-GagnonPresident, Montreal Economic Institute (iedm.org). The views reflected in this column are his own. Communist Cuba's Collapse (Really, Are You Surprised?)Posted: 04/12/2012 3:27 pm The weeks surrounding spring break see floods of Canadian tourists flocking to Cuba, one of our most popular vacation destinations. Each year more than a million of us visit its [...] Continue reading
Beset by online surveillance and content filtering, netizens fight on
Beset by online surveillance and content filtering, netizens fight onPublished on Monday 12 March 2012. This report, which presents the 2012 list of countries that are "Enemies of the Internet" and "under surveillance," updates the report published on 12 March 2011. The last report, released in March 2011 at the climax of the Arab Spring, [...] Continue reading
Cuban corruption video warns of Canadian company’s ‘cancer’
Cuban corruption video warns of Canadian company's 'cancer'Tight security at screenings of 'Metastasis'By Marc Frank, Reuters February 22, 2012 Cuban President Raul Castro delivers a speech in this July 11, 2008, file photo. Cuba has created videos portraying a Canadian businessman as a cancer cell in a bid to fight bribery. Cuban President Raul Castro [...] Continue reading