(Reuters) After freezing hundreds of millions of foreign businesses’ dollars in Cuban banks over the last 1-2 years, Havana is now offering a 2 percent interest rate and a five-year plan to pay these funds out to the companies that are owed. One loophole-sounding proviso: the payments may be missed without penalty “when money is not available.“
New York Times Rogelio Acevedo has been replaced as the official in charge of Cuba’s airlines and airports, Cuba’s Granma newspaper reported. Acevedo fought alongside Fidel Castro and Che Guevara during the 1959 revolution. No explanation was given for the personnel change.
Guillermo Farinas, a Cuban journalist dissident, says he will continue to refuse food and water until Havana releases the 26 most vulnerable and ailing dissident prisoners in Cuban jails, emphasizing that he does not seek the overthrow of the government or even the expansion of freedoms on the island. Havana responded by saying that the international community was drawing attention to a lie by highlighting Farinas’ case, and that “Cuba, which has demonstrated many times its respect for human life and dignity, will not accept pressure or blackmail.“
