Mexico holds rallies over missing students

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Mexico City to commemorate the disappearance of 43 students three months ago from the city of Iguala. The pupils were likely massacred by a police-backed militia.

Deutsche Welle, 27 Dec 2014

The Friday demonstrations were organized and led by the parents and relatives of the missing students.

"We want them alive," the protestors chanted as they carried huge portraits of the disappeared students and a gigantic Mexican flag painted in black.

Hundreds of people also marched to a military base in the city of Iguala and spray-painted graffiti on the walls.

The students of a teacher training college in the southwestern Guerrero state went missing on September 26 after they were allegedly abducted by police in Iguala. The police handed them over to hitmen from a local gang who the authorities say killed the students. They then allegedly burned the bodies.

Public prosecutors say the police acted on an order from the mayor of Iguala, who is among dozens of suspects arrested in connection with the disappearance of the students.

The case has sparked widespread protests against corruption and violence across Mexico, with some demonstrators demanding the resignation of President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Last month, Mexican officials handed over the burned remains of several bodies to forensics experts after they were discovered at a landfill site and river in Guerrero.

Only one student has so far been identified from charred remains, leaving little hope for the 42 others.

shs/se (AFP, AP, Reuters)

Cuba prepares for Christmas with early gift from Obama

Yahoo – AFP, Francisco Jara, 24 Dec 2014

People wearing Santa Claus costumes give out leaflets promoting a restaurant

in the streets of Havana, Cuba, on December 23, 2014 (AFP Photo/Yamil Lage)

Havana (AFP) - Cubans prepared Wednesday to celebrate Christmas, a resurgent holiday banned for 38 years by the communist government, with an early gift from US President Barack Obama: a historic rapprochement.

Across the island, houses, restaurants, supermarkets, hotels and state-run stores have put up Christmas decorations, embracing a holiday eliminated by Fidel Castro soon after he came to power in the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and declared Cuba an atheist state.

"El Comandante" restored Christmas in 1998 after a landmark visit by pope John Paul II.

A Christmas tree adorns the lobby of a

 hotel in Havana, Cuba, on December 23,

2014 (AFP Photo/Yamil Lage)

After an initially hesitant revival, the Christmas spirit is once again booming on the island.

"Christmas was a very deep-rooted tradition in Cuba. It was interrupted for 38 years, which is no small thing, and yet it made a comeback," said the secretary of Cuba's Conference of Bishops, Jose Felix Perez.

In Havana's old city, Santas brave the Caribbean heat in bushy white beards and red suits to hand out restaurant flyers alongside Mrs Clauses wearing decidedly skimpier red outfits -- a scene that would have been unthinkable under Fidel.

On the streets of the capital, the dashboards of cars are decked out with Santas, wreaths and mini Christmas trees.

Less playful decorations adorn the gates and courtyards of foreign embassies and the US interests section, set to regain its status as an embassy under last week's watershed announcement by Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro, who took over from his big brother Fidel in 2006.

The thawing of the two countries' Cold War animosity has raised many Cubans' hopes for an economic revival in a country scarred by the "special period" of hunger and shortages in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

This year, Perez said, "everything the two presidents announced is giving people hope that their lives will get better and there will be greater understanding."

In this country where Catholicism has long co-existed with local traditions that draw on both Christianity and African religions, state-run stores are brimming with Christmas gift baskets and restaurants and hotels are offering sumptuous Christmas dinners.

At the Ambos Mundos, where the great American writer Ernest Hemingway once lived, the four-course meal costs $40 -- twice the average monthly salary of around $20.

"Before there were no Christmas decorations. All this is totally new," a Latin American diplomat told AFP.

Communist Christmas

New Year's was long celebrated as the main holiday in Cuba, bolstered by the revolutionary significance of the date: January 1, 1959, is the day Castro's forces ousted dictator Fulgencio Batista.

A couple wearing Santa Claus costumes greet a little boy as they give out

leaflets promoting a restaurant in the streets of Havana, Cuba, on December 23,

2014 (AFP Photo/Yamil Lage)

Starting in 1960, December 25 was declared a working day.

Christians celebrated in secret, hoping to evade detection by the Revolutionary Defense Committees (CDRs) deployed across the country.

Even after the holiday was restored, Christmas celebrations were muted until Fidel handed over power amid a health crisis.

In 2010 the Cuban government opened talks with the Church, which led to the release of 130 political prisoners and the return of Church buildings confiscated in the 1960s.

Later that year the main architect of the detente, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, celebrated Cuba's first Christmas mass since 1959 inside a prison.

Today, Cuban bishops broadcast Christmas messages on television.

In a further goodwill gesture toward the Church, Raul Castro also restored Good Friday as a holiday when pope Benedict XVI visited the island in 2012.

This picture released by Estudios Revolucion shows relatives welcoming

 freed Cuban prisoner Geraldo Hernandez (C) on December 17, 2014 in Havana

upon his return from the United States (AFP Photo)

Related Articles:

Wife of freed Cuba agent pregnant, thanks to US

Business interest piqued by prospect of US, Cuba trade

US announces historic thaw in relations with Cuba

Wife of freed Cuba agent pregnant, thanks to US

Yahoo – AFP, 23 Dec 2014

This picture released by Estudios Revolucion shows relatives welcoming

 freed Cuban prisoner Geraldo Hernandez (C) on December 17, 2014 in Havana

upon his return from the United States (AFP Photo)

Washington (AFP) - Before President Barack Obama announced last week that Washington and Havana would restore diplomatic ties, one US official had already been working on a special project -- call it insemination diplomacy -- to unite the two countries.

Officials have confirmed that a US senator helped a Cuban spy imprisoned in California to impregnate his wife, eager to have a child but separated by prison walls and an ocean.

The highly improbable arrangements allowed for Adriana Perez Hernandez to be artificially inseminated months before husband Gerardo Hernandez returned to Cuba to a hero's welcome last Wednesday.

This picture released by Estudios Revolucion

 on December 17, 2014 shows freed Cuban

 prisoner Geraldo Hernandez (L) and his

 wife Adriana Perez in Havana upon his

release from the United States (AFP Photo)

While the island celebrated the thawing of relations with the United States, the pregnancy quickly became the talk of Cuba.

On state television, Hernandez, who was freed along with two other Cuban agents, spoke delicately of how his wife's pregnancy was achieved "by remote control" earlier this year.

The parents-to-be owe much of their good fortune to Senator Patrick Leahy, who has made several trips to the communist-ruled island over the years.

Leahy visited Havana in February 2013 with his wife Marcelle, a registered nurse, in order to secure better conditions for Alan Gross, a jailed US citizen who was ultimately released last week on humanitarian grounds as part of the normalization push.

Leahy and his wife met last year with Perez Hernandez, who "made a personal appeal to Marcelle," the senior Democrat said in a statement.

"She was afraid that she would never have the chance to have a child," said Leahy, who chairs the State Department and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee and who opposes the US embargo on Cuba.

"As parents and grandparents we both wanted to try to help her."

That meeting put in motion a series of requests, actions and overcoming of medical logistics that led to the pregnancy.

The Justice Department confirmed to AFP that Washington "facilitated Mrs. Hernandez's request to have a baby with her husband."

US officials said all costs were paid for by the Cuban government.

Hernandez was arrested in the United States in 1998 and convicted in 2001 on charges of espionage and conspiracy to murder. He and five other Cubans were sentenced to two life sentences plus 15 years.

Hernandez was released Wednesday, alongside two other Cubans jailed on the same charges. Two of the five had been released earlier in 2014 and 2013.

Hernandez arrived in Cuba to be greeted by Adriana, who shocked onlookers with her pregnant belly, which became an optimistic symbol of the revived ties between the United States and Cuba after five decades of hostility.

The baby, a girl to be named Gema, is due at the end of this month.

Business interest piqued by prospect of US, Cuba trade

Yahoo – AFP, Diego Urdaneta, 23 Dec 2014

US businesses are lining up to take advantage of the enormous investment potential of Cuba, all but untouched for more than half-a-century by American capitalism.

Last week, President Barack Obama announced a breakthrough in US relations with Cuba, reviving diplomatic ties and making some commercial transactions easier.

No sooner was the historic announcement made, than the American business (Other OTC: ARBU - news) community began assessing Cuba's untapped markets.

Emilio Morales, president of the Miami-based Havana Consulting Group, described a "tsunami" of interest among investors, particularly in Florida, just 90 miles (144 kilometers) from the island.

No-one, he said, wants to miss out on such a market, fueled by decades of pent-up demand.

"There are a lot of people in the US business community who are in panic," said Morales, who told AFP that since last week, his phone has been ringing off the hook.

The president of the US Chamber of Commerce, Thomas Donahue, representing business groups and companies, also spoke of a barely-contained enthusiasm to invest in Cuba.

"The chamber and its members stand ready to assist as the Cuban people work to unleash the power of free enterprise to improve their lives," he said in a statement.

The Small Business Administration, another interest group, was equally upbeat about the investment prospects.

"The best way to ensure opportunity and democracy in Cuba is by empowering the Cuban people ?- rather than denying them access to resources," said SBA President Maria Contreras-Sweet.

New markets for good, services

"At the same time, American businesses, small and large, stand to gain access to an important new market for goods and services only 90 miles from our shores."

America's farm states are particularly keen to sell corn, wheat, soy and other crops to Cuba, which has to import much of its food.

And there also has been interest from US technology firms in Silicon Valley in a market that is decades behinds the United States with respect to its high-tech infrastructure.

Morales said, however, that it may take many months before investors get to make good on that dream of increased trade, because of legislative hurdles in the United States.

"They want to hurry up, but it's not like that. There is an entire process that's only getting started now and that will last at least a couple of years," Morales said.

An act of Congress is needed to repeal the economic and travel embargo, put place a half-century ago and then strengthened in 1996 with the Helms-Burton Act.

Last week, Obama described the trade embargo as "self-defeating," but acknowledged that a congressional repeal would not be easy.

There is substantial opposition in Congress to doing away with the embargo -- particularly from the powerful bloc of Cuban-American lawmakers who want the administration to extract more concessions from the Havana government.

Chief among them is prominent Republican Senator Marco Rubio, incoming chairman of the US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee's subcommittee on Foreign Operations, who has vowed to do whatever is necessary to block normalization of relations.

Still, experts point to an altered business climate in just the few days since Obama announced the seismic policy shift.

There has been a "dramatic change in the tone of the conversation," said Pedro Freyre, a Cuban American attorney with the international division of the Akerman law firm.

One of the areas poised for the most dramatic growth is tourism.

Even with the embargo, there are already more than 90,000 US citizens who travel to Cuba each year.

That number is expected to grow once the Obama administration eases restrictions on how much they can spend and on the Cuban products they can bring home.

In the past few years, President Raul Castro already has put some reforms in place, allowing private restaurateurs, beauticians and other small business people to open up their own shops.

He also has relaxed some restrictions on travel outside the country and granted permission for Cubans to to sell real estate and cars for the first time in nearly 50 years.

But the creation of Cuba's nascent free market is nothing to the growth anticipated once the embargo is dismantled.

"The market will grow," said Morales, adding: "The process is going to take a while."

Related Article:

US announces historic thaw in relations with Cuba

Argentina jails doctor, midwife for military-era kidnaps

Yahoo – AFP, 23 Dec 2014

Members of human rights organizations hold signs (reading: Give the Children

 Back) protesting the kidnapping of babies during the 1976-1983 dictatorship, 

in Buenos Aires in 2012 (AFP Photo/Juan Mabromata)

Buenos Aires (AFP) - A court in Argentina on Monday convicted and sentenced a doctor and midwife for their roles in abducting newborns from women during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

While the sentence was not as long as prosecutors sought, it still was a landmark ruling as the country struggles with its recent past.

The court sentenced retired military doctor Norberto Atilio Bianco, 69, to a 13-year term, and midwife Yolanda Arroche, 85, to a seven-year term. It acquitted a third accused, doctor Raul Eugenio Martin , 75.

They were tried for working at the secret birthing center at the Campo de Mayo prison.

During the dictatorship, the military took women there who were abducted while pregnant, handcuffed and blindfolded and held until they gave birth.

Their children were then given to military staff or government sympathizers under false names.

The court also sentenced Santiago Omar Riveros, 91, and former dictator Reynaldo Bignone, 86, to terms of 30 and 16 years, respectively. They had been in charge of the military district at the time.

They separately face life in prison, however, for other crimes against humanity.

During the dictatorship successive military juntas waged a so-called "dirty war" against perceived leftist dissent.

An estimated 30,000 people were killed or abducted and presumed killed during the dictatorship.

Of some 500 babies stolen from their captive mothers, 115 have been found through genetic testing and the efforts of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a rights group founded by women fighting to locate their stolen grandchildren.

Pope Francis deplores Vatican 'ills' in speech to Curia

BBC News, 22 December 2014

The Pope delivered his tough message in the Vatican's Clementine Hall

Related Stories

• What type of pontiff is Pope Francis?
• Pope Francis: A gentle revolution
• Profile: Pope Francis

Pope Francis has sharply criticised the Vatican bureaucracy in a pre-Christmas address to cardinals, complaining of "spiritual Alzheimer's" and "the terrorism of gossip".

He said the Curia - the administrative pinnacle of the Roman Catholic Church - was suffering from 15 "ailments", which he wanted cured in the New Year.

Pope Francis - the first Latin American pontiff - also criticised "those who look obsessively at their own image".

He has demanded reform of the Curia.

Pope Francis said some power-hungry clerics were guilty of "cold-bloodedly killing the reputation of their own colleagues and brothers".

He compared the performance of the church's civil servants to that of an orchestra playing out of tune because they fail to collaborate and have no team spirit, the BBC's David Willey reports from Rome.

Before his election in March 2013, the pontiff had never worked in Rome, and he is clearly upset at the internal opposition he has encountered to some of the reforms he wants to carry out, our correspondent adds.

The Pope says the Church elite must reach out to poor and vulnerable worshippers

Since his election last year, Pope Francis has launched a clean-up of the Vatican Bank, officially known as the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR). The IOR has long had a poor reputation, after a succession of scandals.

He has appointed a team of advisers to tackle corruption and poor administration in the Vatican.

He has also suggested that the Curia's power - concentrated in Rome for centuries - could be diluted to some extent by giving Catholic bishops around the world a bigger say in Church doctrine.

Related Articles:

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“ … Spirituality (Religions)

Number one: Spirituality. The systems of spiritual design on your planet are starting to change. This is not telling you that certain ones are going to go away. They're simply going to change. Some of the largest spiritual systems, which you would call organized religion on the planet, are shifting. They're going to shift away from that which is authority on the outside to authority on the inside. It will eventually be a different way of worship, slowly changing the rules while keeping the basic doctrine the same.

The doctrine of the Christ has always been to find the God inside. The teachings were clear. The examples of the miracles were given as an example of what humans could do, not to set a man up for worship as a God. So when that has been absorbed, the teaching of the Christ can remain the teaching of the Christ. It simply changes the interpretation. 

The teachings of the great prophets of the Middle East (all related to each other) are about unity and love. So once the holy words are redefined with new wisdom, the Human changes, not the words of the prophets. In fact, the prophets become even more divinely inspired and their wisdom becomes even more profound.

You're going to lose a pope soon. I have no clock. Soon to us can mean anything to you. The one who replaces him may surprise you, for his particular organization will be in survival mode at that point in time. That is to say that fewer and fewer are interested in starting the priesthood. Fewer and fewer young people are interested in the organization, and the new pope must make changes to keep his church alive. That means that his organization will remain, but with a more modern look at what truly is before all of you in a new energy. It is not the fall of the church. It is instead the recalibration of the divinity inside that would match the worship that goes on. It's a win-win situation. The new pope will have a difficult time, since the old guard will still be there. There could even be an assassination attempt, such is the way the old energy dies hard. That is number one. Watch for it. It's a change in the way spiritual systems work. It's a realignment of spiritual systems that resound to a stronger truth that is Human driven, rather than prophet driven.…”

"Current" Events –  Apr 10, 2005 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

“… The Last and Next Pope

[Note that this was channelled right after the death of John Paul II, and before the conclave of Catholic Cardinals had selected the next pope.]

"Kryon, we just lost what appears to be a great religious leader, Pope John Paul II. What are the ramifications of this?" My partner eluded earlier to the man called Karol who became the pope [spoken of earlier within the seminar]. He discussed what his goals were and what he did on this planet that really had nothing to do with his religion. Oh, perhaps the hat he wore did, and the places he walked did, and the ceremony around him did. But this was only given to facilitate what he could do.

But you see, like you, we knew Karol. He leaned into the wind of birth, too - just as you did. He was no different. And Spirit said to him, "You're going to have a chance to change the earth because the energy of this planet has the potential of being very different. There are potentials when you get to be a certain age where there'll be something called the Harmonic Convergence on the planet, and things will begin to change. You can fit into this as a world leader. Are you ready for that?" And he said yes.

No angel asked Karol if he wanted to be a Catholic, as he leaned into the wind of birth. That was simply the vehicle that got him into the position where he could change the planet the way he did. You couldn't have had the absence of the Armageddon that you've experienced without Karol. Did you know that [speaking of his direct involvement in the influence of the fall of communism]? So his belief system not only served him well, but it propelled him to a special place that was his alone to be in, and one that allowed him to touch billions all at once. And so it was that this great religious leader, who also knew intuitively what he was doing, had a love of humanity. His favorite thing was to be among common people - and he was, every time he could be. When he got to the position where he could make a difference, he did.

Now, there's something you don't know about Karol. The last decade of his life, he was very frustrated. Go look at the pictures. Go look at the pictures of the first 16 years. Then look at those from the last ten. The last ten, he was suffering - not just with his health - he was anguishing over a situation that none of you truly know about. For in his last ten years this man wanted to make some more changes while the time was ripe, but he knew he was too old.

Karol didn't have the energy to make the changes he really wanted to make, and those around him fought him to keep things the way they were. It was all very political, and someday this information may come out into the open, and you'll hear about those who influenced him in the last ten years and helped to keep things on an even keel. He was too old to make a difference and he knew it.

Karol was not of a consciousness to make some of the changes that many cried out for - about poverty and the role of women in his organization (that will come later). But Karol cried out in his heart for the children that were abused by the priests, and he wanted to do something about this and make a difference. He believed that his Savior wanted him to make a difference, but he couldn't do it. So what might look to you like inaction was instead the pope suffering, for he was not allowed to do what he wanted - due to his lack of energy and those around him who made certain he didn't.

"Kryon, here we sit with conclave of cardinals about to meet and select a new pope. What's the potential based upon the energy right now of the selection? What's going to happen?" I'll give you two potentials of what might take place in the next few days, because your future is always about free choice. There is no entity who can tell you about the future, since it's totally in the hands of the free-choice of humanity. However, based on the energy of the moment, here's what we see: (1) You're either going to have an interim, temporary pope for only a short amount of time (relative to the last one), who will lead to a radical pope; or (2) You're going to go right to the radical pope. Either way, you're going to eventually end up with a man who's going to do things to shake up the establishment.

Let me give you some of the potentials of what the radical pope may be involved in: This religion he leads on earth has doctrines that no longer "square up" with what humanity is seeing around itself. He absolutely has to address this issue, for the sophisticated Humans will leave the church otherwise. There will be those who may even call him "the evil pope" because he's going to go against tradition when he slowly starts a process that honors the Virgin Mary more than any pope ever has - therefore honoring women within the church, elevating them to higher positions... even to priests.

He will speak about family planning, and start processes that will slowly justify it in the eyes of God [this will take awhile], but it must come from the man who "sits in the chair" [ex cathedra] to change the doctrine of the whole organization. Because of this, he will also be in danger and will have to have constant protection.

Then he'll talk about what to do with priests who abuse children. Watch for this. Even if you receive the interim pope, he'll set the stage for the radical pope in this area. For this is in the energy aura of what we would call the potential future around this grand event. The earth is filled with free choice and it can go any direction, but I've just given you the potentials of what is here and now. ..."

US-Cuba thaw could spell end for island's iconic cars

Yahoo – AFP, Alexandre Grosbois, 21 Dec 2014

Old American cars are seen on a street in Havana, Cuba, on December 19, 

2014 (AFP Photo/Yamil Lage)

Havana (AFP) - Cuba's iconic stock of refurbished vintage American sedans from the 1950s may be facing their last trips to the garage soon, following the historic thawing of ties between Havana and Washington.

Flashy Pontiacs, Plymouths, Dodges and Chevrolets, as well as crudely patched and rickety classics make up the Communist island's 70,000 "almendrones," cars affectionately called large almonds for their rounded shape.

Fancier classic models are rented for special occasions while their more rundown counterparts are driven as taxis and by families.

An old American car is seen on a 

street in Havana, Cuba, on December

19, 2014 (AFP Photo/Yamil Lage)

But they all have one thing in common: they survived the Cuban Revolution, the Cold War, and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The almendrones owe their lasting nature to the master skills of local mechanics, as well as to the American embargo and Cuban authorities who put the brakes on replenishing the the island's stock of cars.

Purchasing and selling the vehicles, which has only been allowed for the past three years, is only permitted for Cubans.

'Puts food on table'

The easing of the five-decade US trade embargo, one part of the rapprochement announced Wednesday, is likely to awaken the attention and desire of car connoisseurs worldwide, who are eager to snatch up the classic models.

"You would have to pay me good money to sell my car," Aramis Carmona, 40, told AFP, watching tourists from his white and red 1953 Chevy with hubcaps and a chrome bumper.

"It puts food on the table," the amateur mechanic said. "When I have a little money, I buy motor oil instead of cooking oil, because I know that that will help me feed my family."

He said he had given new life to the "wreck" he bought ten years ago for $7,000.

During the Revolution, Fidel rode around in an Oldsmobile with guns hidden in the seat. Ernesto "Che" Guevara went for rides, cigar in mouth, at the wheel of a Studebaker.

This was before Cuba decided to swap its Western cars for more "revolutionary" vehicles, like the famous Russian GAZ-69 jeep adopted by "El Comandante" Castro.

Never blotted out

In the 1960s and 1970s, Peugeot 404s made in Argentina, then Czech Skodas and Soviet Ladas tried to take over the road but with limited success, as the vintage American models kept passing from hand to hand.

Peugeots and Chinese models appeared on Cuban roads in the 1990s and 2000s, but they, too, never overpowered the omnipresent American classics.

Old American cars are seen in Havana, Cuba, on December 19, 2014 

(AFP Photo/Yamil Lage)

However, few original parts remain under the cars' hoods after numerous patchups from crack mechanics who have brought them back from the dead multiple times.

Carmona said that he replaced his Chevy's original motor four years ago with a BMW diesel model that consumed far less fuel. The original went only 6 kilometers per liter (14 miles per gallon).

British architect Norman Foster, struck by the cars' looks and upkeep during a recent trip to Cuba, paid tribute in the book "Havana: Autos and Architecture," where he describes a tight relationship between the island's history and its vehicles.

He tells of Ruben Hernandez, who in 1951 bought a Buick Super Dynaflow. In 1959, his family's belongings were confiscated in the Cuban Revolution, but Hernandez managed to save the car.

The collector's item now belongs to his youngest son William Hernandez, who inherited it in 1989.

Since then, he's taken it every day to display alongside other flashy cars at Havana's tourist hot spots. For $25 per hour, he offers passersby a ride back in time, in a vehicle whose days may now be limited.

Related Articles:

Raul Castro hails removal of "obstacle" in US-Cuba relations

US announces historic thaw in relations with Cuba

Raul Castro hails removal of "obstacle" in US-Cuba relations

Yahoo – AFP, 20 Dec 2014

Cuban President Raul Castro listens during the opening of the Caribbean
 Community (CARICOM) Summit, in Havana, on December 8, 2014 (AFP
Photo/Yamil Lage)

Havana (AFP) - Cuban President Raul Castro hailed Saturday the removal of an "obstacle" in US-Cuba relations, saying he was ready to discuss any topic with Washington after the historic bilateral rapprochement.

"The Cuban people cheer this correct decision of US President Barack Obama. It represents the removal of an obstacle in relations between our countries," he said in a speech closing the twice-yearly meeting of parliament.

Castro chaired the gathering, which unanimously ratified the deal between Havana and Washington on Friday, in a session largely focused on the communist island's historic renewal of ties with Washington.

The United States and Cuba made the breakthrough in their Cold War stand-off Wednesday, launching measures to ease a five-decade US trade embargo as well as a prisoner exchange. First official talks are scheduled for January.

"We reiterate our willingness for respectful and reciprocal dialogue concerning disagreements," Castro said, adding that Cuba "accepted dialogue... on any topic about all things here but also in the United States."

On Friday, US President Barack Obama insisted he shared the concerns of Cuban dissidents and human rights activist "that this is still a regime that represses it people."

"But through engagement, we have a better chance of bringing about change than we would have otherwise."

But the US president said he didn't "anticipate overnight changes."

Related Articles:

US announces historic thaw in relations with Cuba

"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa, Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version)  

“…  I want you to watch some countries. I don't have a clock [this statement is Kryon telling us that there is no time frame on his side of the veil, only potentials]. I'll just tell you, it's imminent [in Spirit's timing, this could mean as soon as a decade]. I want you to watch some countries carefully for changes. You're going to be seeing changes that are obvious, and some that are not obvious [covert or assumptive]. But the obvious ones you will see sooner than not - Cuba, Korea [North], Iran, of course, and Venezuela. I want you to watch what happens when they start to realize that they don't have any more allies on Earth! Even their brothers who used to support them in their hatred of some are saying, "Well, perhaps not anymore. It doesn't seem to be supporting us anymore." Watch the synchronicities that are occurring. The leaders who have either died or are going to in the next year or so will take with them the old ways. Watch what happens to those who take their place, and remember these meetings where I described these potentials to you. …”

"The End of History" -  Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

" ... South America and the New Energy

South America is starting to consider the same thing. My partner was just there and I allowed him to see the energy of the potential future in that land.

I would like to paint history for you regarding South America. There was a time when every single country had a dictator. Less than 15 years ago, they had failing economies and currencies that were worthless. Trouble and strife and killings were the norm. Marauding drug lords openly killed in the streets and corruption was everywhere. Even the politicians created fear and many disappeared overnight, never to be seen again. Today it isn't that way. Today, there is an ongoing stability as one country after another brings a new, positive, stable energy to their cultures. So, without a concentrated effort by any kind of multi-national leadership or direction, how could this have changed in only 15 years?

Within the entire continent, there's only one dictator left. What's happening? If you think that's amazing, there is a move afoot that you're not going to hear about yet. But they're discussing it right now, so let me tell you what they're thinking. "What would happen if we took these countries and eliminated the borders?" Sound familiar? They're talking about it. In back rooms where nobody is reporting it, they're saying, "What about a plan of eventually having one currency from the top of Columbia to the bottom of Chile? And we would be strong and we would be unified." And dear ones, I'm here to tell you, that it's going to work, and it might not take 50 years. Soon the one dictator will be gone, and the unification can begin.

There's a shift happening on this planet ...."

US announces historic thaw in relations with Cuba

The administration of US President Barack Obama has announced a normalization of ties with Cuba, which has been blacklisted in the US since the Cold War. This comes after the release of a US citizen from a Havana prison.

Deutsche Welle, 17 Dec 2014

Leaders of the US and Cuba have agreed to restore diplomatic relations and plan to open embassies in each other's capitals, officials from the Obama administration said on Wednesday.

Over the phone, US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro finalized negotiations which have been taking place for over a year. Administration officials said the phone call lasted for over 45 minutes. Wednesday's was the first substantial talk between leaders of the two countries since 1961.

"It was the first engagement at the presidential level with Cuba since the Cuban revolution," an official speaking on condition of anonymity told dpa news agency.

The announcement comes just hours after the release of a US citizen from prison in Havana. A US official said on Wednesday that Alan Gross had been released for humanitarian reasons. The 65-year-old was arrested in Cuba in December 2009 while working as a subcontractor for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which has been accused of trying to incite dissent and political change in Cuba through clandestine programs.

Alan Gross was arrested in Cuba in 2009, accused by the Cuban government
of trying to incite dissent

He was put on trial and received a sentence of 15 years in prison, of which he has served five.

Gross was said to be in poor health, having lost over 100 pounds during his five years of incarceration, with severe hip pain and loss of sight in one eye.

Last month, he was visited by two US senators. After the visit, Republican Jeff Flake of Arizona and Democrat Tom Udall of New Mexico told reporters on November 11 they were confident they were closer to Gross' release from prison. They did not give any indication that an agreement between the US and Cuba had been reached.

The US had repeatedly called on Havana to release Gross, but Cuba wanted to see the release of three Cuban nationals currently in US prisons for espionage as well.

Covert US dissent programs in question

The senators' optimism over the release of Gross came a day after the US State Department announced it was reviewing some of its secretive, political, democracy promotion programs in hostile countries, i.e. ones where such programs are not welcomed.

That announcement followed an investigation by the Associated Press (AP) this year into work by USAID, which, among other things, "established a Twitter-like service in Cuba [ZunZuneo] and secretly sought to recruit a new generation of dissidents there while hiding ties to the US government." An August investigation by AP also found that the agency had sent Latin youth to Cuba disguised as tourists to "scout for people they could turn into activists" on the island.

The proposed policy for USAID, according to AP, would prohibit the agency from spending money on democracy programs in countries that reject the agency's assistance and where USAID would have to go to "excessive lengths to protect program beneficiaries and participants."

Some of the agency's high-risk democracy efforts would be shifted to other agencies. The changes would, for example, prevent USAID from running such programs as ZunZuneo, which sought to encourage dissent and political change and in the end had 40,000 followers who had no idea it was a US government program, as funding for the site had been channeled through the Cayman Islands.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, however, did not elaborate on any new plans for USAID, saying it would be "premature."

"We continue to believe we need to find creative ways to promote positive change in Cuba, but beyond that, we're still assessing what any change or what any impact would be," she said.

USAID in a statement said it would continue to carry out democracy initiatives in "politically restrictive environments," AP reported. But the Obama administration failed to answer the question of how the agency's pro-democracy work could be continued in Cuba if it was illegal there.

sb/bw (dpa, AFP, AP)

"To the Cuban people, America extends a hand of friendship." —President Obama Watch the full video. #CubaPolicy http://t.co/Qrzp5zODZk
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 17, 2014

Related Articles:

Pope congratulates US, Cuba on historic thaw

Pope Francis offers US help in closing Guantanamo

Pope Francis waves to the crowd during his general audience

at St Peter's square on December 17, 2014 at the Vatican

US should rethink Cuba policy as ties with China improve: Xinhua

The presidents of China and Cuba shake hands after the sign
ceremony of cooperation, July 23. (Photo/Xinhua)

"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa, Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version)  

“…  I want you to watch some countries. I don't have a clock [this statement is Kryon telling us that there is no time frame on his side of the veil, only potentials]. I'll just tell you, it's imminent [in Spirit's timing, this could mean as soon as a decade]. I want you to watch some countries carefully for changes. You're going to be seeing changes that are obvious, and some that are not obvious [covert or assumptive]. But the obvious ones you will see sooner than not - Cuba, Korea [North], Iran, of course, and Venezuela. I want you to watch what happens when they start to realize that they don't have any more allies on Earth! Even their brothers who used to support them in their hatred of some are saying, "Well, perhaps not anymore. It doesn't seem to be supporting us anymore." Watch the synchronicities that are occurring. The leaders who have either died or are going to in the next year or so will take with them the old ways. Watch what happens to those who take their place, and remember these meetings where I described these potentials to you. …”

"The End of History" -  Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

" ... South America and the New Energy

South America is starting to consider the same thing. My partner was just there and I allowed him to see the energy of the potential future in that land.

I would like to paint history for you regarding South America. There was a time when every single country had a dictator. Less than 15 years ago, they had failing economies and currencies that were worthless. Trouble and strife and killings were the norm. Marauding drug lords openly killed in the streets and corruption was everywhere. Even the politicians created fear and many disappeared overnight, never to be seen again. Today it isn't that way. Today, there is an ongoing stability as one country after another brings a new, positive, stable energy to their cultures. So, without a concentrated effort by any kind of multi-national leadership or direction, how could this have changed in only 15 years?

Within the entire continent, there's only one dictator left. What's happening? If you think that's amazing, there is a move afoot that you're not going to hear about yet. But they're discussing it right now, so let me tell you what they're thinking. "What would happen if we took these countries and eliminated the borders?" Sound familiar? They're talking about it. In back rooms where nobody is reporting it, they're saying, "What about a plan of eventually having one currency from the top of Columbia to the bottom of Chile? And we would be strong and we would be unified." And dear ones, I'm here to tell you, that it's going to work, and it might not take 50 years. Soon the one dictator will be gone, and the unification can begin.

There's a shift happening on this planet ...."