HavanaReporter YEAR VINº 11

JUNE, 12 2017HAVANA, CUBAISSN 2224-5707

Price: 1.00 CUC, 1.00 USD, 1.20 CAN

Y O U R S O U R C E O F N E W S & M O R EA Bimonthly Newspaper of the Prensa Latina News Agency

©THE

PoliticsVenezuela Threatened By Aggression P. 12

Sports USA Baseball to host Cuban National Team P. 15

EconomyHotel Industry Flourishes in Cuba P. 14

CultureJazz Giants Jam In HavanaP.6

Tourism

Gibara, Cuba’s Latest DestinationP.2

P. 4

Prensa Latina Turns 58

FIDEL CASTRO AND ARGENTINEAN JOURNALIST JORGE RICARDO MASETTI, TWO PILLARS IN THE FOUNDATION OF PRENSA LATINA

2 TOUURISM

The 200 year old fishing town of Gibara is now being extensively promoted by tour operators and travel agencies and the Iberostar company has been selected to operate the area’s hotels.

Locally known as the “Villa Blanca de los Cangrejos” (White-Crab Village), the city is located on the northern coast Cuba’s eastern Holguín province.

It was selected to host the 37th FITCUBA 2017 International Tourism Fair between the 3rd and 6th May -- and post-fair activities that ran until the 9th -- during which the charming location’s inclusion as tourist destination was officially announced.

At the Fair, Cuba’s Tourism Minister, Manuel Marrero, extolled the virtues of Gibaro and revealed that the Spanish company Iberostar had been contracted to run all the hotels in the town.

Iberostar envisages offering up to 800 rooms and is confident that the destination, with nautical options such as a two-hour catamaran ride from Puerto de Vita, on Holguin´s northern

coast, will prove attractive to the circuit-tour market.

Gibara’s People´s Power National Assembly President, Nercy Fernández,

welcomed delegates and highlighted the city´s principal attractions.

Gibara, founded in 1817 and once one eastern the Cuba´s leading commercial ports, is enjoying a revival with new hotels such as Ordoño, Arsenita and Plaza Colón.

The Iberostar company has a twenty five year track record in Cuba and presently operates 17 hotels in Havana, Varadero, Trinidad, Cayo Coco, Cayo Largo del Sur, Cayo Santa María, Cayo Guillermo and Holguín, with a total of 6,500 rooms.

Gibara has 39 private guesthouses offering 78 rooms and seven privately-owned restaurants, known in Cuba as paladares.GIBARA ENCHANTSThis colorful villa is a fishing and resort town and three hotels add a certain elegance to it’s coastal urban landscape.

The establishment of the broader Holguín province municipality of Gibara was the result of an October

1976 political-administrative division.

It comprises 626 square kilometers and has a population of some 71,000 inhabitants, almost 36,000 of whom live in urban areas and the rest in rural zones.

The territory is divided into ten People’s Councils (districts) covering 15 settlements; ten rural (Velasco, Poblado de Floro Pérez, Bocas, Uñas, Playa Caletones, Arrollo Seco, Limones, La Gegira, Playa Los Bajos and Las Caobas) and five urban.

The municipality´s architecturally rich and colonial administrative center of the same name is a gateway to eastern Cuba’s northern coast.

Gibara has an extensive coastline that stretches from the Playa de los Bajos beach to El Mangle, on the border of the Las Tunas province. The Bay of Gibara lies behind this strip of coast.

It’s natural beauty is enhanced by the varied, colorful and atmospheric traditions that inspired the Tourism Ministry to include it on their list of Cuban tourist destinations.

Gibara, Cuba’s Latest DestinationText and Photos By Roberto F.CAMPOS

CUBA 3

President: Luis Enrique González.Information Vice President: Hector Miranda.Editorial Vice President: Maitté Marrero Canda.Chief Editor: Néstor MarínTranslation: Dayamí Interián/ Sean J. Clancy/Yanely Interián

Graphic Designers: Laura Reyes.Chief Graphic Editor: Alfredo G. PierratAdvertising: Laura ClaroCirculation: Commercial Department.Printing: Imprenta Federico Engels.

Publisher: Agencia Informativa Latinoamericana, Prensa Latina, S.A.Calle E, esq. 19 No. 454, Vedado, La Habana-4, Cuba.Telephone: (53)7838-3496 / 7832-3578 Fax: (53)7833-3068E-mail: thehavanareporter@prensa-latina.cu

YOUR SOURCE OF NEWS & MOREHavanaReporterTHEA W e e k l y N e w s p a p e r o f t h e P r e n s a L a t i n a N e w s A g e n c y SOCIETY.HEALTH & SCIENCE.POLITICS.CULTURE

ENTERTAINMENT.PHOTO FEATURE.ECONOMY SPORTS.AND MORE

A US Congress Black Caucus delegation that came to Cuba in May of 2000, was presented with the first offer by Fidel Castro on behalf of the Island, of scholarships for persons on low-income to study medicine here.

Since then, the Inter-Religious Foundation for Community Organization / Pastors for Peace – which has a long history of solidarity with Cuba – has played an key role facilitating the program for US students.

And it was through that same Foundation that Arabia Mollette, today a practicing doctor, arrived at a university that has to date trained in excess of 25 thousand health specialists from 84 nations around the world.

The young Bronx-born New Yorker, told The Havana Reporter that the greatest challenge she faced had been the study associated with learning a previously unknown language.

“A professor who noticed I spoke no Spanish at all, kindly invited me to her home, cooked dinner for me and began to teach me the names of things.”

She says that a short three months later, she

understood things relatively well, and that after a year she was able to speak Spanish .

Her black skin and hair cut meant few people realized she was North American.

“People often thought I was a Santiaguera,” a term used for the women the from eastern province Santiago de Cuba, coincidentally now her favorite place on the Island.

“I also really love Cienfuegos, Pinar del Río and Camagüey - for the great cheese made there.”

Mollette explained that at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM), students were split into groups in which everybody supported each other’s studies and provided a tremendous incentive to do well.

The doctor described as “great” the experience of sharing with so many other foreign students from both Spanish and English-speaking countries and of having been taught by such excellent professors.

She proudly added that having concluded her studies in 2012, she returned to the United States, where she passed the requisite exams that same year and was accepted for a residency in the state of New Jersey.

She now works as an Emergency Doctor at Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Centre, in Brooklyn, New York and is an avid Internet and social media activist.

She gratefully expressed that “so many people contributed significantly, so that I could become who I am today.”

“Some are in Cuba, the beloved Island that is for me a home I can return to whenever I want.”

Proof of such warm sentiments can be found in a photo from her ELAM days she recently posted on Facebook, wearing a t-shirt with Fidel’s words: “Mankind Hungers for Justice.”

She posted “my Cuban aunt gave me the t-shirt to remind me of my duty to be an excellent doctor and to bring justice to humanity.” she wrote.

Fidel‘s Dream Made Cuba My Home

By Martha AndrésROMÁN

The passing of hurricanes Mitch and George in 1998 very seriously affected Central American and Caribbean countries, costing thousands of lives.

This inspired the establishment in Cuba of an international cooperation oriented Comprehensive Health Program, to send brigades of doctors, nurses and other essential health professionals to the worst affected and most remote areas.

It was within this same context that the Cuban president, Fidel Castro, created the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) to educate young doctors from these countries, regardless of their ability to pay.

In the majority of cases, students come from humble, rural dwelling and low-income families.

More than 100 ethnic groups are represented at the school and the strength of the project’s cultural unity depends very much on such diversity.

There are presently students from 117 countries around the world at different stages of their training, distributed throughout all the country’s provinces.

To date, more than 25 thousand doctors from 84 countries have successfully concluded their training.

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4 4 CUBA

Enemies and skeptics predicted that both the Cuban Revolution and the Prensa Latina News Agency would last only a short a few months.

No other news media in South America had ever previously dared to challenge the monopolist power of the predominant media conglomerates.

So how could a group of young journalists without the financial resources of the likes of United Press International (UPI) or Associated Press (AP), successfully report news through South American newspapers, radio or television stations?

To impartial observers of the time, the creation of the Prensa Latina (PL) Latin American News Agency seemed, at the very least, to be an audacious initiative.

Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara, the project’s promoters, were well aware of this.

It was to have been expected that the heresy of implementing a program of profound transformations to recover national sovereignty and directly benefit Cuba’s poor, would give the United States cause to launch a venomous anti-Cuba campaign.

Operación Verdad (Operation Truth) was inspired as a result early in 1959 on the initiative of the young leader of the Cuban Revolution.

Hundreds of journalists from the continent, many famous U.S. columnists, then came to the island.

The project enjoyed the staunch

support of courageous journalists like Jorge Ricardo Masetti and Rodolfo Walsh from Argentina and the Uruguayan Carlos María Gutiérrez, who collaborated on making the dream of a Latin American news agency to combat the disinformation campaign by the monopolies, a reality.

PASSION FOR NEWS

PL’s first. president and author of “Los que luchan y los que lloran”, Jorge Ricardo Masetti, went on -- having completed other internationalist missions -- to become the Second Commander of the Peoples’ Revolutionary Army (ERP) of Argentina. He went missing in action and his remains have never been found.

In his reports on the guerrilla struggle in Sierra Maestra mountain range, he recalled that “Yankee news agencies had predicted that Prensa Latina would survive one for just one month.

“They wouldn’t accept it, they could not comprehend an information

agency at the service of truth and not the monopolies.”

The Cuban government’s determination to challenge disinformation and the commitment of a large group of young, talented journalists from the continent made it possible for PL to commence operations on June 16, 1959. The project was then consolidated and it quickly expanded.

According to Gabriel García Márquez, journalists like himself were motivated more by passion than any prior experience in the field.

“None of us had much experience. It was at Prensa Latina I contracted that highly contagious news fever,” he confessed.

Despite material shortages, refusals by official media in many countries to recognize the agency, damage to their offices by neo-fascist dictatorial regimes and other obstacles, South America’s first people‘s news agency continued to take shape.

Prensa Latina presently has 36 news desks in 35 countries: 19 in Latin America, five in Africa and the Middle East, seven in Europe, three in Asia and two in the United States.

It produces around 400 news reports per day in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian and Russian and has a website that displays its radio and television, photography, and multimedia products and services.

It is Cuba’s largest publisher of newspapers for both domestic and international circulation, including Negocios en Cuba, The Havana Reporter, ORBE and Cubaplus.

The well-known magazines Cuba and Avances Médicos are published online, as are full and partial editions of publications and book designs.

Located in an old building that used to be the first European-style shopping arcade in Cuba, the newly opened Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana is the first five-star plus hotel in Cuba.

With 196 large rooms and 50 luxury suites, bars, restaurants, gyms, a spa, a heated swimming pool on the roof and an exclusive room for cigar smokers, the hotel operated by the

Swiss company Kempinski has a direct view of the Capitol and the Alicia Alonso Grand Teatro.

We came here to inspect the building –the Manzana de Gomez shopping center was built between 1894 and 1917- and then talked to Gaviota, a state-run tourism group, about our plans to build the best hotel facility in Americas and the world.

We think we have achieved our goal, corporation’s CEO, Xavier Destribats, told the press.

According to Destribats, building the first five-star plus hotel in Cuba fits in nicely with Kempinski´s taste for gems, and also ratifies that Havana still treasures many European traces.

Kempinski, which is one of the

most prestigious hotel groups in the world and the oldest in Europe, runs 74 luxury hotels in 30 countries.

The new hotel, which was opened after the building was completely restored under the supervision of the Havana City Historian´s Office, is part of a strategy aimed at the luxury market.

Prensa Latina, 58 Years Serving The TruthBy FrankAGÜERO

Another jewel in Cuba´s tourism crown

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HEALTH & SCIENCE 5

The recent VII Cuban Congress of Hematology highlighted developments in the field and provided a space to exchange views with specialists from 24 countries on pending challenges and innovations.

Officials and members of the American Society of Hematology(ASH) -- formally participating for the first time -- described the occasion as a “great opportunity”.

Alexis Thompson, ASH Vice President, considered it a privilege to be in Cuba for the first time to participate, in an hematology event.

The five-day Congress included an ASH conducted plenary session on leukemia treatment related topics , hematopoietic transplants and stem cell research.

Thompson explained that the ASH has 17 thousand members in 100 countries and is the largest association dealing with blood diseases and their causes in the world.

The specialist, who next December assumes the ASH presidency, added “celebrating this conference, which most of our member countries have hosted, in Cuba was unprecedented.

He stressed its importance in linking new scientific knowledge and treatment to the medical criteria of those who put it into practice.

The May 8-12 Hematology 2017 Congress at Havana’s Conference Centre included a commercial exhibition by national and foreign companies.

The event also incorporated the 5th International Workshop

on Hemophilia and other Clotting Disorders; a Workshop on Primary Immunodeficiency and the 10th Latin American Haematology, Immunology and Transfusion Medicine Seminar.

The 8th Congress brought 370 national delegates and 61 foreign specialists from Angola, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Turkey, Venezuela and other nations.

Consuelo Mecías, Vice President of the Organizing Committee, told The Havana Reporter that the forum promoted join public health promotion projects both on the island and in third countries and that networks of researchers and specialists were created during the event to jointly review and improve diagnosis.

Mecías added that talks on the possibility of undertaking gene therapy to treat hemopathologies and immunological diseases were also held.

Mecías, who is also director of Cuba’s Institute of Haematology and Immunology (IHI), continued, “this has been a valuable gathering of international experts that facilitated the forging of links with other countries.”

Haematology 2017 also provided an ideal opportunity to demonstrate to the world Cuba’s public health achievements, the result of statutory investment in modern treatment and diagnosis technologies.

An example is the 80% success rate in the treatment of lymphoblastic leukemia in children and a 90% success rate for severe promyelocytic leukemia.

MEDICuba-Sweden can count a cytostatic plant, medical cancer treatments and the supply of tons of raw materials for the manufacture of more than 25 important medical products, amongst it’s most relevant achievements.

The NGO has had a presence in Cuba for the past 25 years, in fact since the earliest days of the economic crisis caused by the collapse of the socialist bloc and has supported research undertaken by Cuba’s renowned Immunology Center, a leading institution in treatments that employ monoclonal antibodies.

New aid strategies are being planned for the next four years, with a particular emphasis on children and the elderly.

In pediatrics, cooperation will focus especially on the early diagnosis of diseases and in geriatrics it will support integral elderly healthcare.

The other strands that complete four projected strategies relate to communicable diseases, with emphasis on HIV/AIDS prevention and a contributions on non-communicable chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.

MEDICuba-Sweden’s Vice President, Franco Cavalli, told The Havana Reporter that an outlay of $2 million to build three laboratories had also been projected: one at the Pedro Kourí Tropical Medicine Institute (IPK) in Havana, another in the province of Villa Clara province and a third in the eastern province Santiago de Cuba.

He explained that everything is now in place to commence operations later this year and that the laboratory would make more accurate and faster diagnosis of diseases transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

He added that they will utilize complex and expensive genetic based and molecular biology equipment systems, meaning it will no longer be necessary to move samples from one place to another and that results will be available in minutes.

Asked about cooperation going forward, the NGO’s consultant Marianne Widmer, explained that new infectious diseases emerge everyday and that Cuba needs to train specialists to use emerging techniques.

Widmer added that it is necessary to increase MEDICuba-Sweden’s aid to the Latin American School of Medicine, where doctors are trained to serve the region and the world and said ¨we are conscious of the situation on the continent regarding healthcare cuts.”

In addition to its work on professional development and the supply of equipment and raw materials, the NGO plans to extend to the training of professionals.

Widmer expressed the agency’s hope to “continue exchanges and cooperation works, based on mutual interaction and learning.”

Franco Cavalli, who is also the president of MEDICuba-Europe, a similar initiative that has the support of countries like Sweden and Luxemburg, recalled that everything had commenced back in 1992, at a time when Cuba’s need was critical.

He explained that when confronted with the cruel U.S. Blockade -- in place now for more than 50 years -- essential equipment had to bought as if it was for Switzerland, to be later brought to Cuba.

Successful Hematology

Congress Concludes

By BettyHERNÁNDEZ

25 Years of MEDICuba-

Sweden SuccessBy Ana LauraARBESÚ

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6 CULTURE

Jazz Giants Jam In HavanaBy MarthaSÁNCHEZ

Musical giants from around the globe recently came together in Cuba to jointly celebrate their shared love of Jazz.

The spectacular took place to mark International Jazz Day.

The concert on April 30th last at the Alicia Alonso Grand Theatre of Havana is to date the biggest musical event of the year in Cuba, which was selected by UNESCO to host the 2017 Jazz Day celebrations.

From April 24, the Island hosted a series of workshops, lectures and musical sessions, but the final concert, attended by Cuba’s Deputy Vice President, Miguel Díaz-Canel, and UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, was undoubtedly the highlight of the celebrations.

Having performed himself and just prior to introducing Cubans Chucho Valdés and Gonzalo Rubalcaba, the visibly moved US jazz star, Herbie Hancock. declared emotionally from the stage that “tonight, Havana is one of the most inspiring cities in the world, one of the most lively and dynamic cities.”

Hancock described the Cuban musicians as two of the best jazz pianists of all times and his description proved accurate when both performed

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a beautiful rendition of Blue Monk, in tribute to Thelonious Monkto a US pioneer of the genre.

Other tributes were paid during the show. The first, to Cuban pianist Chano Pozo and his popular song Manteca, was performed by instrumentalists such as Russian saxophonist Igor Burtman and Cubans Oliver Valdés (drummer) and Roberto Fonseca (pianist).

The charismatic US actor and rap artist, Will Smith, who was one of the night’s hosts, introduced an all-star group of musicians who, despite not knowing each other, communicated perfectly through the power and the liberating spirit of jazz.

Another first-class host was bass player Esperanza Spalding, a versatile artist from the US who truly came alive on stage.

The first jazzwoman to win a Best New Artist Grammy Award, Spalding introduced musicians, sang with Cuban jazzman Bobby Carcassés, and played the double bass as only she can.

The Grammy winner gave a masterly exhibition of her pizzicato technique in conjunction with the great violinist and compatriot Regina Carter, Cuban percussionist Yaroldy Abreu and the tasty South Korean vocalist, Youn Sun Nah, who gave an inspired redition of Bésame mucho, by Mexican composer Consuelito Velázquez.

The concert was an entirely superlative affair.

The old theatre also welcomed Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana; French guitarist Marc Antoine; Cameroonian singer and bass player Richard Bona; Chinese pianist A Bu, and trumpeters Till Bronner (Germany) and Takuya Kuroda (Japan), on stage.

The Brazilian composer Ivan Lins delighted the audience with his style, as did, amongst others, Cubans William Roblejo, Eduardo Sandoval, Pancho Amat, Barbarito Tórres, Yasek Manzano, Oscar Valdés, Orlando Valle (Maraca), Cesar

López, Alexander Abreu.Artists from the United States of the

caliber of singer Kurt Elling; saxophonists Kenny Garret and Antonio Hart; drummer Carl Allen; bass players Marcus Miller and Ben Williams; pianist Christian Sands; vocalist Cassandra Wilson and the legendary producer Quincy Jones appeared on stage to further illuminate the wonderful night.

These were joined by the dynamic Lebanese pianist Tarek Yamani; Mexican drummer Antonio Sánchez, and Tunisian artist Dhafer Youssef, who brought his traditional Mediterranean lute music into the mix.

The fluid fusion of so many musicians on the night ensured an unforgettable world class concert.

This was a display of the highest quality and of the great esteem held for Cuban music, Afro-Cuban jazz and the jazz ethic itself of cooperation, mutual understanding and shared joy.

The concert concluded with the now traditional Jazz Day performance of John Lennon’s Imagine, to which the unique addition of Cuban percussion instruments and numbers such as Guantanamera, brought an already ecstatic floor to its feet.

Quincy Jones and actor Will Smith at Havna jazz concert

SPOTLIGHT ON 7

SPOTLIGHT ON

Back in the year 1830 Cuba was still a colony but the

community of Spanish ‘criollos’ were starting to think of

themselves as a race apart.

A Cuban identify was being born, and at the same

time, coffee was becoming more popular than chocolate.

It has been an integral part of everyday life in Cuba

ever since.

Daybreak on the island is defined by the delightful

aroma of coffee spreading through the neighborhood.

Most Cubans could go without breakfast but not

without their essential

first cup of coffee, a great way to start the day that

can be revisited at any time.

Offering visitors a cup of coffee is common

throughout all of Cuba’s social sectors and tea has never

threatened to replace coffee here.

Most Cubans drink it strong and bitter and drain the

cup until the very last drop has been lovingly extracted.

There was tobacco in Cuba when Christopher

Columbus arrived with sugarcane.

Coffee was first introduced in 1748 -- long after

tobacco and sugarcane -- by Chief Accountant José

Gelabert by who brought coffee plants from the French

colony of Saint Domingue and has had an important

place in both Cuban history and the lives of the Cuban

people since.

It had been claimed that the first coffee plant was

brought from Puerto Rico in 1769, but this seems unlikely.

It quickly spread to western areas such as Guanajay

and Artemisa, to Trinidad and Sancti Spíritus in the

central region and to some mountainous areas in

Cuba’s east.

Coffee powder was first sold in Cuba by drugstores

because, as was the case elsewhere in the world, doctors

contributed to its popularity by prescribing it and cigars

to heal almost every ailment and afflictions.

Havana’s first coffee shops opened between 1762 -

when the city was occupied the British - and 1776, when

the 13 British colonies on the east coast of North America

proclaimed their independence.

Café Taberna was the first and having been fully

restored some years ago, it reopened at Havana’s Plaza

Vieja (Old Square).

Others would follow, but the colonial authorities

enforced laws to regulate them, because they

became known meeting points for Cubans opposed

to Span’s despotism.

This is why the learned Fernando Ortiz said that

Cuban coffee possessed a sort of filibustered, rebel,

liberal and separatist flavor.

Café El Louvre opened in 1866 in the central city of

Remedios (the eighth city founded by the Spanish in

Cuba) and some years later the Gran Café Europa on

the corner of Obispo and Aguilar Streets in Old Havana

welcomed visitors and both are still functioning today.

Drinking coffee quickly became habitual on the

island and now has a social function that allows different

tastes and social manners to be compared.

Coffee can stimulate the intellect and alleviate

fatigue. It contains more antioxidants than many

fruits and vegetables if consumed immediately after

being brewed.

It has laxative and diuretic properties and can help

reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.

Within Afro-Cuban religious tradition, it not only

unites spiritual and social elements but can be used to

create “evil” when combined with water distilled from

the trunk of the ceiba tree…

Coffee has become a recurrent theme in the

nation’s literature, painting and music and it is used in

some of the Caribbean islands most emblatic cocktails

and dishes.

Its delicious and distinctive taste, aroma and flavor

are to be found everywhere in Cuba.

Havana´s monument to the victims of

the USS Maine was unveiled on March 8,

1925 to honor the 266 American sailors

who died in the explosion that sank the

battleship to the bottom of the bay.

A massive bronze eagle capped the

twin-columned monument built in the

intersection of Linea and Malecon streets

until Jan. 18, 1961, when such a “symbol

of imperialism” was torn down during a

protest against the US government hostile

policy towards the burgeoning Cuban

Revolution led by Fidel Castro.

Although some historians say the

explosion might have been provoked

by the accidental ignition of the

battleship‘s own munitions, most people

think the USS Maine was deliberately

sunk, so the tragic event could be used

by the US government as a pretext to

declare war on Spain and intervene in

the independence war Cuban rebels

were fighting against the colonial rule.

Thus, as part of the changes made

to the monument in 1961, Cuban

authorities added a new inscription

dedicated “to the victims of the

USS Maine that were sacrificed by

imperialist greed in its zeal to seize the

island of Cuba”.

Cuban Coffee: A Delicious and Distinctive TraditionBy CiroBIANCHI ROSS

Monument to the USS Maine

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TEATHER

*Note: theater companies are in parentheses.

Espacio IrreverenteCalle 11 nº 1152 apto 5 e/ 16 y 18 Vedado. Sun. Jun 4,11,18, Mon. Jun 5,12. Tue 20 (7:30 pm). “El diccionario.”

Centro Hispano Americano de Cultura (Spanish-American Culture Center)

Calle Malecón e/ Prado y Capdevila, Centro Habana, Ciudad de La Habana. Tel: 7860-6282. Jun 8 to 22 (6:00 p.m). “Malos Presagios” (Bad Omens) by Grupo Rita Montaner company.

MUSIC

Teatro Martí

Calle Dragones y Zulueta, Habana Vieja. Wed. Jun. 7 (6:00 p.m). Concert by pianist Aldo López Gavilán Junco accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra at Teatro Martí, as part of the 5th Meeting of Young Pianists.

Museo de Artes Decorativas (Decorative Art Museum)

Calle 17 e/ D y E, Vedado. Tel: 7832-0924. Sat. Jun. 3 (4:00 p.m). Club “Todo Corazón”, Zunilda performs.

Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo de la Música Cubana

Calle G No. 505 e/ 21 y 23, Vedado. Tel: (7830-4290 / 7833-9697) Tue. Jun. 15 (3:00p.m). Concert by Piquete Típico Cubano.

Teatro Martí

Calle Dragones # 58 entre Prado y Zulueta(537) 78667152 / 78667153. Sun. Jun. 4: 5th Meeting of Young Pianists. Guests: Jiayin Li (China) , Sining Liu (China) , ISA Symphony Orchestra , José Antonio Méndez (Cuba). Mon. Jun.5. National Symphony Orchestra. Guests: Peter Fancovic (Slovenia), Leonardo Reyna (Cuba), Enrique Pérez Mesa (Cuba). Wed. Jun. 7. Aldo López-Gavilán Junco, National Symphony Orchestra, Wenqiao Jiang (China), Daiana García (Cuba).

Basílica Menor de San Francisco de Asís

Calle Oficios, entre Churruma y Plaza de San Francisco de Asís, Habana Vieja. Fri. Jun. 2 (6:00p.m.). Piano concert: José Antonio Méndez (Cuba), among others. Sat. Jun.3 (11:00 a.m). Alexandre Moutouzkine (Russia).

Oratorio San Felipe Neri Calle Aguiar esq. Obrapía. Habana Vieja. Tel: 7 862-3243. Sat. Jun. 3 (4:00 p.m). Concert

“Les chemins de l´amour” by French Lesby Bautista and Yanner Rascón.

Palacio de los Matrimonios

Prado esq. a Ánimas, Habana Vieja, La Habana, Cuba.Sun. Jun 4. (11:00a.m). Concert by Célimène Daudet (French-Haitian), sharing the stage with Cuban pianist Ernán López-Nussa.

MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES.

Galería Carmen Montilla

Oficios no. 162, e/ Amargura y Churruca. Tel: 7866 8768. Mon. Jun.12 (10:00p.m). Exhibition “¨Entre hilos, alas y pinceles¨ by Yudit Vidal Faife.

TEATHER

MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES

MUSIC

GETTING AROUNDRECOMMENDS

• Concert by pianist Aldo López Gavilán Junco accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra at Teatro Martí.

(THR is not responsible for any changes made by sponsoring organizations)

By LeydyGÓMEZthr@prensa-latina.cu

8 ENTERTAINMENT& LISTINGS

Casa Yeti Ave 13 # 4420 % 44 y 46, Miramar. Tel: 72065172.Sun. Jun. 4. (10:00a.m). Personal painting exhibition “Telar negro” by Spanish Miguel Ángel Escrivà.

Casa de Asia

Mercaderes no. 111, e/ Obra Pía y Obispo. Tel: 7863 9740. Sun. Jun. 18 (10:00 a.m). Poster exhibitions “Hiroshima y Nagasaki ¡Nunca más!”

Casa Oswaldo Guayasamìn

Calle Obrapìa No. 111 entre Oficios y Mercedes. Tel: 7 861 38 43. Sun. Jun. 18 (10:00 a.m). Exhibition “La edad de la ira.”

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Fine Art Museum)

Edificio de Arte Cubano. Trocadero e/ Monserrate y Zulueta, Habana Vieja. Tel: 7 861-0241 -7 863-9484. Through Mon. Jul. 10 (10:00 a.m). Photo exhibition “Varda-Cuba-Cine”

Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales

Calle San Ignacio esquina Teniente Rey. Mon. Jun. 5 (10:00 a.m). Personal exhibition “Con Razón.”

Museo de Artes Decorativas (Decorative Art Museum)

Calle 17 e/ D y E, Vedado. Tel: 7 832-0924. Through Jun. 30 (10:00am): Temporary exhibition “95 Years of Life” dedicated to Dulce María Loynáz.

DANCE

Teatro Nacional de Cuba

Paseo y 39, Plaza de la Revolución, La HabanaTel: 7 878 5590. Sala Avellaneda. Jun 20, 21, 22, 27, 28,29. Fri and Sat (8:30 pm ) Sun (5:00 pm). Cuban National Ballet Company: Swam Lake. Thu 6, Wed 7, Thu 8 (8:30 pm) Sala Avellaneda. Thu. Jun. 13, Wed 14, Thu 15. “El Quijote” by Camagüey Ballet Company. Sun. Jun. 18 (5:00 pm). “Aquel brujo amor” by Cuba’s Spanish Ballet Company.

Teatro Mella

Calle Línea entre A y B. Vedado. Tel: 7 833 5651. Thu. 6, Wed. 7, Thu. 8 (8:30 pm) “Todos a escena” by Ballet de Lizt Alfonso company.

27th ¨Huella de

España¨ Festival

dedicated to Canary

Islands.

DANCE

GETTING AROUNDENTERTAINMENT& LISTINGS 9

10 CULTURE

The Now Traditional Havana French Film FestivalBy Glenda ARCIA

As has traditionally happened since 1998, Havana recently hosted its French Film Festival, offering Cuban movie buffs the chance to enjoy important cinematic works that represent elements of French culture.

This year, restored films by the renowned filmmaker Jean Pierre Melville, held a particular pride of place.

On the occasion of 100th anniversary of Melville’s birth, Havana’s cinemas screened the première of a retrospective of his work, considered forerunners of the New Wave movement of the 1950s, that flouted established cinematic norms.

Films screened included Army of Shadows, The Red Circle and The Samurai, a 50-year old classic of the crime film genre.

Laurent Grousset, director of the Melville Foundation and the filmmaker’s nephew, was in Havana for the event.

He told The Havana Reporter that the showing of his uncle’s works here is the first of a number of initiatives to celebrate his birth on October 20, 1917.

“He died at the very young age of 55 , but left dozens of films that form part of France’s cinematic patrimony. His films have now been re-mastered, so everybody will be able to see them again. Starting in Cuba is really wonderful,” he stated.

He described bringing his work to Havana as “a pleasure and a huge privilege; a fitting tribute to my uncle and a true celebration of French culture.”

Bruno Foucher, chairman of the French Institute, said that “Cubans are first to rediscover the mythical creator and film noir master, whose works have been restored and digitalized.”

He added that Melville was a unique filmmaker whose productions are still a source of inspiration for many contemporary producers and directors.

From April 27 to May 31, the Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary with an exhibition of works by renowned French artists, promoted cultural exchanges and strengthened bilateral ties.

Frédérique Bredin, chairwoman of the Cinematography and the Moving Image Centre (CNC), said that the Festival is singularly the most significant foreign French cinema and film making event.

She called for greater cooperation between the CNC and the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC) on joint projects.

“Our institutions share a common vision: defending alternative cinema that reflects cultural

diversity and other ways to see the world.She spoke of the desire to “continue with the

digitalization and restoration of films and to sign a co-production agreement to foster the making of educational programs.”

Movie maker and Festival founder, Christophe Barratier, thanked ICAIC and the Cuban people for collaborating on the creation of the Festival back in 1998, and for hosting it every year since.

“Our objective was to bring our two people together through cinema.

When we see how much this event has grown, we realize the importance of our efforts and that the romanticism and the idealism that brought us here really was worthwhile.

PHOTO FEATURE 11

Che Guevara´s Beloved presence in Prensa Latina

Photos: Prensa Latina

Founded in 1959, Prensa Latina achieved both Fidel Castro´s and Argentinian guerrilla commander Ernesto Che Guevara´s dreams of having a Latin American news agency that broacast the truth of the region.

Dressed in his olive green fatigues and military boots, Che Guevara used to visit Prensa Latina headquarters almost every night to chat with his compatriot and first Prensa Latina chairman, Jorge Ricardo Massetti. In case his busy schedule prevented him from dropping by, he phoned the editorial room and asked for the latest news, Prensa Latina founders recalled.

He also visited Prensa Latina´s teletype rooms and transmitter station located on the outskirts of Havana. The legendary revolutionary commander even wrote articles that were broadcast by Prensa Latina.

At Prensa Latina transmitting station in Wajay

At Massetti´s office in Havana

During a visit to Prensa Latina news desk in United Nations

At the teletype room

12 POLITICS

A real threat of aggression against Venezuela and its people exists and according to an analyses of different events, signs seem to indicate that there is a conspiracy afoot.

The facts surrounding several incidents support this view.

However, most Venezuelans, in a strong spirit of civic-military unity, are prepared to confront the situation, and as a last resort, engage in a popular battle against any foreign intervention.

A series of military exercises, such as Zamora 200 early in 2017, in which 76 thousand troops from the National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB), 102 thousand militia and 400 thousand citizens demonstrated the strength of a people‘s army with an effective high command, modern weapons and, above all, an efficient degree of combat preparation.

A modern air force, armored vehicles, missiles (including the Pechora ballistic system) and nearly 562 air, naval and ground forces, demonstrated the Army’s power and must have provided food for thought for potential aggressors who have persistently ignored the calls for dialogue from Miraflores, the headquarters of the Chavista government.

According to Defense Minister, General-in-Chief Vladimir Padrino Lopez, the Zamora 200 Integrated Anti-imperialist Action Exercise served as a warning to Venezuela’s enemies that should an aggression take place, Venezuela will resist with all its military might.

Nevertheless, certain foreign and domestic interests continue to conspire against the constitutional government of President Nicolas Maduro.

For example, a meeting hosted on April 14 by U.S. President Donald Trump with former Colombian Presidents Álvaro Uribe Vélez and Andrés Pastrana Arango, is of particular concern in this regard.

Venezuela was undoubtedly a principal topic of conversation at the meeting at the US president‘s mansion in Mar-a-Lago, Florida and a tweet from Pastrana described it as a cordial and frank conversation about the problems and prospects for Colombia and the region.

WHY PASTRANA AND URIBE?

These two conservative politicians were party to the notorious ‘Plan Colombian’,a mortal blow to the South American nation to pave the way for a Washington dominated region within which Venezuela is an unnecessary piece of the jigsaw.

The six U.S. Bases reportedly planned for Colombia will provide logistical support to local paramilitary drug-trafficking groups to wage a war on their the neighbors.

They will create the requisite chaos to ‚justify‘ Washington‘s ‚humanitarian‘ intervention, which Brazil‘s Temer, Argentina‘s Macri and others would support, experts say.

This scenario could well become a reality.Regrettably, there are no reports on

what was discussed at Trump‘s mansion and the meeting that the White House denies ever took place.

However, there is no one better than Uribe, who conspires with Venezuela‘s right-wing opposition, to guarantee material support for any planned aggression plan, given his links to paramilitary groups.

The meeting was organized by U.S. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, and amongst other topics discussed were the implementation of the agreement between President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People‘s Army (FARC-EP) and drug trafficking.

WHAT A COINCIDENCE!

Rubio is the principal promoter in Washington of violence in Venezuela.

Furthermore, many in the know warn that a possible military intervention in Venezuela is being strongly pushed for in the U.S. by the influential Exxon Mobil, the same oil company that bled Venezuela dry when the incumbent U.S. secretary of State, Rex Wayne Tillerson, was at its helm.

Presumably the former executive director of the world‘s fifth largest company still keeps an eye on its market value and could well be thinking about revenge.

Parlasur MP Oscar Laborde, raised relevant issues in an article published in Contexto, which states ‚the White House wants the armies of Argentina and Brazil to be its accomplices in an intervention in Venezuela.‘

The article denounces President Mauricio Macri‘s submissiveness to Trump.Macri wanted to give Trump the gift of a Argentinean Congress resolution against Venezuela, but the draft bill failed,‘ Labordenoted.

According to the article, ‚Argentinean President Mauricio Macri, Brazilian pro-coup leader Michel Temer and OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro, from Uruguay, seem to be competing to become Washington‘s representative in the region.‘

The economic and social inequalities caused by neoliberal globalization are now so severe and widespread that they cause ever increasing degrees of suffering, concern and alarm.

All is not well in a world, where, according to a British NGO Oxfam report entitled “An economy for the 99%”, published last January, the 8 richest individuals own more than the poorest half of the world’s population of 7,200 million, .

The elite group of Bill Gates, Amancio Ortega, Warren Buffet, Carlos Slim, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison and Michael Bloomberg are worth 426 billion dollars, compared to almost 409 billion owned by the other no less human group.

The study cites the causes of the phenomenon as the design of the prevailing economic model and its principles, which, to the detriment of the poor, grant excessive rewards to the rich.

The 2015-2016 year was kind indeed to big business and according to the report, huge profits were amassed and that together, the incomes of the 10 biggest corporations were greater that those of 180 nations combined.

The optimization of utilities through intensive workforce exploitation and tax evasion are two ubiquitous aspects of a system within which the CEO of India’s largest information technology firm earns 416 times more than the average of his workers.

The report also reveals that cacao growers, who in the 1980s received 18% of the value of a chocolate bar, today get just 6%, which contributes to lower corporate costs.

As do the strategies employed by multinational corporations to pay less taxes through the use of tax havens, evasion tactics or the exploitation of exemptions poor countries are forced to implement in order to attract investment.

The outlook is even more worrying when seemingly unstoppable increases in wealth polarization in the last four years are taken into account, as a result of which the world’s richest 1 percent has amassed more resources than the remaining 99%.

The incomes of the world’s poorest 10 percent grew by less than 3 dollars annually between 1988 and 2011, whilst the richest 1 percent enjoyed a rate of growth 182 times higher over the same period.

All the above means that during the next 20 years, 500 individuals will bequeath more than 2,100 trillion dollars to their heirs, an amount greater

than the GDP generated by India’s 1,300 million inhabitants.

According to Oxfam, this dominant position is sustained by six false presumptions -- which even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) accepts cause inequality -- on which neo-liberalism is based and that must urgently be abandoned .

This worldview holds that the market is always right and the role of the government should be minimized.

Corporations need to increase profits and utilities for shareholders regardless of the cost and that excessive individual wealth is a sign of success to which consequential inequalities are irrelevant.

To such unsustainable suppositions we can add that GDP growth should be the primary consideration in public policy’ design and that an economic model is gender neutral and world resources are unlimited.

The unequal distribution of wealth causes the scourges of hunger, malnutrition, illiteracy, unsanitary living conditions and the lack or non-existence of health and education services.

The discriminatory disparity of opportunities and possibilities based on social class, race, religion, gender and other factors are also part of this unjust matrix.

Inequality and poverty are essential factors in determining increasing migratory flows, that have left more than 65 million people displaced and facing an almost unbearable reality worldwide.

The governments of the most developed capitalist G-7 countries and institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum are increasingly concerned because of the implications for the functionality and stability of the system.

However, as Oxfam and the Italian Coalition against poverty illustrated, the final declaration of a recent meeting of Finance Ministers in Italy, only included a brief statement of principles and aspirations, and contained no ‘concrete or definitive plan of action’.

Venezuela Threatened By Aggression

By LuisBEATÓN

The Painful and Frightening Faces of InequalityBy FrankGONZÁLEZ

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ECONOMY 13

The construction of a bagasse burning bioelectrical plant adjacent to the Ciro Redondo sugarcane mill, represents an important step on the road to diversification within the sugarcane industry.

This was stated at a ceremonial laying of the plant’s foundation stone. The project forms part of an ambitious plan to construct 25 such facilities by 2030 which will supply a combined total of 950 megawatts.

This operation is a joint venture between the Guernsey, U.K. registered Havana Energy Limited’s Biopower S.A. and Cuba’s Zerus S.A., - an Azcuba group company created to specialize in projects financed with foreign capital.

According to Andrew Macdonald, Biopower S.A. Chairman, funds in excess of 186 million dollars have been raised by companies from China and the United Kingdom for works scheduled to be completed by 2019.

Macdonald said that Biopower S.A. and Zerus are the principal parties involved in the venture in which Shanghai Electric also have a presence as a principal shareholder.

The Shanghai Mechanic and Electric

Engineering Institute (Simee) will provide state-of-the-art technology to the facility.

Francisco Lleó, Zerus S.A. General Manager explained that once operational, the bioelectrical plant will supply 62 mw.

The facility will use sugarcane bagasse and marabou when the harvest finishes. The latter is an abundant invasive scrub-like plant that, once cleared, will render land suitable for the production of food.

The 25 bioelectrical plants will increase the level of the renewable energy produced in Cuba from just over 4% at present to over 24% in 2030, of which 14% will come from the agricultural and sugarcane industries.

PROJECT ADVANTAGES

The bioelectrical plant will cover an area of 5 hectares and contribute to the national , power grid through the exploitation of a renewable biomass, thus fostering diversification and adding to the aggregate value of sugarcane production.

It will also facilitate enhanced efficiency markers, guarantee the production of sugar, reduce costs, increase the use of renewable sources of energy, substitute imported fossil fuel, protect the environment and utilize new technologies.

Another important consideration is that a major significant source of energy will be attained through the upgrading of technology employed by the industry, which

will reduce the use of vapor and electricity and ensure the availability of biomass.

It is also noteworthy that this forms part of a portfolio of investment opportunities in the country endorsed by the Cuban foreign investment act.

Lleó added that of the projected 25 bioelectrical plants, 11 have already secured partners and financing and progress is being made in relation to the rest.

The Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Cuba, Antony Stokes, told the The Havana Reporter, that British companies have plans to participate in 5 bioelectrical plants with a combined projected output of 300 mw, two of which are to be located at the Mario Muñoz and Ecuador sugarcane mills.

China’s Ambassador to Cuba, Chen Xi, and the Deputy Chairman of Shanghai Electric, Chen Ganjin, also participated in the laying down of the foundation stone.

Both agreed on the economic and environmental importance of the work for the country.

There are presently over 200 bioelectrical plants operating worldwide, and according to experts, these now form part of an elite agricultural and sugarcane sector program.

Sugar Industry Now An Important Green Energy SourceBy RobertoSALOMÓN

14 ECONOMY

Clean Technology Experts Visit CubaBy Roberto F. CAMPOS

Hotel Industry Flourishes in Cuba

By Roberto F. CAMPOS

Specialists from the Global Cleantech Cluster Association (GCCA) concluded a visit to Cuba in May, with a view to creating a Cuban information exchange chapter, in the context of tourism as a priority economic activity.

The GCCA (clean technology association) chairman, Christian Hauselmann, explained that the Bern, Switzerland, based organization, combines 50 chapters or clusters and 15 thousand companies worldwide.

The entity’s principal objectives include experience sharing on industry, water, energy and agriculture related topics and to provide important information to countries in need.

The executive highlighted that they had already made progress on biogas and other energy-related issues in a number of chapters by passing on experiences to those who face similar situations and need information.

Hauselmann was accompanied on his visit by manager Mark W. Grobmyer, deputy chairman and general manager, John Regenhardt and other senior officials including Brian McGeroge and Tony Greer, from GCCA in Little Rock, Arkansas (United States).

He said that had known Cuba when the US broke diplomatic relations with the country and that this visit allowed him to learn more about the people, culture and other details of interest.

The objective of the visit was to create a Cuba Chapter No. 51 and to that end, talks were held with authorities and entities here such as the Antonio Núñez Jiménez Society for Nature and Humanity.

They also met with experts such as the geologist Manuel Iturralde and the economist Juan Triana.

The group plans to return to Cuba between September and October this year, to strengthen ties and to examine the possibility of including Cuba in the GCCA.

The chairman told how “the entity is a not-for-profit agency promoting detailed information exchanges between members, to multiply the benefits of each country’s potential.”

One of the topics on their agenda is tourism and its links to the food, water and energy sectors, particularly during this year, declared the Year of Sustainable Tourism by the UN.

They also look forward to enhancing their experience of Cuban knowledge in certain fields and contributing to the resolution of relevant issues for both Cuba and other countries, especially in relation to drought.

Agro-tourism also has the potential to show how food is produced and how to respect and pass on community traditions.

The GCCA has strong media links to promote the socialization of knowledge and to facilitate the better use of information worldwide.

The development of the hotel industry in Cuba has undeniable challenges in view of its sustainable growth and the quality of the services. This sector, that constantly undergoes renovation, attracts the attention of international experts.

Accordingly, over 250 executives and investors from 24 countries, including the United States, gathered in Havana from May 15-16 to approach Cuba´s potential during the Latin American Hotel and Tourism Investment Conferences (SAHIC).

Michael Maisel, from the Washington-based Engage Cuba coalition, expressed his satisfaction with the two-day meeting held at the Melia-Cohiba hotel, and reiterated his colleagues’ desire in relation to the lifting of the economic blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba for the last five decades.

After commenting that the event allowed strengthening relations between Cuba and the United States, Maisel said he was felt confident the Trump administration will favour business with the island nation.

Whatever the outcome, Engage Cuba would continue fighting to have links and relations with Cuba, he stressed.

Leonard Vance Wormser, New Orleans’ Senior Managing Director of the Hospitality Division, made the highest number of contacts possible during the meeting, with the purpose to better approach the Cuban reality.

Vance Wormser is particularly interested in investment in the hotel industry, and hopes to develop tourist centres throughout Cuba.

SAHIC chairman Arturo Garcia said Cuba could become the second tourist destination in Latin America, after Mexico.

In this regards, he highlighted that the achievement of such goals would depend on the participation of investors in Cuban tourism sector, which could eventually reach, he said, over 12 million visitors per year.

SAHIC, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, is responsible for investment projects in the hotel and leisure industry.

QUALITY AT THE FOREFRONT

During the closing session of the SAHIC meeting, Cuban authorities stressed on the need to guarantee service quality and investment projects.

Cuban Tourism Ministry (MINTUR) Development chairman José Daniel Alonso gave details about business opportunities.

After recalling that in 1990 there were over 18,666

hotel rooms in the country, today the number exceeds 67,000 in over 300 hotel facilities.

Alonso also referred to investments planned up to 2030, which includes the construction of 224 new facilities and the expansion of another 32, plus the restoration of 23 yacht clubs and other 47 projects on the leisure and adventure sectors.

In line with the above, the Cuban official referred to about 17 projects to restore the camping sites and the work conducted on top hotel facilities like the Manzana Kempinsky hotel (246 rooms), Varadero Internacional (934 rooms); Packard (321) and Prado y Malecón (250).

Ministry´s priorities, Alonso added, include the development of scuba diving, cultural tourism, events, health tourism, trips, nature tourism and the tourist- related real estate sector.

He added that 27 joint ventures are already set up for the development of hotels and marinas; 11 investment projects are under execution and 13 hotels are under contract of administration, for a total of 1,995 rooms.

Plans also include the 687-room Grand Kempiski Shanghai, to be managed by Cubanacán in China.

Alonso pointed out that Cuba already has 10 international airports, 7 yacht clubs, 4 cruise ship terminals, while 68 international airlines are now flying to Cuba from 70 major cities in the world.

There are also joint ventures for the construction and marketing fields, as well as for the development of real estate projects, management contracts and marketing and management of yacht clubs’ hotels and services.

There are over a hundred investment opportunities in hotel and yacht club construction and management, as well as marketing.

HAVANA AND ITS STATE OF MIND When addressing the audience, which included World Travel and Tourism Council chairman David Scowsill, Havana city’s historian Eusebio Leal Spengler described the Cuban capital as a “state of mind,” a safe and peaceful scenario where the people is the most important thing.

Likewise, Leal gave his opinion about the tourist sector’s development in the city, which will celebrate its 500 years of foundation in 2019.

He talked about the huge efforts made to restore Old Havana, with its buildings full of history and traditions, and made emphasis on the permanent link with its inhabitants.

According to the City historian, over 90 percent of the tourists coming to Cuba want to visit Havana, whose restoration, he said, was almost accomplished with an almost religious-like faith.

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SPORTS 15

Cuban and US baseball players will participate in the sixth annual friendly series between July 2nd and 7th next, a game regarded by both nations as their national sport and a shared cultural heritage.

The friendly series between Cuban teams and US collegiate national teams restarted in 2012 after a 16-year hiatus.

The annual event actually commenced back in 1987, but was unilaterally cancelled by Washington in 1996.

It was staged in United States in 2013 and 2015 and Cuba hosted the 2012,

2014 and 2016 series.This year the event will be co-hosted

in the US by the Charlotte Knights and Durham Bulls clubs.

The North Americans presently have 3-2 series lead, having won 13 of the 25 matches played, to Cuba’s 12.

Cuba won the series 3-2 in 2012, only to be thrashed 5-0 the following year.

In 2014, the Cubans returned the

compliment and in 2015, the US won 3-2 at home.

They did so by the same score again as the visiting team in 2016 Cuba’s baseball authorities have selected a 37-player draft panel, led by three-time Cuban champions Ciego de Ávila team manager, Roger Machado.

Machado believes his squad combines the requisite youth and experience to develop a winning team and to encourage outstanding young players and athletes in the sport.

The team, with an average age of 25.8 years, is composed principally of young players, some from the U-23 category and others who performed well in the National Series and it includes 4 catchers, 9 infielders, 6 outfielders and 18 pitchers.

10 of the selected players competed in the IV World Baseball Classic.

Prior to the tournament in North Carolina, Cuba will play 21 games against six finalists from the independent Canadian-American League (Can-Am), between June 9th and -29th.

John Savage, head coach at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for 13 years and a former minor leagues professional pitcher, will manage the US team, assisted by pitching coach Dave Snow, who last year trained the

team that defeated Cuba.Snow, who was also a coach in

the Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, will be assisted by Troy Buckley, a minor league coordinator with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Rick Vanderhook has been selected as the third-base and batting coach and Larry Lee as first-base and assistant team coach.

The bullpen will count on the services of DrewLinder, with Tom Fleischman coordinating.

Carl Stocklin (trainer) and Dan Gliot (chief media advisor) also form part of the host nation’s management team.

USA Baseball to host Cuban National TeamBy AlfredoBOADA

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