Month: July 2018

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/cuba-s-new-constitution-would-allow-same-sex-marriages-10551950 Cuba’s new constitution would allow same-sex marriages   Mariela Castro, daughter of former Cuban president Raul Castro, has long advocated for the right to same-sex marriage, a right included in the island’s proposed new constitution. (Photo: AFP/Yamil Lage) Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/cuba-s-new-constitution-would-allow-same-sex-marriages-10551950   HAVANA: The new constitution being debated this weekend by Cuban legislators would provide a legal path for same-sex marriage, an important demand of the socialist island’s LGBT community. The document’s Article 68 would define marriage as the “voluntary and consensual union between two people” without specifying their biological sex, the official newspaper Granma said Saturday, reporting on National Assembly debates over the proposed changes in Cuba’s basic law. Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/cuba-s-new-constitution-would-allow-same-sex-marriages-10551950 The current constitution, dating from 1976, limits marriage to the “voluntary union of a man and a woman.” The change would “open the door to legalizing homosexual couples for all posterity,” Francisco Rodriguez, a journalist and well-known gay activist who is also a member of the governing Communist Party, wrote in his blog. By incorporating “the principle of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” the new wording could facilitate other legal and policy changes to protect the island’s LGBT community, he said. Still, Rodriguez warned that “the fight ahead will not be easy.” Certain political and ideological forces will “do everything possible to wreck these dreams,” he said. For more than...

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-07/22/c_137340926.htm   Half of Cuba’s 2017 budget spent on welfare, education: gov’t Source: Xinhua    2018-07-22 13:04:25 HAVANA, July 21 (Xinhua) — The government spent 51 percent of its national budget on education, health and social welfare last year, Cuban Finance Minister Lina Pedraza said on Saturday. “Cuba devoted great resources to health, social assistance and education in 2017,” Pedraza told some 600 lawmakers at a meeting of the National Assembly, Cuba’s parliament. According to Pedraza, more than 10.7 billion pesos (10.7 billion U.S. dollars as per the Cuban central bank exchange rate) was invested in public healthcare and social assistance programs and 8.1 billion pesos ( 8.1 billion dollars) in education. Cuba’s fiscal accounts showed revenues surpassed expenses by 3 percent. Tax revenues, mainly from state-owned companies, accounted for 74 percent of the budget, though the contribution of the private sector rose to 11 percent of tax earnings. However, certain factors impeded the full execution of the budget, including financial constraints, a three-year drought, lack of oil, U.S. sanctions and the impact of Hurricane Irma, Pedraza said. Editor:...

http://plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=30778&SEO=end-of-u.s-blockade-against-cuba-is-demanded-in-streets-of-miami End of U.S Blockade Against Cuba is Demanded in Streets of Miami Washington, July 9 (Prensa Latina) The Martiana Alliance coalition, which gathers various organizations of Cuban emigrants in the U.S. city of Miami, Florida, called today for a new protest against the U.S. blockade imposed on the island. It also called for a full normalization of relations between the two peoples and governments, and an end to restrictions on Americans traveling freely to Cuba. With these purposes in mind, the Martiana Alliance plans to hold a caravan of cars next Saturday along important avenues in Miami. We cannot sit idly while our families and the rest of the Cuban people suffer the consequences of these cruel and arbitrary policies by the administration of President Donald Trump,’ said Andres Gomez, national coordinator of the Antonio Maceo Brigade, a member of that entity. He also criticized the position of the Cuban extreme right wing allied with the government in the city. On March 10, a caravan similar to the one planned became a way of protesting against Washington’s decision, days before, on its embassy in the Caribbean. The initiative was then valued as very good and timely by Damien Diaz, president of the Martiana Alliance. There were no provocations by right-wing and anti-Cuban groups against our cars, and we felt the positive support of many people during the tour,...