President of Cuba Fidel Castro

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to urge the United States to lift a nearly half century-old economic embargo against Cuba, making its now ritual call amid some easing of U.S. ties toward the communist-run island. The assembly passed a non-binding resolution -- with 187 votes in favor, three against and two abstentions -- for the 18th consecutive year, reflecting the world's disapproval of Washington's longstanding effort to isolate Havana. U.S. President Barack Obama's administration has taken some steps to ease hostility with Cuba, although it has not moved to lift the trade embargo. "The economic blockade has ... Read Full Story

HAVANA (Reuters) - Spain's foreign minister met with Cuban President Raul Castro on Monday and said the communist leader affirmed his commitment to economic reform and expressed his desire to continue improving relations with the United States. Castro also promised to pay about $450 million in back payments to Spanish companies doing business on the cash-strapped Caribbean island, said Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos. Moratinos, speaking to reporters at the end of a two-day trip to the former Spanish colony, described wide-ranging talks on topics ranging from Cuba-European Union relations to improvements in Cuba's human rights. Moratinos said Castro told him during a 2007 ... Read Full Story

Count Fidel Castro among those in favor of the Norwegian Nobel Committee's controversial choice of U.S. President Barack Obama for the Nobel Peace prize. The former Cuban leader said Saturday that he thought the choice was a "positive step," though he added it was more a repudiation of Obama's predecessors than a recognition of anything concrete Obama has done. "Many believe that he still has not earned the right to receive such a distinction," Castro wrote in a column published in state media. "But we would like to see, more than a prize for the U.S. president, a criticism of the genocidal policies that ... Read Full Story

HAVANA (Reuters) - Former Cuban President Fidel Castro praised President Barack Obama on Wednesday for making a "brave gesture" by speaking out against global warming and saying developed nations had caused much of the damage. But Castro added, in a column published in Cuba's state-run media, that Obama was part of a capitalist system that was "incompatible" with economic growth and a clean environment. He was referring to Obama's speech at a U.N. summit on global warming on Tuesday in which the U.S. president warned that failure to act on climate change, said to be caused by the emission of greenhouse gases, could create ... Read Full Story

President Barack Obama has extended the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba for one year, the White House said in a statement released on Monday. The extension was expected and has been the practice of all U.S. presidents dating to the 1970s under a section of the so-called "Trading With the Enemy Act." Obama extended the embargo even though he has made reaching out to old U.S. foes a key plank in his foreign policy. There have been signs of a possible thaw in U.S.-Cuban ties since Raul Castro early last year took over as president from his ailing brother Fidel. Fidel Castro had held ... Read Full Story