Certain U.S. businesses will now be permitted to open offices and bank accounts in Cuba, establish joint ventures with some Cuban government entities and hire Cubans to work for them under major regulatory changes announced by the Obama administration Friday.
Before he lands in the United States on Sept. 22, Francis will arrive in Havana on Sept. 19 for a four-day, three-city tour of Cuba that will put a spotlight on his political and diplomatic skills as never before. His challenge: to accelerate the process of reconciliation between the United States and Cuba charted by John Paul II and push the Castro government to hasten and deepen the pace of change on the island.
HAVANA — The Cuban government said it plans to pardon 3,522 prisoners over the next 72 hours as a "humanitarian" gesture ahead of Pope Francis' visit to the island beginning next week. But the announcement appeared to rule out pardons for at least some of the dozens of inmates that rights groups consider political prisoners.
The action comes amid worries of a brain drain of Cuban medical professionals as the Communist-ruled island loosens long-time restrictions on emigration.
The American flag was raised Friday over the U.S. Embassy in Havana beside the three Marines who last lowered the Stars and Stripes more than a half-century ago in a day of history-making symbolism as more Cold War vestiges were put to rest.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry arrives in Havana Friday for a ceremony to raise the Stars and Stripes once more at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba. He'll meet with dissidents later in the day.
The Cuban government says the only obstacles to improved Internet access are technical and financial, not political or ideological. It has set a goal of 50 percent household penetration by 2020.
Giving guidance on regulatory compliance and help with networking are normal practices at U.S. embassies around the world. But they're still foreign territory for U.S. officials at the reopened embassy in Cuba.
Before this past week's historic resumption of diplomatic relations with Cuba, Washington Post photojournalist Sarah L. Voisin visited the nation to capture a lifestyle that will inevitably change as businesses emerge among a population hopeful for new goods.
The ceremony -- attended by Cuban President Raúl Castro and some 10,000 of the country's ruling elite and their guests, but not by the frail 88-year-old Fidel -- was the first since the restoration of relations with the United States.
