Results tagged “cuba”

The FBI's longest wanted fugitive was arrested at JFK yesterday, where he had arrived from Cuba after spending more than four decades outside the feds' grasp. Louis Armando Peña Soltren, 66, was arrested at the same airport where his crime originated: On November 24th, 1968 he left the airport with two accomplices on a Pan Am 707 bound for Puerto Rico. During the flight they forced their way into the plane's cabin and ordered the crew to fly to Havana, threatening them with guns and knives quaintly smuggled on board in a diaper bag.

Sure, the State Department cleared the NY Philharmonic to go to Cuba next month, but the donors who helped fund that trip weren't allowed, so it's all off! The Philharmonic said, "We have been told by officials at the Treasury Department that the current regulations governing travel to Cuba does not provide for this particular category of people"—rich patrons of the arts—"Without (their) support, this trip is not financially possible."

Footage of Fidel Castro was released yesterday, showing the former Cuban president visiting with Venezulan President Hugo Chavez and his young brother Raul Castro, who now rules Cuba. Per CBS News:

A thin but animated Castro, dressed in an open-neck track suit over pajamas, is seen in a spirited conversation with the other two men in an unidentified garden setting. There is no audio, but the government news anchor said the three were discussing the global food crisis and the U.S. elections, among other issues.

Last month, the 81-year-old Castro wrote an editorial for Cuban newspaper Granma (reprinted by the Guardian) essentially supporting Barack Obama, noting the presidential candidate's progressiveness, but also criticized him, "Were I to defend him, I would do his adversaries a favour. I have therefore no reservations about criticising him and expressing myself frankly."

Cuban president Fidel Castro resigned his position after nearly 50 years of rule. The 81-year-old Castro has been battling illness since 2006, notably turning over power to his brother Raul and other ministers temporarily. Though he was still ruling after his 2006 surgery, Castro was little seen. Now it is expected that Castro's resignation positions Raul Castro, 76, in line for the presidency.