Vive Cuba

In power since the triumph of the Cuban revolution on Jan. 1, 1959, Castro is the world’s longest ruling head of government. Only Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, crowned in 1952, has been head of state longer. Castro undergoes surgery, delegates to brother

Castro has stepped down. Unheard of. And the reason is this; he has defeated the U.S. Thanks to the help of Canadians including Trudeau and Sherrit Gordon Inc.

Cuba Comes in from the Cold

Bolstered by New Investments and Beneficial Trade Agreements, the Island’s Economy Surges while Washington Grumbles over Havana’s Possible Big Oil Surprise

For a country long in the grip of a paralyzing economic malaise, and with living standards which have not always endeared government officials to ordinary citizens, Fidel Castro’s May Day boast of 11.8 percent growth in the first three months of 2006 came as welcome news to a long suffering population. The upbeat report, reflecting a far better-stocked national larder than ever before, replaced the usual exhortations for personal sacrifices that the average Cuban was used to hearing from the leadership, which usually offers more fiery rhetoric than caloric intake. In front of more than one million people gathered at Havana’s Revolution Square, Castro trumpeted progress in all sectors of the economy, despite an unshakeable U.S. trade embargo. Since then, and in widely different locales, Fidel has continued to boast a climbing rate of economic growth, claiming that Cuba’s economy had expanded by 12.5% in the first quarter of this year. “We should thank [the blockade] because it has forced us to grow and rise to the occasion,” the near-octogenarian leader satisfyingly declared on May Day.

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