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Cuba opens broad swath of its economy to private enterprise 2 minutes read By Lorena Canto Havana, Feb 6 (efe-epa).- Cuba’s Communist government this week vastly expanded the scope for private enterprise on the island by opening the vast majority of recognized occupations to self-employed individuals. More than a decade after authorizing private initiative in 127 categories, the Cabinet approved the scrapping of that list in favor of liberalizing all but 124 of the upwards of 2,000 occupations recognized in the National Classification of Economic Activity, official Communist Party daily G...

Can Biden revive US rapprochement with Cuba? 3 minutes read By Lorena Canto Havana, Jan 23 (efe-epa).- The arrival in the White House of Joe Biden could open a new chapter in relations between the United States and Cuba after four years of intensifying acrimony under Donald Trump, who ratcheted up punitive measures toward the Communist-ruled island. Biden was vice president when Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro announced in December 2014 the resumption of bilateral diplomatic ties after more than decades of mutual hostility. Obama went on to make a historic visit to Cuba and used t...

Cubans wary of sharp rise in electricity prices starting in January 2 minutes read By Lorena Canto Havana, Dec 15 (efe-epa).- So-called “voluntary blackouts” are set to become a new reality in Cuba starting Jan. 1, when once heavily subsidized electricity rates will skyrocket by as much as 500 percent. The sharp cutback in these subsidies, part of a series of economic reforms that will include a long-postponed move to a single unified exchange rate (to be pegged at 24 pesos per $1) and a big salary hike for government workers, will make Cubans think twice about switching on the air cond...