Thus the members of Buena Vista Social Club became the first Cuban based musicians to perform in the White House. During the recital, organized by President Obama, the band played some of the most popular pieces from its repertory, such as “Chan Chan,” “Veinte años,” and “El cuarto de Tula,” according to reports by the accredited press in Washington.

One of the protagonists of the event was 84 year old Buena Vista diva Omara Portuondo, who on various occasions thanked the audience in English for their applause and invited the public to sing along to hits like “Quizás, quizás, quizás.” During the concert, organized in the context of activities to celebrate Spanish Heritage Month, Omara was accompanied by many of her compañeros such as singer and guitarist Eliades Ochoa; lute player Barbarito To rres; trumpeter Manuel “El Guajiro” Mi rabal and trombonist Jesús “Aguaje” Ramos.

Buena Vista arrived at the White House during its Adiós (Farewell) World tour, which will see them bid farewell to the stage for the last time, but as we have learned over the years, you never know with Buena Vista.

(Granma)

Farrar’s monitoring of the Internet along with his wife occurred in August 2008, when he addressed a memorandum to the US State Department described as sensitive, without reporting any obstacle from Cuban authorities.

The diplomat suggested the White House to facilitate programs to circumvent regulations established by local Internet providers, as denounced by cubasi.cu website, reproduced today by Cubadebate website.

The memorandum said that USINT in Cuba welcomes all contributions coming from Washington, where work is undergoing to develop programs to avoid Internet filters.

It also announced that he would try to improve local Internet conditions and consider its possible use in website operations.

The text titled “On-Line Surfing in Havana” described visits to several web access points, including some hotels, to verify if the websites of several organizations benefited by the United States were easily access.

Farrar reported the impossibility to access webpages of demised and current organizations that get funds from the US government for the Cuba Program with the objective to change the political system in the Island.

Blocked sites included Directorio Democratico Cubano; Centro Cubano para una Cuba Libre o Grupo de Apoyo a la Disidencia, all affiliated to subversive projects against Havana.

He recognized having access to websites of non governmental organizations dealing with human rights like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

“You can even unload fully the report HRW 2007 if you are patient enough to wait twenty minutes,” said Farrar in his memorandum.

He said that you can also surf websites of USINT, the State Department and the United Nations Organization, and even those of The Washington Post and The New York Times journals.

The Cubasi article recalled that in March, Cuban courts gave US citizen Alan Gross a 15-year prison sentence for acts against the independence and territorial integrity of the State after proving that Gross was directly involved in a subversive US plan to destroy the Revolution using infocommunication systems.

(by Prensa Latina)