News stories by Patricia Grogg, page 14

Under the spreading shade of a wild fig tree in Old Havana, a small plaque now recalls the sacrifice made by five Afro-Cubans, 'anonymous Abakuá who died trying to save medical students' shot by firing squad, when this island was still a Spanish colony.

Cubans are delving deeper into economic change, which means new taxes and an end to the state subsidies that for decades were a symbol of the equality so highly extolled under the Cuban Revolution.

After exhausting the legal appeals process in the United States, family members and human rights groups in Cuba are calling for a solidarity campaign to convince President Barack Obama to pardon the five Cuban agents who have spent the last 12 years in U.S. prisons.

Human rights activists are pleased with the decision by Cuba’s Supreme Court to commute to 30 years in prison the death sentences of two Salvadoran men convicted of terrorism. But dissidents continue to call for complete abolition of the death penalty.

'This is getting bad. We hear that they're going to take away the ration books,' says an elderly man, his elbows resting on the countertop of a small shop in the Cuban capital. 'Well, for whatever it's worth,' replies a woman in a low voice as she makes her monthly ration purchases.

A submarine fibre optic cable which is expected to greatly increase internet connection speed in Cuba will soon be operational, and is creating moderate expectations among civil society on the island, where private access to the net is not a government priority.

Cuba will develop its socialist economy relying on integration with friendly countries, accepting foreign capital as a complement to national investment, using its human capital efficiently and increasing high added value production, according to draft guidelines to be discussed by society at large.

The families of the last 13 Cuban dissidents set to be released from prison are experiencing 'tension, but we have not lost hope that they might be freed at any moment.

'They brought me 100 copies, which sold out in less than half an hour,' the vendor at one of the Cuban government's newsstands told IPS, referring to the nearly 100 pages of regulations published in the government gazette. The people queuing up 'just about drove me crazy,' he added.

Cuba's biotechnology industry is hoping to conquer the European Union market with Heberprot-P, a therapeutic drug used to prevent foot amputations in patients with diabetes.