News stories by Patricia Grogg, page 6

HAVANA, Dic 18 (IPS) - "Child abuse merits a different, in-depth approach. The objective of this film is to make the problem visible and promote debate and reflection," says Eric Corvalán, director of a documentary that required "breaking through walls."

HAVANA, Dic 11 (IPS) - The social and economic model that is taking shape in Cuba based on changes gradually being implemented require reforms for strengthening and giving greater autonomy to local government bodies, which began to be renewed in October with the election of new municipal assembly members.

HAVANA, Nov 30 (IPS) - The Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas will resume the peace talks in the Cuban capital on Dec. 5, in a climate of moderate optimism surrounding a process in which citizen participation could play a key role.

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Nov 23 (IPS) - "The city looked as if it had been bombed. On the way to my office, I passed people who had the same shocked look on their faces as I did. We would look at each other, and even though we were strangers, we'd ask ‘How did things go for you? Did anything happen to your house?' It was a kind of warm solidarity that did me a lot of good."

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Nov 20 (IPS) - You can still see broken plates, toys, books and some photographs among the rubble that was once the homes of Rey Antonio Acosta's family and other families in Mar Verde, the beach community where Hurricane Sandy made landfall in this eastern Cuban city.

HAVANA, Oct 29 (IPS) - As the Caribbean reaches the end of October – the second-to-last month of the Atlantic hurricane season – Sandy has caused significant material losses and claimed the lives of 44 people in Haiti, 11 in Cuba, two in the Dominican Republic, one in Jamaica and one in the Bahamas.

HAVANA, Oct 16 (IPS) - The easing of travel restrictions announced by the Cuban government Tuesday was one of the most eagerly awaited reforms. However, limitations remain in place for professionals and others deemed essential to the country’s development or national security.

HAVANA, Oct 15 (IPS) - As peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas are about to start in Oslo, the possible participation of rebel leader Simón Trinidad, in prison in the United States, has not yet been decided.

HAVANA, Oct 11 (IPS) - Cuba has been steeped in a profound economic crisis over the last 20 years, and no short-term solution to the accumulated problems can be expected, says Cuban professor and researcher Ricardo Torres.

HAVANA, Sep 27 (IPS) - It's hard to imagine her in guerrilla fatigues, carrying a 25-kg backpack and firing shots to repel an enemy attack, or diving for cover from aerial bombardment. She is known as Sandra Ramírez, and she has left the field of battle in Colombia to come to the Cuban capital to talk peace.