Cuba
Mexico and Cuba patch up relations, settle debt
HAVANA (Reuters) - Mexico and Cuba put six years of testy relations behind them this week with a visit by Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa and the rolling-over of $400 million in Cuban debt. Full Article | Video
Cuban press focuses more on country's problems
HAVANA (Reuters) - Granma newspaper, the mouthpiece of Cuba's ruling Communist Party and former president Fidel Castro, expanded its page count from eight to 16 for the first time on Friday. Full Article
Analysis
What comes next?
Raul Castro's team of close allies is no ticket for deep change in Cuba. Full Article
Economic change
Changes are inevitable, but experts say no one should expect too much, too soon. Full Article
Graphic
Factbox: Fidel Castro
Cuba's Fidel Castro announced his retirement on Feb. 19 after almost half a century as leader of his country.
Here are some facts about him: Full Article
Castro was the world's third longest-serving head of state, after Britain's Queen Elizabeth and the King of Thailand. He was not been seen in public since illness forced him to hand over day-to-day control of the country to his brother Raul Castro in July 2006. (Photo taken by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during their meeting in Havana January 15, 2008.) Full Article
Castro holds the Guinness Book of Records title for the longest speech ever delivered at the United Nations: 4 hours and 29 minutes, on September 29, 1960. His longest speech on record in Cuba was 7 hours and 10 minutes in 1986 at the III Communist Party Congress in Havana. (Pictured in Paris on March 15, 1995. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/Files)
Castro claims he survived 634 attempts on his life, mainly masterminded by the Central Intelligence Agency. They allegedly included poison pills, a toxic cigar, exploding mollusks, and a chemically-tainted diving suit as well as powder to make his beard fall out so as to undermine his popularity. (Pictured during a visit to Oran, Algeria, May 12, 1972. REUTERS/Prensa Latina)
Despite the CIA plots, a U.S.-backed exile invasion at the Bay of Pigs and four and a half decades of economic sanctions, Castro outlasted nine U.S. presidents, from Eisenhower to Clinton, and faced increased hostility under President George W. Bush, who tightened enforcement of financial sanctions and a travel ban. (Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez visits Castro in Havana August 13, 2006. REUTERS/Estudios Revolucion-Granma/Handout)
Castro has at least eight children. His eldest son Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, who is the image of his father and is known as Fidelito, is a Soviet-trained nuclear scientist. Daughter Alina Fernandez, the result of an affair with a Havana socialite when Castro was underground in the 1950s, escaped from Cuba disguised as a tourist in 1993 and is a vocal critic of her father's rule from her Miami radio program. Castro has five sons with his second wife Dalia Soto. Their names all begin with A. The youngest, Antonio, is the national baseball team's doctor. (Castro meets with Nikita Kruschev at the hotel Theresa in New York, October 20, 1960. REUTERS/Prensa Latina)
