A sister of Cuba's former long-time leader, Fidel Castro, has admitted spying for the CIA in the 1960s.

Juanita Castro, who now lives in Miami, said she had gathered sensitive information for the US for three years.

In her memoirs, she said she had fallen out with Fidel and her other brother Raul - Cuba's current president - over the killing of their opponents.

Ms Castro, 76, said she had helped to warn and hide Cuban dissidents before finally fleeing the island in 1964.

There has been no immediate reaction from the US or Cuban governments.

'Donna'

In her memoirs - Fidel and Raul, My Brothers, the Secret History - Ms Castro says she was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency in Havana two years after the 1959 revolution brought Fidel Castro to power.

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see toon at top...

Cuba's leaders do not want to normalise ties with the US because then they would lose their excuse for the state of the country, says Hillary Clinton.

Cuba's response to recent US efforts to improve relations had revealed "an intransigent, entrenched regime" in Havana, said the US secretary of state.

The Cuban authorities have long blamed a 48-year US trade embargo for holding back the country's development.

The US says the embargo will remain until Cuba improves human rights.

Relations between Washington and the communist government in Havana have soured in recent months after early expectations of an improvement under the Obama administration.

'Very sad'

Mrs Clinton said the response of Cuban President Raul Castro and his brother, ex-leader Fidel Castro, to US efforts to improve ties proved they had no interest in political reform or ending the sanctions.

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Gus: the real news here is that Cuba being the backwater that it had to be because of sanctions, has been the only country on earth that seems not to have contributed anything to the global warming crisis. This was achieved by not "over-developing", but maintaining a population interaction balance, even if enforced.

Cuba repairs and recycles what it has and, of all societies, Cuba is the least that will "consume" and throw away stuff with carelessness as we do in the western world. Material possession in Cuba had to become limited as the pool of availability was small but the intellectual and stylistic ideals had to become elevated for people to survive. Rather than throw the Cubans out with the bathwater, we should learn survival with much less greed in our systems, thus learn from the Cubans.

The careful awakening of Cuba has to be managed from within, not from the American bullies coming in boots and all... It's the very delicate situation that the Cuban authorities are fully aware of... They cannot become part of the greed cycle again. If "La Clinton" cannot see or apreciate this delicate situation, then she's a diplomate's dog.

After a trial lasting 13 weeks, the jury in Texas took three hours to find Mr Posada Carriles not guilty on 11 counts including perjury and immigration fraud.

The verdict ends four years of efforts by US prosecutors to convict him.

He had been accused of lying to immigration officials about how he got into the US and about his alleged involvement in bomb attacks in Havana in 1997 in which an Italian tourist was killed.

Central to the prosecution case was an interview he gave to the New York Times in 1998 in which he said he had planned the attacks, although he later retracted the statement.

Cuba and Venezuela also want to extradite him for allegedly masterminding the bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1973, which killed 73 people.

A lawyer representing Venezuela, Jose Pertierra, said Caracas would now renew its efforts to have him extradited.

The US has previously refused to send Mr Posada Carriles to Cuba or Venezuela, saying he could face torture.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13021002

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"The Helms-Burton and, in particular Title III, is a law that is very poorly written, very vague and wasn't properly thought through since it was drafted as a summary and there are many questions regarding the actual impact of Title III," says Jose Gabilondo, professor of law and finance at Florida International University. 

He considers that there are many doubts about the legal basis of the law and about the jurisdiction that US federal tribunals could have over the defendants which, for the most part, are foreign companies. 

Even if it happens, says Prof Gabilondo, it is unlikely that the companies involved have any assets in the United States that could be taken into account for the trial. 

There is also the fact, he adds, that many countries such as Mexico, Canada or the European Union - all of them with assets in the island - have taken measures to protect their investors. In other words, the possible impact of the Act remains to be seen. 

On 2 May, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced that the bloc could present a case against the US before the World Trade Organization or use a "blockade statute" so that companies can recover the potential damages of US plaintiffs in European courts.

However, Prof Gabilondo considers that the possibility of new demands - which he thinks will not exceed 100 - could have a negative effect on the island.

"Any company (already) in Cuba or planning to invest there, could take the Act into account and that is why I think the impact (of the Helms Burton) will translate into scaring investors and limiting the amount of foreign capital coming into the island," he said.

The Cuban government, on the other hand, has assured that foreign companies will be able to "enjoy all the guarantees for investment".

"They are being backed by Cuban laws, international law and the laws of their own countries," says Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez.

Carnival Cruise, Pernod Ricard and Meliá, at the moment, have announced that they will continue with their usual operations on the island.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48113549

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