Odds and ends

• Cuba should get rid of the tarjeta blanca exit permit for citizens who wish to travel abroad, allow Cubans to stay in Cuban hotels, and “resolve” the dual currency, says Mariela Castro Espín, daughter of Raul Castro. AP Spanish story here.

• “It’s like the microwaves fell from the sky,” said a beneficiary of a pilot program in Las Guasimas, where microwaves were distributed in December. AP’s Will Weissert reports here. Great quote at the end from a local CDR member: “Everyone here is Fidelista. But with Fidel, they never brought us microwaves.”

• At HDNet, “Trade Winds,” a Dan Rather documentary on the situation in Cuba today. The 52-minute program starts with an interesting look at agriculture, focusing on a teacher who moonlights (and earns his real living) as a farmer. The State Department declined to provide someone to talk on camera, and Miami’s Cuban American Congressional representatives declined too. State Representative Marco Rubio gave the pro-embargo point of view, quite effectively.