Odds and ends

• Placido Domingo says, “Go, Juanes, go.” So does Dionisio García Ibáñez, president of Cuba’s conference of Catholic bishops. According to Cubaencuentro, he said of the concert: “It will be like a light, an opening, so artists from other parts of the world may come to Cuba and communicate with the Cuban people. Beyond any political content, we know that many will go see Juanes, and will appreciate his concert.” And six more jailed dissidents support the concert, according to this EFE report.

• Tracey Eaton interviewed American fugitive Charles Hill and writes about it in the current issue of CubaNews.

• Reuters: the transfer of retail operations to military control has cut pilferage and squeezed the black market.

• Speaking of the black market, the Herald reports on “mules” who have carried money and goods to Cuba in excess of U.S. regulatory limits, and whose business may be threatened.