Odds and ends

• Author Achy Obejas says the real change spurred by last Sunday’s concert was in Miami. Carlos Saladrigas agrees: “The old policies of hurting the regime with collateral damage to the people need to give way to policies that help the people even when they may provide a collateral benefit to the regime.”

• AP sums up the story of the concert that almost didn’t take place. Juanes complained that his driver turned out to be the same guy that served him breakfast, and was watching him as if he were a security agent (!). And he and others complained that the section closest to the stage was being reserved for a government-supplied crowd. Rui Ferreira has video of a scene in a hallway of the Hotel Nacional. Penultimos Dias notes Granma’s response: it was a big misunderstanding, the guy is a sommelier.

• Cuban National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon is invited to a U.S. Congressional event and is denied a U.S. visa.

• The United States beat Cuba 5-3 in World Cup baseball competition yesterday in Italy, and now heads to the Sunday final. Cuba has to beat Canada (in Florence, 7:00 p.m. local time tonight) to get into the final for a rematch with the Americans.

• The Herald reports on the torture suffered by the Cuban migrants in Mexico who were rescued by Mexican police. The mistreatment was apparently perpetrated by smugglers from both Mexico and Miami. Earlier story here.

• If U.S.-Cuba postal service is resumed, it will mean the resumption of service that began as early as 1767, a Spanish researcher reports.