Odds and ends

• El Universal: The French vessel Ile de Batz reached Siboney and finished laying the Venezuela-Cuba fiber optic undersea cable. An official cited by La Jornada says that expansion of residential Internet service awaits improvement of domestic infrastructure and rejected the idea that the delay is due to “any political obstacle.” La Jornada also reports today that after the Cuban government’s buy-out of Telecom Italia’s share of the state telephone monopoly Etecsa, it is thinking about the possibility of finding another foreign partner. And Cuba is slowly proceeding toward enactment of a telecommunications law that will, among other things, define “the minimum rights of every citizen regarding new technologies” (AIN).

• In response to questions from the State Department, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow sent this Wikileaked cable on Russia’s relations with Cuba. Moscow has “no plans to establish military bases in Cuba” and is “unlikely to deploy any long-range aviation assets to Cuba,” the embassy was told.

• Granma gives proper credit to Tracey Eaton’s blog in a story about the Posada Carriles trial. Tracey’s story here.

• A Stakhanovite squash in Cienfuegos (Granma).

• More on Rep. Rivera’s woes from the website Florida Clarion.

• Café Fuerte: Yoani Sanchez’ blog is no longer blocked in Cuba, and Yoani says she’s not going to celebrate because this has happened before and then the “big blackout” returns. Reuters story here.

• Sun-Sentinel: Florida airports are seeking permission for flights to Cuba. It will be a victory for the Castro regime when people from Tampa and elsewhere no longer have to schlep to Miami before traveling to Cuba.

• The Economist on Cuba’s housing market, and the possibility that outright purchase and sale of houses will be approved in the April party congress.