Odds and ends

• The Cuba-Venezuela undersea cable now seems to be fully operational, resulting in faster Internet connection to Cuba, the company Renesys reports on its blog.  The Cuban telecom monopoly Etecsa confirms that the cable is in use; beginning last August it carried voice traffic, and beginning January 10 it carried Internet traffic.  More from AP.

• LA Times: Venezuela’s Telesur television network is now available on Cuban television, which allowed Cubans to see Monday’s inaugural address by President Obama.

• CNN: A scheme that created fake Cuban birth certificates for non-Cubans was exposed by the feds and its participants are now being sentenced.  The idea was for the recipients to claim Cuban nationality and thereby get the immigration privileges and federal benefits that Cubans get.  The recipients got some coaching in case anyone challenged their nationality, the Herald reports.

• Radio Marti: Cuba’s new “ambassador,” Jose Cabanas, chief of its Interests Section in Washington, was received in the State Department by Roberta Jacobson, Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs.