Odds and ends

• The Raul Castro government continues the tactic of short-term detention of political opponents, Tracey Eaton reported in detail in USA Today, and the number of political prisoners reported by human rights monitor Elizardo Sanchez rose in 2012 (Herald).

• The U.S. Interests Section in Havana is running a contest based on questions about the United States.  Answers are submitted by text message.  Of those who answer correctly, five winners are chosen at random, and their prize is $11 of credit on their cell phone account.  (H/t Emilio Ichikawa)

• En route to making a serious point – that U.S. interests would be better served by ending restrictions on travel to Cuba – Senator Jeff Flake made a brief quip in a hearing yesterday about the hypothetical impact of U.S. students on spring break in Cuba.  Senator Bob Menendez got on his high horse to deliver a rebuke, invoking democracy advocates in Cuba.  Most of them, of course, oppose government travel restrictions everywhere because they have hated those imposed by their own government for so long.  (CNN)