Havana - Few visitors to Havana miss the Cathedral Square, where women wearing the white dress of Afro-Cuban Santeria priestesses and smoking huge cigars tell fortunes from tarot cards in front of the imposing baroque-style church.

Other women wearing colourful dresses reminiscent of Afro-Cuban goddesses and Spanish flamenco dancers pose for tourist cameras, while music bands blend the throb of the African drum with the melancholic sound of the violin.

Havana  - Cuban President Raul Castro on Monday undertook a major cabinet reshuffle, complete with the removal of key figures like Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and Carlos Lage, secretary of the Cuban Council of Ministers.

In a statement that was read out on Cuban state television, Castro - who formally took over power from his brother, historic Cuban leader Fidel Castro, a little over a year ago - announced the mergers of several ministries and a score of changes in several portfolios.

Perez Roque and Lage had for years been key figures in the Cuban government.

Havana  - Cuban President Raul Castro on Monday undertook a

Havana  - This year's unprecedented parade of foreign leaders in Havana - six from Latin America and one from Africa - is a sign that at least one thing has changed in Cuba since February 24, 2008, when Raul Castro took over as president of the communist island.

Within the country, however, the great expectations about far- reaching structural changes in Cuba have virtually died over the last year.

For the international community, Cuba appears to have taken large strides.

Havana - In an unscheduled trip to Cuba, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez met twice with ailing revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, Cuban television reported Saturday.

The visit was described as a working visit by Chavez, who was met Friday at the airport by Fidel's brother, President Raul Castro, and other members of the Cuban leadership.

The visit had not been officially announced beforehand.

Havana  - On a clear day, something frequent in Havana, it does not take much imagination to understand what drew US writer Ernest Hemingway to Finca Vigia for 21 years of refuge on the outskirts o