News Briefs: Cuba

* U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder traveled to the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. During his visit, Holder will be briefed on several detainees and will talk to officials over how best to close the controversial jail.

* Speaking of Gitmo detainees, former prisoner Binyam Mohamed was freed and arrived in Britain earlier today. Mohamed had been arrested in 2002 for conspiring to detonate a dirty bomb though charges were dropped last month.

* One of the top Congressional Republicans urged a “revaluation” of U.S.-Cuba affairs. “We must recognize the ineffectiveness of our current policy and deal with the Cuban regime in a way that enhances U.S. interests", wrote Sen. Richard Lugar in a letter attached to a report urging an end to travel restrictions to Cuba and a renewal of bilateral counternarcotics efforts.

* Cuban boxer Guillermo Rigondeaux defected and is in Miami according to his U.S.-based promoter. The boxer fell into disfavor with the Cuban government after he disappeared for eleven days in 2007 during the Pan American Games in Brazil.

Image- AFP (“A man rests on a street corner in Havana.”)
Online Sources- Bloomberg, AFP, AP, IHT, earthtimes, The Latin Americanist, BBC News, USA TODAY