HAVANA, Dec 27- Cuba's drive to slash state payrolls and spur private-sector growth picked up surprising steam in 2012 as President Raul Castro moved ahead with reforms to the Soviet-style economy, according to figures unveiled recently with little hoopla.
HAVANA-- For the first time since the height of the Cold War more than half a century ago, Cuba is giving its people the freedom to leave the country without government permission, scrapping the detested exit visa that kept many from traveling outside the communist nation for even a few days. said Mercedes Delgado, a 73- year-old retiree. "
HAVANA-- Cuba shuttered hundreds of medical facilities last year, including 54 hospitals, as the country reorganizes its health care sector. Cuba is proud of the universal, free health system installed after Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, but his younger brother and successor Raul Castro has stressed that medical care must be more efficient and less wasteful.
CARACAS, Venezuela-- President Hugo Chavez put to rest any doubts about his masterful political touch in winning a third consecutive six-year term after a bitterly fought race against a youthful rival who has galvanized Venezuela's opposition.
DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg says web traffic on his search engine, billed as an alternative to Google that doesn't store your private information, surged 33 percent after the NSA news broke. Weinberg discusses the model of his search engine, and how the company makes money.
Wednesday, 19 Jun 2013 | 6:31 AM ETJohn Silvia, Wells Fargo Securities, and Barbara Marcin, Gabelli Dividend Income Fund, discuss whether investors should reconsider allocating their portfolios as the Fed wraps up its two-day policy meeting.
Wednesday, 19 Jun 2013 | 8:53 AM ETKen Langone, Invemed Associates chairman and president, called Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke a "lame duck."