Cuba News articles from June 2000

Cuba News archives from June 2000

President, Congress would have to work together to lift embargo.
June 1, 2000... WASHINGTON -- Now under intense scrutiny, the U.S. embargo on Cuba is more unpopular than it ever was. But, even if Cuba were to adopt a political and economic system more palatable to the United States, normalization of trade relations could...

Cuba, Germany reach debt rescheduling accord.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... HAVANA -- The government's efforts to regain access to international financial markets got another boost in May as Cuba and Germany signed an agreement to resume servicing nearly $110 million in debts, including controversial obligations...

French officials claim joint venture progress.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... HAVANA -- French business leaders meeting with Cuban business and government officials say recent discussions have yielded progress in talks aimed a creating joint ventures in railroads, power generation, oil refining, nickel processing,...

Cuba expresses willingness to begin talks on nationalization claims.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... WASHINGTON -- A top official of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the Cuban government is receptive to several initiatives proposed by the business group, including new discussions on ways to settle U.S. property claims that stemmed from...

Catholic Church seeks access to local media.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... HAVANA -- Havana Archbishop Cardinal Jaime Ortega has launched a bid to convince the government to grant the Catholic church access to state-controlled media. The effort comes as the state-controlled press accused some members of the church of...

Court ruling puts Elian one step closer to return to Cuba.(Elian Gonzalez)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... WASHINGTON -- Elian Gonzalez was one step closer to going back home after a federal appeals court in June upheld the decision by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to deny the six-year old Cuban castaway an asylum hearing. But the...

Effort to allow food and medicine sales to Cuba is facing problems.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... WASHINGTON -- Republican congressional leaders are working to derail legislation that would ease restrictions on the sale of food and medicine to some nations, including Cuba. But, even if the GOP leadership succeeds, the campaign to open the...

Judge backs INS on treatment of migrants.(Immigration and Naturalization Service)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... A federal court judge has ruled that the government's policy of returning Cuban migrants intercepted at sea is constitutional. A class-action suit filed by relatives of Cubans returned to the island sought to extend the same rights of Cubans...

Trinidad officials worry "about government tourism plans for city.(Cuba)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Forty years ago, CIA clandestine operator Richard Bissel argued that Playa Ancon 5 kilometers from the colonial town of Trinidad (pop. 42,000) should be the site of the ill-fated Bay of Pigs Invasion, and not Playa Giron located to the west....

Panamanian company, Trinidad marina to offer cruises.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... HAVANA -- Cuban company Marina Puertosol Trinidad and Panamanian company Credit Fousier have formed a joint venture to offer luxury cruises along the Cuban coast. The companies plan a to operate a fleet of 10 boats of varying sizes that...

Tourism development in Camaguey province said to lag behind plans.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... HAVANA -- Vice President Carlos Lage has announced the government's plans for the development of the Santa Lucia beach are in the province of Camaguey has fallen behind schedule. There already are four hotels in the area with more than...

Cuban economy growing but officials' predictions appear optimistic.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Cuban officials in recent weeks have issued a series of statements saying that they expect the economy to grow by at least 4.5% this year, the official target, and most said they expected performance to be even better. Vice President...

Sugar harvest shows better results but dramatic improvement remains elusive.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Cuba ended the 1999-2000 sugar harvest with a modest increase over the previous season. Officials reported total production of 4,058,000 tons of raw sugar as the last sugar mill in Guantanamo province was shut down in mid May. This year's...

Domestic politics said behind decision to halt real estate investment.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... The decision by Fidel Castro last month to freeze new foreign investment in the flourishing real estate market was, for many observers, inexplicable and counter productive. Finding a rationale for Fidel Castro's actions over the years has been...

Real estate agents say decision to halt investment will have little long-term impact.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... It has been five years since the Cuban government approved a foreign investment law that permitted foreigners to own property for the first time since the beginning of the revolution. In recent months, interest in Cuban real estate has reached...

Cabrisas changes jobs in cabinet shuffle.(Ricardo Cabrisas, Foreign Trade Minister; Cuba)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... HAVANA -- In a minor reshuffling of the cabinet, Foreign Trade Minister Ricardo Cabrisas was named Minister of Government. The announcement from the official Prensa Latina news service did not mention what had become of former Minister of...

Cienfuegos port reports higher volumes.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... HAVANA -- Cuban sources say the port of Cienfuegos is experiencing a sharp increase in the volume of cargo the facility is handling. Officials say more than 70,000 tons of goods passed through the port in May, well above the 40,000-ton average...

Chinese-Cuban joint venture seeks to capture telecoms market.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... HAVANA -- Chinese and Cuban officials used the May visit of Chinas Minister of Information Industries, Wu Jichuan, to kick off the operations of a wide-ranging technology joint venture between Cuba's Electronics Group and Chinas Great Dragon....

Venezuela-Cuba deal to upgrade Cienfuegos refinery is called off.(Brief Article)(Interview)
June 1, 2000... CARACAS -- Venezuelan Energy Minister Ali Rodriguez in a television interview announced that an agreement with the Cuban government to upgrade the Cienfuegos refinery has fallen through. "The refinery deal is not happening. [The Cubans]...

COMMODITY EXPORT MARKETS.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... SUGAR A favorable near-term picture in the world sugar market spurred by a period of tight supplies, increased demand and expectations that reduced output by leading producers will keep the market tighter than it has been, pushed prices to...

Government to target illegal private-sector activities.(Cuba)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... HAVANA -- The government has announced it plans to crack down on illegal business practices by the private sector. Among the activities the government is planning to target, according to Vice President Carlos Lage, are the hiring of doormen and...

Sugar provides base for new biotech products.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... The Swiss-based World Intellectual Property Organization has awarded its 2000 Gold Medal to Dr. Nilo Castaneda and his team for the development of a highly effective treatment for skin diseases and other ailments. It is synthesized from sugar...

FACTS AND STATISTICS.(Cuba)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Percentage of Cuban women using birth control 68 Life time risk of maternal mortality 1 in 490 Adult female literacy rate 95 Percentage of national government posts held by women ...

Fidelismo.(Fidel Castro, President of Cuba)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... A monthly report on Cuba's maximum leader Quotes of the Month "I really disagree with both candidates for president... I'm going to be among the 50% of Americans who will go fishing on election day." A comment to members of the...

RUMOR OF THE DAY.(Cuba's trade zone)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... HAVANA -- There may be a showdown over the way in which a number of foreign companies are using Cuba's free trade zones. Sources say that an increasing number of companies are using a loop hole in regulations to circumvent restrictions on...