Cuba News articles from November 2000

Cuba News archives from November 2000

Hotel delays threaten economic health of Gaviota group.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... HAVANA -- Cuban officials say delays in hotel construction will cost millions of dollars in lost revenue. The big loser appears to be the Gaviota group, a tourism conglomerate owned by the armed forces, which has had to forego revenues of $8.7...

US ports, shipping firms preparing for Cuba trade.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... WASHINGTON -- US ports and shipping companies are racing to position themselves to send the first direct shipment of commercial goods to Cuba in 38 years despite the fact that a new law allowing trade with Cuba does not take effect until the...

Geologists working to develop new quarry.(white marble quarry in Cuba)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... HAVANA-- Exploration and evaluation work has begun at what could be Cuba's second major white marble quarry. Engineers working at Cariblanca, near the town of Fomento in Sancti Spiritus province, have begun testing the first blocks of marble...

Cuban cigar production drops as world demand slumps.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... HAVANA -- State cigar monopoly Habanos has announced a 15% reduction in production this year -- a cutback attributed to high inventories and to efforts to avoid quality control problems. Oscar Basulto and Jaime Garcia Andrade, copresidents...

US farmers frustrated by Cuba's criticism of trade measure.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... WASHINGTON -- Farm state lawmakers and agricultural groups are quietly telling Havana to quit insisting they won't buy any goods when a US law opens the door to agricultural sales to the island early next year. "We totally reject this...

Congress eliminates joint drug interdiction funds.(joint drug interdiction effort between Cuba and US)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... WASHINGTON -- The first attempt to fund a joint drug interdiction effort between Havana and Washington floundered during negotiations over the foreign operations bill. The amendment, sponsored by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Robert...

US carriers try to avoid Cuban phone cutoff.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... WASHINGTON -- Facing a threat by Fidel Castro to cut off phone links between the United States and Cuba, AT&T and other US telecommunications companies are hoping to reason with Havana -- or fool it. AT&T and other US carriers may reroute...

Cuba tries to cut red tape for investors.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... HAVANA -- Cuba has launched a new campaign to try to mute complaints from foreign investors about the island's bureaucracy. Foreign Investment Minister Marta Lomas said the government will implement a one-step process that would allow a...

Cooperatives fail to boost sugar production as expected.(Cuba)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 2000... HAVANA -- Despite extensive land reforms and the adoption of market-based incentives, Cuba's semi-autonomous cooperatives have failed to live up to hopes they would significantly boost sugar production. Created in 1994 as a way of...

Coffee sector expected to falter after successful harvest this year.(Cuba)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 2000... Drought to hurt plantations After a successful harvest last year, the Cuban coffee crop appears set to lurch into another decline as bad weather and continuing problems with agricultural management hamper output. Cuban coffee...

Micalum exceeds investors' expectations.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... HAVANA -- Stores, malls, real estate developments and thousands of other buildings in Cuba have been built with aluminum and windows made by a successful joint venture between several Spanish companies and a Cuban state firm. The joint...

Canadian company says bomb threat rocks plans for Cuba cruise.(Cuba Cruise Corporation of Toronto)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... WASHINGTON -- The company planning the first cruise of US visitors to Havana in nearly 38 years canceled plans to set sail this month because the Canadian tour operator said it needs time to beef up security in the wake of a bomb threat. ...

Tourism and oil are main draws in Matanzas.(Cuba's Matanzas province)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... HAVANA -- Cuba's Matanzas province has one of the island's most diverse economies. Besides being a leader in tourism, thanks largely to the development of Varadero beach through joint ventures with foreign companies, Matanzas is a major...

Latest Varadero figures shed little light on performance.(Varadero tourist hub in Cuba)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 2000... HAVANA -- Cuban officials continue to tout the development of the Varadero tourist hub as proof of the growth of the sector and sources say they expect the region to see growth of about 12% this year. However, like most other Cuban official...

Argentine company in venture to operate Varadero-Havana ferry.(Cubanacan Nautica and Agencia Maritima Dodero Cruceros form Cubanacan Jet)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... HAVANA -- Cuban company Cubanacan Nautica and Argentina's Agencia Maritima Dodero Cruceros have established a joint venture to operate a rapid ferry service between the Varadero beach resort and Havana. The venture, which will be called...

Cuba to dole out televisions in bid to bolster loyalty.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... HAVANA -- Rations may still be paltry and pay raises meager but the government has a plan to reward party loyalists with cheap color televisions. The government has signed a deal with China to buy or manufacture one million color...

Germans plan new Cuban steel mill.(SKET Walzwerkstechnik signs investment contract with Acinox)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... HAVANA -- A subsidiary of a Hamburg company wants to build a steel rolling mill on the island in what would be the largest business venture by a German company in Cuba since the collapse of the East bloc. Magdeburg-based SKET...

Fidel gets hero's welcome in first visit to Venezuela in 40 years.(Cuban president Fidel Castro)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... CARACAS -- Cuban president Fidel Castro returned home after a strange five-day visit to Venezuela with a very favorable trade accord that may go a long way toward reducing Cuba's expenditures on imported oil. Visiting Venezuela for the...

Business Guide to Cuba.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... The Business Guide to Cuba is the most comprehensive and authoritative research report on Cuban business and politics available. With more than 300 pages of exclusive information, data and maps on all of the productive sectors of the economy,...

CubaNews Online.(electronic edition)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... CubaNews is available in an online edition. The electronic edition is available in two popular formats and reaches subscribers more than a week before the hard copy. Subscribers also receive email bulletins of important breaking stories. ...

COMMODITY EXPORT MARKETS.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 2000... During a recent appearance in Havana, Vice President Carlos Lage insisted the economy will meet government growth targets of between 4% and 5%. He mentioned sugar, nickel, tourism and fish farming as the leading growth sectors. Though below...

FACTS AND STATISTICS.(conventions and agriculture in Cuba)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 2000... Conventions scheduled in Cuba through 2002 335 Number devoted to sports 89 Number devoted to medicine 86 Trade fairs ...

Record cow to make posthumous comeback.(Cuban biotechnology experts to clone cow)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Cuban biotechnology experts are working on a project to use preserved tissue to clone a cow that produced world-record setting amounts of milk in the 1980s. Ubre Blanca (White Udder) set world records for milk production in a single day and for...

General Cigar files suit against Altadis.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... US company General Cigars has filed suit against Spanish-French tobacco giant Altadis. The suit charges Altadis, which earlier this year purchased a 50% stake in Cuban cigar maker Habanos, is trying to coerce US retailers, into buying its...

Challenge of the Month.(Fidel Castro challenged to a debate)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Cuban dissidents challenged Castro to a debate in Havana after he offered to debate critics in Venezuela. Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque charged the dissidents were employees of the US government and retorted, "We talk with the bosses, not...

Cuban engineers return to site of Cold War victory in Vietnam.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... HAVANA -- Cuba has signed a number of deals in recent weeks that will send technical personnel abroad to provide advice and engineering services. One of the most interesting is a $6.4 million contract won by Cuban company Quality Couriers...

RUMOR OF THE DAY.(deal to export chicken meat to Cuba quashed because Cuba has no meat inspectors in US)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... MEXICO CITY -- Americans seeking to export food to Cuba under the new, more relaxed US policies may run into unanticipated difficulties. A Cuban executive working with a Mexican food processing company lined up a large buy of frozen chicken...