CubaNews articles from August 2002

CubaNews archives from August 2002

House votes to weaken Cuba embargo, but Bush veto may derail legislation.
August 1, 2002... Just as they promised, lawmakers in the House of Representatives defied the Bush administration late last month and voted by wide margins to relax Washington's long-standing embargo on Cuba. Scores of Republicans joined most House Democrats...

CIP disputes U.S. State Department claim that Cuba supports terrorism.(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... The U.S. State Department's recent report on global terrorism--which names Cuba as a "terrorist state" along with Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria--is groundless and filled with politically motivated lies aimed at pleasing...

Canada, Brazil and Mexico all agree on one thing: U.S. policy makes no sense.
August 1, 2002... Few Canadian investors would deny that the U.S. embargo gives them a huge competitive advantage in Cuba. Even so, Canada says the United States must change course. Peter Boehm, minister of political and public affairs at the Canadian...

Lively flea markets add splash of color to shabby Havana.(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Eric Montelongo stands amid his collection of well-worn books and magazines, hoping a customer will wander past on this searing hot summer day. Here, displayed on rickety wooden racks and tables, one can find everything from "Registro...

U.S. officials pay little heed to Castro's latest threats.(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... The Bush administration is taking a low-key response to Cuba's latest threats and denunciations against Washington. In a Jun. 26 speech to the National Assembly, Fidel Castro threatened to close the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana and...

Cubaweb founder launches new e-venture in the Dominican Republic.(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Robert Sajo, the Canadian-Hungarian entrepreneur who created the Cuban government's Cubaweb portal in the mid-1990s, has relocated to the Dominican Republic, where he's set up his own company, WHS Global, in Santo Domingo's upscale Bella Vista...

Washington apples arrive in Cuba.(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... A 17-ton cargo of Washington state apples arrived in Cuba last month--the first direct shipment of American apples to Cuba in 40 years. The 100,000 or so Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and Fuji apples, valued at $20,000, will be...

Cuba works to boost rice production.(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Increasing efficiency and cutting production costs to acceptable international levels are the main objectives of Francisco Aldana, a bureaucrat with the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture's rice division. Cuban media reports that the island's rice...

Insect plague takes toll on potato crop.(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Thrips palmi karny, also known as melon thrips, has caused $32.4 million in damage to Cuba's potato crop. According to Juventud Rebelde, the insect plague was intentionally introduced into Cuba by the United States in 1996, causing "enormous...

Marsh food brands on sale in Cuba.(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Indianapolis-based Marsh Supermarkets Inc. has become the first U.S. company to contract with Cuban state agency Alimport for private-label packaged food products. According to the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council Inc., 25 containers of 140...

In their own words ...(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... "Hardly 12 years ago, many in the world expected to see Cuba, the last socialist state in the West, crumble. Instead, today a number of us are waiting to see how the developed capitalist world led by the United States disengages from the...

Cuba plans first national census since 1981. (Demographics).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... In early September, Cuban authorities will conduct the island's first national Census on Population and Housing in 21 years. The survey is set for Sep. 7-16, and is being supervised by Juan Carlos Antonio Fraga, national director of the...

Dagoberto Rodriguez: Havana's man in Washington. (Newsmakers).(Entrevista)
August 1, 2002... In May, President Bush--marking the 100th anniversary of Cuban independence in Miami--made clear he would fight any attempt to end Washington's 40-year-old trade embargo against Cuba until Fidel Castro is dead, overthrown or voted out of...

Key ministers in Castro's cabinet. (Government).
August 1, 2002... ABELARDO COLOME IBARRA Minister of Interior. Known as "Fury," Colome was the first army general to be decorated as a Hero of the Republic of Cuba, and the first to be promoted to the rank of army corps general. Potential candidate for...

Mojito Club: everything's Cuban but the rum itself. (Marketing).
August 1, 2002... Six years ago, French drinks giant Pernod Ricard S.A.--which produces Havana Club rum in a profitable venture with the Cuban government--sued Bermuda-based Bacardi & Co. Ltd. But Section 211 has effectively derailed the lawsuit (see box below)....

Foreign investment tumbles in 2001. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Direct foreign investment in Cuba came to only $38.9 million in 2001, a dramatic drop from the $488 million recorded in 2000. The investment plunge, reported by Reuters on Jul. 8, comes as revenue from sugar and tourism continues to fall,...

Venezuela's PDVSA to resume oil exports. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... The Venezuelan government will resume oil shipments to Cuba in the first week of August after a four-month suspension, Reuters reported Jul. 22. The 53,000-barrel-a-day shipments on favorable financing terms were suspended in April during the...

Airline plans Cuba flights from St. Pete. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... A charter air service to Cuba could begin operating by mid-August from St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, on Florida's west coast. Robert Curtis, a retired FAA air-traffic control supervisor, told CubaNews he already has an...

Zimbabwe could get Cuban AIDS drugs. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Cuba has offered to give Zimbabwe medical assistance in various fields, including anti-retroviral drugs to treat AIDS. Government officials accompanying President Robert Mugabe on a state visit to Havana last month were quoted by a Harare TV...

Softel wins ISO sugar contract. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... The London-based International Sugar Organization (ISO) has awarded Cuban software firm Softel a major information technology contract. Softel will develop a new website for ISO, modernize data collection and distribution, automate forecasting...

Media urges Cubans to conserve energy. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Cuban newspapers are asking consumers to save energy, noting that if every household turns off a 60-watt bulb during peak hours, the country could save 360 tons of fuel worth $500,000 at current world prices. The weekly newspaper...

Spain, Cuba sign construction accord. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Spain's National Confederation of Subcontractors (Conascop) and Cuba's Ministry of Construction have signed an agreement whose main objective is to promote the participation of Spanish firms in the construction of public-works projects in Cuba....

GDP jumps thanks to statistical glitch. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Cuba has adopted a new price base to calculate gross domestic product--a change that has boosted GDP by 60%, Reuters reported Jul. 18. As of last year, the Central Bank began calculating GDP based in 1997 prices rather than the 1981 price base...

EC to open office in Havana. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... The European Commission hopes to inaugurate a representative office in Cuba this year, says Koos Richelle, director of the EC's Department of Cooperation and Development. Notimex reported from Brussels that the decision to open an office...

France probes oilman's Cuba connections. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... French authorities have opened an investigation of the activities of businessman Gerard Bourgoin, the Notimex news agency reported Jul. 26. Officials suspect Bourgoin--known in France as the "chicken king" because of his substantial interests...

Trinidad gas pipeline may extend to Cuba. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Patrick Manning, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, has proposed the construction of an undersea pipeline that would bring natural gas from Trinidad to several Caribbean islands including Cuba. The pipeline would run from Trinidad to the...

Cubanacan signs J-V with Chinese group. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Cubanacan S.A. and China's Xinjian Corp. have agreed to jointly build a five-star, 650-room hotel at Havana's Hemingway Marina. The venture, known as Shanghai Sun Cuba Ltd., will also oversee construction of a luxury 750-room hotel in...

Firms pay dearly for violating embargo. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Several prominent American companies have been forced to pay cash settlements for violating the Trading With the Enemy Act in the last four years. Documents obtained by the Corporate Crime Reporter from the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of...

INS rule could entice Canadians to Cuba. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Cuba is hoping to cash in on a long-running debate between the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and Canadian tourists who want the INS to scrap a rule that abolishes their automatic, 180-day entry and could limit U.S. vacations to 30...

D.R. firm seeks business. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Laboratorios Astoria, S.A., a Dominican company which manufactures hair-care products, personal-care products and disinfectants based on Cuban formulations, is looking for business partners. Details: Venecia Ventura, Laboratorios Astoria,...

CIP: lifting travel ban may boost economy. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... Ending the ban on Americans traveling to Cuba would pump up to $1.6 billion a year into the U.S. economy and create as many as 23,000 jobs annually. That's according to a new study commissioned by the Center for International Policy and...

Anyone for Haagen-Dazs? (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... At least two flavors of Haagen-Dazs ice cream are now available at hard-currency supermarkets throughout Havana, reports the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council Inc. These are Macadamia Nut Brittle and Strawberry Cheesecake. A...

Isla de la Juventud: from grapefruits to great beaches. (Geography).
August 1, 2002... Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth)--known until 1978 as Isla de Pinos (Isle of Pines)--is the largest of all the islands and islets within Cuban territory. Sizewise, its 2,204 square kilometers (851 square miles) make it the sixth-largest...

Calendar of events.(Artículo Breve)
August 1, 2002... If your organization is sponsoring an upcoming event, please let our readers know! Fax details to CubaNews at (301) 365-1829 or send an e-mail to larry@luxner.com. Aug. 1-3: Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE), 11th...