CubaNews articles from December 2001

CubaNews archives from December 2001

Storm deals body blow to Cuban economy.(Hurricane Michelle)
December 1, 2001... HAVANA -- Cuban officials have put on a brave face about the impact of Hurricane Michelle in early November, but all indications are that the storm dealt the island a devastating blow at a time when the economy already was sinking fast. ...

Hurricane Michelle is unlikely force that pries open Cuban market for the first time in 40 years.(direct purchase of US food by Cuba )
December 1, 2001... WASHINGTON -- Cuba's surprise decision to buy up to $30 million worth of US farm products was based on both politics and need. On Nov. 20 and Nov. 21, representatives of Illinois-based Archer Daniels Midland, Minneapolis, Minn.-based...

French fret over US wheat sales to Cuba.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... HAVANA -- French wheat growers are alarmed by Cuba's sudden interest in purchasing US wheat and flour. Cuba imports 700,000 tons to 1 million tons of wheat and flour per year, which because of the climate, cannot be grown on the island. It...

Communist Party leadership is shuffled.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... HAVANA -- Juan Carlos Robinson has been removed as first secretary of the Communist Party in Santiago de Cuba province, one of the most important political posts in Cuba. It is unclear why he was removed. He has been assigned to the...

Castro stays away from summit in Peru.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... HAVANA -- Normally not one to avoid a fight, President Fidel Castro appears to have stayed away from the Iberoamerican summit in Lima, Peru so as not be the odd man out. The November summit focused on the US-backed Free Trade Area of the...

As Reich nomination dims, focus shifts to other candidates.
December 1, 2001... WASHINGTON -- As it becomes apparent that Senate Democrats are unlikely to relent in their opposition to Otto Reich's nomination, the White House has begun to focus on other candidates to head the State Department's Bureau of Western...

Sugar sector will have hard time recovering from hurricane damage this year.
December 1, 2001... HAVANA -- The sugarcane industry suffered one of the most severe blows in the last decade when Hurricane Michelle hit the island, flattening 35% of the sugarcane crop and causing severe damage to more than a dozen sugar mills in its path. At...

Commodity export markets.
December 1, 2001... While participating in a meeting for economy ministers and officials from Latin American countries and Spain and Portugal in Lima ahead of the annual Iberoamerican Summit in late November, Finance Minister Manuel Millares expressed the...

Korea is more receptive to ties with Cuba.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... HAVANA -- In a move that signals a new flexibility in Korean relations with Cuba, the Korean Trade Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) plans to open an office in Havana once negotiations with the Cuban government are finalized. In...

Facts & statistics on Hurricane Michelle.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Facts & Statistics on Hurricane Michelle Number of electricity transmission pylons destroyed 125 Number of local power poles destroyed thousands Number of microwave and other communications towers 16 ...

Rumor of the day.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... There are reports a group of military officers close to Defense Minister Raul Castro have made an approach to the United States. Reportedly, the officers are trying to find out how the United States would react if the current government was...