CubaNews articles from July 2003

CubaNews archives from July 2003

Fidel's anti-EU outburst has little effect on European trade, investment in Cuba.(European Union's trade with Cuba )
July 1, 2003... Fidel Castro's hatred of the Bush administration is well-known, but last month's outburst against the 15-member European Union took many Cuba-watchers by surprise. It all started Jun. 5, when the EU announced it would review its...

U.S. business interests spar over latest effort in Congress to repeal Section 211.(repeal of legislation that prohibits Havana Club Holdings to protect Havana Club trademark within United States )
July 1, 2003... Several members of the House of Representatives are fighting to repeal a law that prohibits a Cuban-French joint venture from protecting the Havana Club trade name in the United States. The arcane law, known as Section 211, was slipped into...

Economic stagnation sparks leadership changes.(appointment of Esteban Lazo Hernandez as chief of ideology department of Communist Party of Cuba )
July 1, 2003... Esteban Lazo Hernandez, head of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in Havana and one of Cuba's most visible black leaders, has been named chief of the PCC's ideology department as well as its department of science, culture and sports. As...

Florida firm is first to ship U.S. lumber to Cuba since 1958. (Foreign Trade).(Lanahan Lumber Co. )
July 1, 2003... Lanahan Lumber Co. of Jacksonville, Fla. has begun its first shipments of wood to Cuba, marking the first large-scale U.S. lumber exports to the island in 43 years. Beau Pineda, the company's export manager, told CubaNews he has orders for...

Granma: Cuba's forests expanding, unlike rest of region. (Foreign Trade).(increase of forest resources)(production of forest-derived products )(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... Cuba's forest resources maintained a growth rate of 1.3% during the 1990s, making it the only Latin American nation whose forested area actually increased. So claims the official Granma, quoting UN Food and Agriculture Organization data. ...

U.K. growth fund invests in variety of Cuban joint ventures. (Finance).(Ceiba Finance Ltd. )
July 1, 2003... Despite Cuba's strained relations with Western Europe, it's business as usual for Ceiba Finance Ltd., a British growth fund registered in the Channel Islands. Incorporated in 1995 as Beta Gran Caribe Ltd. and denominated in Swiss francs,...

Lobby to fight travel ban. (Finance).(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... A former legislative aide to Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) has formed an association of tourism entities to defend the right of U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba. Brent Gibadlo, executive director of the Association of Travel-Related Industry...

Cuban art finds special niche in Japan. (Finance).
July 1, 2003... Tokyo's Promo-Arte Gallery, known for its exhibits of Latin American art, is paying closer attention these days to up-and-coming artists from Cuba. Located in Tokyo's trendy Omotesando district, Promo-Arte--the only gallery of its kind in...

ICCAS: Cuba's blacks still suffer racism. (Political Briefs).(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... Blacks constitute 62% of Cuba's population, yet make up 85% of its prison population, reports the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS). Fewer than 10% of Afro-Cubans receive remittances from abroad...

Baucusuwarns he'll delay Noriega nomination. (Political Briefs).(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... Roger Noriega, the Bush administration's candidate to become the next assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, was voted out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jun. 26 by a 15-3 margin. This means Noriega...

Cuba: broadcasts violate international law. (Political Briefs).(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... Cuba charged that the U.S. government is stepping up transmissions of Radio and TV Marti into the island, in violation of international law and Cuban sovereignty. The Cuban Foreign Ministry said it has verbally protested the actions to...

In their own words ...
July 1, 2003... "From a political and moral point of view, Aznar is a coward. What bothers us most in all this, is that those who signed on to this statement are cooperating with the U.S. government's Nazi-Fascist policy." --Fidel Castro, speaking at a...

Cuba marks an important 26th of July.(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... Fifty years ago this month, a band of rebels led by a young lawyer named Fidel Castro assaulted the Cuban army's garrisons in Santiago de Cuba and Bayamo. The former--known as Cuartel Moncada--was the 2nd-largest military base in Cuba. The...

Film relives '94 rafter crisis.(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... On Jun. 20, a documentary about Cuba's rafters premiered at New York's Lincoln Center, as part of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, which is currently showcasing films about provocative global issues. "Balseros," made by...

Recreational boating industry has a bright future in Cuba. (Tourism).
July 1, 2003... Recreational boating will likely rank as one of Cuba's top moneymaking activities once the U.S. travel ban is lifted. American boaters love an ocean adventure, for which Cuba offers unsurpassed potential. At the same time, militant...

Elizardo Sanchez: Dean of Cuba's dissident movement. (Newsmakers).(Entrevista)
July 1, 2003... Hanging over the porch at the home of dissident Elizardo Sanchez Santa Cruz is a faded color poster of Pope John Paul II with an inspiring message: "No Tengas Miedo--Don't Be Afraid." Even so, says Sanchez, "I am always afraid. Fear is part...

Despite climate of fear, dissent far from dead in Cuba. (Political Analysis).
July 1, 2003... Much has been said and written about Fidel Castro's dissident crackdown over the last two months. Many observers have concluded that with the unprecedented actions, the government has "decimated Cuba's peaceful dissident movement." Indeed,...

Cuba's 1,300 Jews keep the faith--with help from abroad. (Religion).
July 1, 2003... Apart from a bronze plaque in Hebrew and Spanish identifying itself as "Congregacion Hatikva," the crumbling, one-story blue-and-white building is indistinguishable from the others along Santiago de Cuba's narrow, cobblestoned Calle Corona. ...

Catholic hierarchy finds itself caught in political dilemma. (Religion).
July 1, 2003... The Roman Catholic Church--the largest religious institution in Cuba--is being dragged into the controversy surrounding Fidel Castro's recent crackdown on dissent. "The church's mission is not to be on the side of the opposition," stated...

Miami's Cuban Jewish Community slowly assimilates into mainstream. (Religion).
July 1, 2003... MIAMI -- Cuban Jews in Havana like to joke that every year at Passover, their Seder ends with the fervent prayer: "L'shana haba'ah b'Miami--next year in Miami!" For the 8,000 Jews of Cuban origin now living in South Florida, that prayer...

One millionth tourist arrives in Cuba. (Business Briefs).(Business Brief)(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... Cuba welcomed its one millionth tourist for the 2002-03 season on Jun. 29, one month earlier than the same period last year. Cuban officials say that's a 16% jump in tourism for the year to date. Forecasts show that a figure of 1.9 million...

OPEC lends Cuba $10 million for irrigation. (Business Briefs).(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... Cuba has been awarded a $10 million credit for an irrigation project by the International Development Fund, an arm of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The agreement was signed in Vienna by Marta Lomas, Cuba's minister for...

Canadian salesman wins right to retrial. (Business Briefs).(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... A U.S. federal judge has granted a motion for a retrial for Canadian salesman James Sabzali, convicted last April for violating the U.S. embargo against Cuba. Wire services report that Judge Mary McLaughlin, in a 31-page ruling, wrote she was...

Cuba travel services to open Tampa office. (Business Briefs).(Business Brief)(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... Responding to increased demand for travel services to Cuba among Cuban-Americans in the Tampa Bay area, Cuba Travel Services Inc. (CTS) will open a branch in Tampa, Fla. CTS, based in Long Beach, Calif., already has offices in Miami and...

OFAC awards Port of Tampa travel license. (Business Briefs).
July 1, 2003... The Tampa Port Authority has won approval from the Treasury Department's OFAC to send a trade delegation to Cuba. "Plans have not been finalized, but we are working on a trip in late July," said George Williamson, port director and CEO....

Trade visit solidifies Trinidad-Cuba ties. (Business Briefs).(Business Brief)(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... Trinidad & Tobago now accounts for 90% of the $120 million in annual trade between Cuba and the English-speaking Caribbean. Relations between Trinidad and Cuba were solidified during a late June trade mission to Havana headed by the...

Miramar Hotel to get Mirus brand. (Business Briefs).(Business Brief)(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... Hotel developer Leisure Canada Inc. says its Miramar Management unit has been given the right to manage the Monte Barreto Hotel in Havana. The hotel will be flagged with the Mirus Resorts & Hotels brand, subject to review by LCI's Cuban...

Don't blame it on the embargo. (Business Briefs).(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... Of 400 major state entities surveyed by the National Association of Cuban Economists, 197 of them, or 49%, "have not yet resolved their problems connected with internal control and accountability" of their financial operations, accounts and...

New Cuba history textbook available. (Business Briefs).(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... The revised fifth edition of "Cuba: From Columbus to Castro and Beyond" is now available in paperback for $24.95. Written by Jaime Suchlicki, director of the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, this...

Drought endangers eastern Cuba. (Business Briefs).(Brief)(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... Drought is severely affecting eastern Cuba from Camaguey to Guantanamo, reports the official daily Granma, due to lower rainfall volumes over the last 10 years. In the province of Las Tunas, 670 kms east of Havana, the main reservoir, El...

Calling Cuba more costly for Jamaicans. (Business Briefs).(Business Brief)(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... Cable & Wireless Jamaica announced that it will boost the cost of calls to Cuba to 66 cents a minute, effective Jul. 21. According to the telecom giant, even though it's been charging only 18 cents a minute, it has to pay around 50 cents a...

Bermuda free to pursue closer Cuba ties. (Business Briefs).(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... Great Britain has approved Bermuda's plans to sign a memorandum of cultural understanding with Cuba, but it is now up to the island's government to decide whether to proceed. Bermuda's Royal Gazette reported that the Foreign and...

Partech wins GITMO contract.(Business Brief)(Articulo breve)
July 1, 2003... Rome Research Corp., a subsidiary of PAR Technology Corp., said Jun. 12 it was awarded a $6.1 million contract to operate the Defense Message System at the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station of the U.S. Naval Base at...

OFAC denies PWN license to hold 2004 food show in Havana.
July 1, 2003... The U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council is trying to get the Bush administration to reverse its blocking of a food and agribusiness trade show planned for January 2004 in Havana. In a letter to members of Congress, the group said the White...

Sancti Spiritus: colonial charm and forgotten sugar mills. (Geography).
July 1, 2003... This is the 12th in a series of monthly articles on Cuba's 14 provinces by geographer Armando H. Portela, who has a Ph.D. in geography from the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Portela currently resides in Miami. Located in central Cuba, Sancti...

Calendar of events.
July 1, 2003... 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. Jul. 1-Aug. 31: Exhibit on Cuba, featuring over 70 works by a dozen...