CubaNews articles from July 2007

CubaNews archives from July 2007

Baucus bill seeks to ease restrictions on U.S. food, medicine exports to Cuba.
July 1, 2007... Summer usually brings a wave of activity in Washington regarding Cuba policy, because that's when Congressional activity on spending bills heats up. But this year, it's been more like a ripple than a wave. The most decisive move has...

Cash-strapped Cuba turns to booming Asian 'tigers' for investment and trade.
July 1, 2007... It looks as if Cuba has turned upside-down its geopolitical alliances and key connections--and is now making Asia its No. 1 priority. Experts are trying to make sense of this, considering that Cuba is not located in Asia, it's not exactly...

A turning point: Vitral and the Cuban Catholic Church.
July 1, 2007... In early April, the Roman Catholic magazine Vitral--one of the few publications in Cuba not controlled by the government--announced it was suspending publication due to lack of resources. The magazine, published by the Catholic Diocese of...

EU offers Cuba 'open political dialogue'.
July 1, 2007... European Union foreign ministers have agreed not to reactivate sanctions against Cuba, instead holding out an offer for an "open political dialogue" with Havana. EU Business reports that some of the 27 EU member states, led by Spain--which...

Report says TV Marti viewership is growing.
July 1, 2007... The programming of Radio and TV Marti--often criticized as a waste of taxpayer funds--has improved, and anecdotal evidence suggests that it is reaching a bigger audience in Cuba, according to a new U.S. government report obtained by The Miami...

In their own words ...(International relations of cuba)
July 1, 2007... "One day the good Lord will take Fidel Castro away. Then the question is, what will be the approach of the U.S. government? My attitude is that we need to use the opportunity to call the world together to promote democracy as the alternative to...

Puerto Rico Libre: not a port, not rich and not really free.
July 1, 2007... Drive down a dusty, rutted road through sugarcane fields, past the yellowed Borinquen movie theatre that has not shown films in years. Pull in by the ransacked, decaying manor house and the hulking smokestacks no longer in use. Welcome to...

High sugar prices too late for Cuba.
July 1, 2007... Prices of sugar, the worst-performing commodity in the past year, may more than double by the end of 2007 as gains in crude oil encourage ethanol use, said Greg Smith, executive director at hedge-fund manager Global Commodity Ltd. ...

Ark. rice farmers see glimmer of hope.
July 1, 2007... Arkansas rice producers hope limits on exporting to Cuba will be lifted, according to an AP story filed during the visit of Rep. Marion Berry (D-AR) to Havana. Dropping current rules that require all purchases be paid in advance could let...

Gold gets approval to explore for oil, gas.(Gold Oil PLC)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Gold Oil PLC saw its biggest gain in 10 months in late June, after the British company announced that Cuba's National Office of Mineral Resources had given it permission to explore for oil and gas. According to Bloomberg News Service, Gold...

Santiago de Cuba to get small hydro plant.
July 1, 2007... A Japanese-financed hydroelectric plant is being built in Rio Grande, in a mountainous zone of Santiago de Cuba province. The 7-kw facility will provide power to 52 dwellings--20 more than scheduled because of the rationalization of the...

OFAC fines Scottish oil service company.
July 1, 2007... The Texas subsidiary of a Scottish oil company that had business in Cuba has paid a $164,006 fine for violating the U.S. embargo, reports the Miami Herald. A May 4 announcement by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control...

Part II: time for Washington to give Gitmo back to Cuba.
July 1, 2007... Cuba is no longer a security threat to the United States. Therefore, there is little need to maintain a military base for which U.S. taxpayers have already spent tens of millions of dollars yearly, yet which serves no defensible strategic...

Florida firm to build migrant facility at Guantanamo.
July 1, 2007... Jacksonville-based Islands Mechanical Contractors Inc. has won a $16.5 million contract to build a "migrant operations complex" at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base to house possible waves of fleeing Cubans when Fidel Castro dies. According to...

Doubts raised about Venezuela-Cuba fiberoptic cable.
July 1, 2007... Venezuelan telecom expert Antonio Pasquali says he "fears the worst" about a high-capacity fiberoptic cable now being installed between Venezuela and Cuba. Speaking in an interview with the Spanish daily La Vanguardia, Pasquali said Jun....

Etecsa pushes pre-paid.(Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Etecsa, Cuba's state-run phone monopoly, is planning to install over 100 terminals to reload pre-paid telephone cards by year's end, reports Prensa Latina. This will increase reloading points within the Etecsa network, as well as with...

Phone calls to Cuba keep the dollars flowing.
July 1, 2007... Miami generates the pressure for U.S. sanctions to cut off hard-currency flows to Cuba. Miami is also the place that generates a great deal of hard-currency flows, which is why the administration tightened its sanctions in 2004 to reduce...

Avant-garde art, Cuban work ethics and growing up Marxist.
July 1, 2007... Periodically, CubaNews offers glimpses and reviews of books we think will interest our readers. This month, we present three new books; one is a bilingual guide to contemporary Cuban art, the next is a serious analysis of work cultures in both...

Suchlicki book wins award.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... "Breve Historia de Cuba," a history book written by Jaime Suchlicki, University of Miami professor and director of UM's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, has won Best Book of the Year by the International Latino Book Awards. ...

Cuba to invest $180m to upgrade seaports.
July 1, 2007... Cuba plans to invest $180 million over the next three years to revamp the island's ports, according to a Jun. 1 article in the Communist newspaper Granma. The introduction of new technology and cargo handling equipment will help increase...

Sea corals offer hope for damaged bones.
July 1, 2007... Cuban scientists say they've developed an effective biomaterial made from marine coral reefs capable of reconstructing damaged bone tissue or tissue lost due to congenital causes, trauma or other types of pathologies. The product is known...

UNEP chief: jury still out on biofuels risk.
July 1, 2007... The chief of the UN Environmental Program says Fidel Castro and others are justified in their concern that ethanol production might threaten food supplies for the poor. But UNEP Director Achim Steiner, interviewed in Havana, said no one...

Cuba to help Angola rebuild power grid.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The Cuban government will help Angola to generate and distribute power in this energy-starved southwestern African country. The Angolan news agency ANGOP quoted Pedro Ross Leal, Cuba's ambassador in Luanda, as saying Cuba will bring its...

Havana club launched in Chilean market.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The Cuban government has introduced two new Havana Club rums into the highly lucrative Chilean market. In a presentation titled "The Best of Cuba in Chile," French drinks conglomerate Pernod Ricard launched Havana Club Barrel Proof and the...

Communists aim for better business model.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Cuba's Communist Party has concluded a nationwide survey on how state-run businesses might operate more efficiently, Reuters reported Jun. 25. Party members from factories, hotels, transportation and other sectors were surveyed on the...

Herzfeld Caribbean fund scores new high.(Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund Inc. )(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The net asset value of The Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund Inc. (trading under the symbol CUBA) is up by 23.6% so far this year. At the close of business Jul. 5, the fund's net asset value stood at $9.95 per share, which represents a new...

Conflict of interest leads CLC chief to quit.(Cuban Liberty Council)(Ignacio E. Sanchez)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... One of the founders of the conservative Cuban Liberty Council resigned from the organization at the urging of the board of directors, after it was disclosed he represents a French firm whose affiliate built luxury hotels in Cuba. According...

Cuba to spend $60m on sewer upgrading.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Over a five-year period, Cuba will earmark $60 million to restore damaged hydraulic networks in Havana and three provinces, reports Juventud Rebelde newspaper. In Havana alone, some 12.6 miles of pipes and conductors must be restored, said...

Iran loans money to Cuba, inks trade pact.
July 1, 2007... Iran said Jun. 16 that it will grant a loan of 200 million euros to Cuba. The announcement came at the end of the 12th Iran-Cuba Joint Economic Commission for mutual cooperation in the fields of agriculture, dam-building and the supply of...

D.R. event pushes Cuban-Dominican trade.(Dominican Republic)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Representatives from 36 Cuban companies will participate next week in a series of business meetings with Dominican companies interested in carrying out commercial exchange of goods and services with Cuba. The Jul. 9-13 event is being...

Nickel-rich Holguin may be Cuba's foreign-exchange salvation.
July 1, 2007... Holguin is one of the five provinces born in 1976 when authorities split up the former province of Oriente. The others are Las Tunas, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo. Located along Cuba's northeastern coast, Holguin is the...

Calendar of events.
July 1, 2007... If your organization is sponsoring an upcoming event, please let our readers know! Fax details to CubaNews at (301) 949-0065 or send e-mail to larry@cubanews.com. Jul. 10: 2007 South Florida Humanitarian Network Briefing, Casa Bacardi,...