CubaNews articles from July 2008

CubaNews archives from July 2008

National Assembly debates economics as Cubans struggle with sky-high prices.
July 1, 2008... As Cubans prepare to mark the 55th anniversary of their revolution--sparked by Fidel Castro's July 26, 1953, attack on the Moncada army barracks--Cuba's current leaders aren't in much of a mood to party. The mid-July plenary session and...

Experts ponder eventual elimination of Cuba's obsolete food rationing system.
July 1, 2008... Criticized as one more sign of the failures of socialism, or viewed as a right that should not be given up, the ration book--part of Cuban life for 46 years--could disappear as a result of the transformations needed in the country's economy....

Cuba-L seeks Ford Foundation grant.(Ford Foundation give a $150,000 grant for free news service by University of New Mexico )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Cuba-L, a free news service run by University of New Mexico professor Nelson Valdes, is about to submit a report to the Ford Foundation on what the group has accomplished in the last two years. Valdes told CubaNews he will be asking the...

Panels OK bills to ease Cuba travel.
July 1, 2008... Once again, Congress has performed its annual summer ritual, approving bills in key House and Senate committees that would ease U.S. sanctions against Cuba. Every summer for years, the House and Senate have passed measures that promise to lift...

Caravanistas deliver PCs.
July 1, 2008... Members of the 19th US/Cuba Friend-shipment Caravan crossed back into the United States on July 14 after challenging the embargo and delivering nearly 100 tons of humanitarian aid to Cuba. Shortly after passing through Mexico and reaching...

Ralph Nader blasts rivals on Cuba policy.(Question and Answer Session of Ralph Nader)(Interview)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... On June 18, perennial presidential candidate Ralph Nader paid a visit to New York City's Symphony Space Theater. During a Q&A session there, CubaNews grilled Nader on his positions regarding travel and trade with Cuba, and received the...

Church article urges Cubans to be patient.(Raul Castro's political activity published in Espacio Laical article)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... The latest edition of the Archdiocese of Havana's publication Espacio Laical features an extensive article on the new government of Raul Castro and argues that he is the only one capable of producing changes that are both gradual, dramatic and...

Cienfuegos Catholics launch magazine.
July 1, 2008... Cuba's Catholic Church, which already publishes 40 journals and magazines, continues to expand its network of publications. The newest is Mayeutha, published under the auspices of the new bishop of Cienfuegos, Domingo Oropesa Lorente--the...

B'nai B'rith marks 65 years in Cuba.(B'nai B'rith International celebrated its 65th anniversary)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... On June 7, B'nai B'rith Maimonides Cuba--the island's largest Jewish organization--celebrated its 65th anniversary. On hand were 200 people, including Moishe Smith, president of B'nai B'rith International. "What an incredible...

EU lifts sanctions against Cuba; Washington dismayed.(The government of Cuba has re-established official contacts with all of the European Union countries)
July 1, 2008... On Jun. 19, the European Union lifted its largely symbolic sanctions against Cuba--after the United States unsuccessfully tried to convince its allies in Eastern Europe to block the move. "It was a failure for American diplomacy, which did...

Dagoberto gets new FM post.(Dagoberto Rodriguez Barrera appointed as a vice-minister of foreign affairs in Havana)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Dagoberto Rodriguez Barrera, former director of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, has been named deputy vice-minister of foreign affairs in Havana. Rodriguez, 53, left his Washington job last December at a time of worsening...

U.K. banks Lloyds, Barclays dump clients with Cuba ties.
July 1, 2008... Leading British banks have been accused of operating a covert embargo of Cuba out of deference to the United States, The Guardian reported June 23. The accusation comes after revelations that Lloyds TSB and Barclays Bank have been telling...

Judge blocks Fla. law aimed at travel agencies.
July 1, 2008... A federal judge has issued an injunction against a new Florida law that imposes financial and regulatory burdens on anyone arranging trips to Cuba. Dozens of travel agents have filed suit to block the measure Florida Gov. Charlie Crist...

Caribbean advocacy group gets new chief.(Caribbean-Central American Action appointed Cornelius B. Prior Jr.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Cornelius B. Prior Jr. has been elected chairman of Caribbean-Central American Action, succeeding Jose Perez-Jones, who had served in this role since 2005. CCAA is a Washington-based NGO that promotes private sector-led economic development...

CANF denies links to Mexican drug cartel.(Cuban American National Foundation president Francisco Hernandez denies links to Mexican drug cartel)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... The president of the Cuban American National Foundation angrily denies allegations by a Mexican newspaper linking the Miami group to a drug-trafficking cartel and Cuban migrant smuggling. Francisco "Pepe" Hernandez told the Miami Herald...

In their own words ...(Quotation)
July 1, 2008... "What do I do? I help in gathering news and data and doing analysis about the most important international problems, which I furnish to the leadership of the [Communist] Party and the state." --Fidel Castro, speaking June 24 to visiting...

U.S. fruit, veggie exporters still can't crack Cuba market.
July 1, 2008... Cuba is spending more than ever on U.S. food imports--but that's not because bilateral ties have improved or because the Cuban leadership has suddenly acquired a taste for California cherries, Oregon pears or New York sweet corn. Rather,...

Raul's latest reform: more land for farmers.
July 1, 2008... Private farmers who have shown themselves to be productive can increase the amount of land they're allowed to work to 40 hectares (99 acres) for a period of 10 years, under the latest economic reform unveiled by President Raul Castro. The...

The graying of Cuba: over-60 population rises sharply.
July 1, 2008... One of the most remarkable trends in Cuban demography today is the aging of the island's population--the result of an increase in life expectancy, a dramatic drop in the birth rate, and never-ending emigration from Cuba. [ILLUSTRATION...

More science grads needed.(Cuba universities)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Too few science majors are among the 76,653 students set to graduate this year from Cuba's universities, reports the daily state-run newspaper Juventud Rebelde. The total includes just 22 mathematicians, 29 geographers, 20 physicists, 23...

Cuban day-care facilities to get makeover.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Jose Luis Rodriguez, Cuba's minister of economy and planning, has announced a program to overhaul and expand the country's day-care facilities as part of measures to revive Cuba's population--which has stagnated at around 11.2 million. ...

D.R. firm pushes health care in Cuba.
July 1, 2008... Caribbean Salud, based in the Dominican Republic, offers patients the chance to be treated in nearby Cuba--often for conditions not treatable at home. The arrangement is similar to that between the Cuban government and Health Services...

Cuba authorizes sex-change operations.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Cuba will soon let surgeons perform sex change operations, a specialist at the National Center for Sex Education announced June 6. Center director Mariela Castro, daughter of President Raul Castro, has pushed for the operations, which will...

Vaccine for lung cancer approved.
July 1, 2008... Authorities have approved Cuba's first vaccine to extend lives of lung cancer patients, Reuters reported June 24. The drug, CimaVax EGF, has been shown to increase survival rates on average 4-5 months and much longer in some patients, says...

Cuba to offer AVR drugs to aids patients.
July 1, 2008... A triple combination of antiretrovirals lamivudine, stavudine and nevirapine will soon be available in the Cuban market, says Marlen Espino, director of state-funded pharmaceutical producer Novatec Laboratories. The active compounds of...

U.K. investor plans $550m golf resort.
July 1, 2008... A British company in which Sir Terence Conran is involved has set up a strategic partnership with Palmares SA, a unit of Cuba's Ministry of Tourism, to develop the first of several golf resorts on the island. The Times of London reported...

IMF to Caribbean: watch out for Cuba.
July 1, 2008... The International Monetary Fund warns that the inevitable opening of Cuba to U.S. tourists will trigger a "seismic shift" for the rest of the Caribbean. On July 1, the IMF published a 62-page study by researcher Rafael Romeu entitled...

Qatari developer to build in Cayo Largo.
July 1, 2008... Doha-based Qatari Diar plans to sink $70 million in a new, exclusive five-star resort on Cuba's offshore Cayo Largo. The project, consisting of a 200-room hotel and 60 deluxe villas, is a venture with state tourism entity Gran Caribe Grupo...

Aerocaribbean adds D.R., Haiti flights.(Service enhancement)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Cuban airline Aerocaribbean has added two new destinations to its itinerary. A third weekly flight connecting Santiago de Cuba with Port-au-Prince, Haiti, began Jun. 24. And effective Jul. 8, eight ATR-72 aircraft began ferrying tourists...

Habaguanex opens latest boutique hotel.
July 1, 2008... State-run Habaguanex SA will soon offer a new lodging in Old Havana, the four-star Hotel Marques de Prado Ameno. Located close to the Plaza de Armas and Havana's famous Cathedral, the cozy 16-room facility is named after a prominent family...

Bluebay resort on Cayo Coco to expand.
July 1, 2008... Spanish hotel chain Hotetur, a unit of Grupo Marsans SA, will add a new recreation complex to its BlueBay resort on Cayo Coco, in the province of Ciego de Avila. According to Prensa Latina, the BlueBay Cayo Coco will open in November as...

Havana Club rum sales up 15%; EU urges repeal of 211.
July 1, 2008... Cuba's Havana Club rum--the focus of a bitter, long-running trademark dispute between French drinks conglomerate Pernod Ricard and the Bacardi family--is more popular than ever. According to the latest Impact Databank index of the world's...

In-Bev, A-B merger raises Cuba issues.(mergers between InBev UK Ltd. and Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] By now, everyone knows that Belgian conglomerate InBev is buying out St. Louis-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion. Less known is the fact that Cuba was raised as a legal issue during A-B's earlier...

Cuba and the Colombian connection.
July 1, 2008... Colombia sure has been in the news a lot lately. The current chain of events began with the Colombian Army's attack on a FARC guerrilla encampment in Ecuador, continued with the death of FARC's founder and leader, Manuel Marulanda, and a call...

UM's ICCAS establishes 3 Cuba databases.
July 1, 2008... The University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) has established three databases to help academics, students, Cuba-followers and the general public research various subjects of interest. As part of the Cuba...

St. Lucia seeks to be hub for Cuba goods.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... The government of St. Lucia would like to become a hub for the transit of goods between Cuba and the Eastern Caribbean. Commerce Minister Guy Mayers said the idea of using St. Lucia as a regional hub for Cuban-manufactured goods was...

Barbados, Cuba discuss silk venture.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Three years of dialogue between Barbados-based Mulberry Patch Destiny Inc. and the Cuban government may soon pay off. Dawnay St John, CEO of Mulberry Patch, and Dr. Jose Garcia Roque, Cuba's envoy in Bridgetown, met with Agriculture...

CARICOM-Cuba summit set for Dec. 7-8.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Caribbean Community countries and Cuba will seek to strengthen their relationship in a Dec. 7-8 summit in Santiago de Cuba. "In addition to discussion about the political situation in the region, we will discuss the cooperation program...

D.R., Cuba sign trade promotion accord.
July 1, 2008... The Dominican government's export promotion office, CEI-RD, has signed an agreement with Cuba to promote trade between the two Caribbean countries. Santo Domingo hopes for a bilateral accord covering preferential tariffs for a wide array of...

Despite its small size, nickel port of Moa is key to economy.
July 1, 2008... This is the 7th in an ongoing series of articles on Cuba's key ports. Previous articles have analyzed the ports of Mariel, Cienfuegos, Matanzas, Nuevitas, Santiago de Cuba and Nipe Small, highly specialized and located off the ample natural...

Cuba sugar harvest up 28% over 2007.
July 1, 2008... Plague-resistant sugar cane varieties and improved cultivation have dramatically reduced the presence of cane rust and smut in Cuban sugar plantations, boosting output, according to Reuters, quoting the island's top sugar expert. "Today we...

Brazil will help Cuba grow soybeans.
July 1, 2008... Brazil plans to provide technical assistance and seed to help Cuba grow soybeans on an industrial scale for the first time, according to a recent Reuters report. Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, speaking in Havana to a meeting of...

Cuba seeks to double rice production.
July 1, 2008... Five new strains of rice rich in iron and zinc have been planted in the province of Villa Clara, as part of research being carried out to increase yield of this cereal in Cuba. Gladys Lopez, an official of the Armando Perera Cooperative of...

Cienfuegos distillery produces a record.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... A distillery in Aguada de Pasajeros, in the province of Cienfuegos, has produced 2.34 million gallons of alcohol--without consuming a single kilowatt of electricity. The achievement in Cuba's national energy-saving campaign was made...

Trade with Venezuela keeps climbing.
July 1, 2008... Bilateral trade between Cuba and Venezuela amounted to $2.7 billion in 2007 and continues to grow and diversify, with reciprocal interest in the two countries' respective markets. At a June 25 press conference in Caracas, Odalys Seijo,...

Foreign investment in 2007: a mixed bag.
July 1, 2008... There's less foreign investment underway in Cuba now than when Raul Castro took over the government in July 2006, reports the Communist Party newspaper Granma. Quoting testimony by a senior official, a July 20 article picked up by Reuters...

Holguin wind farm saves energy.
July 1, 2008... More than 800 tons of diesel saved by Cuba and a similar amount of carbon dioxide not released into the atmosphere are the outcome of the Gibara I Wind Farm located near Holguin, news agency ACN reported June 26. The park has contributed...

Russia's Lukoil delays oil refinery plans.
July 1, 2008... Lukoil, Russia's No. 2 oil giant, has postponed plans to buy a refinery in Cuba because it is facing delays with oil production projects in Venezuela, its president said on June 26, in a report picked up by Reuters. "Unfortunately, the...

Florida consultant seeks Cuba business.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Sunny Exports & Trade Corp., a Hialeah-based export consulting firm, is trying to drum up business with firms hoping to conclude trade agreements in Cuba. "It is estimated that Cuba purchases up to $700 million in food, annually, and also...

Steel sector recovering, says SIME.
July 1, 2008... Fernando Acosta Santana, chief of the Ministry of the Steel, Mechanical and Recycling Industry (SIME in Spanish) presented a report on current levels of performance in his ministry during the recent National Assembly. According to Acosta,...

OFAC fines Colo. software firm, Spirit Airlines for violations.
July 1, 2008... Platte River Associates, a company based in Boulder, Colo., has been accused of violating the Trading With the Enemy Act for allegedly providing computer software and training in 2000 used to help Cuba explore for oil and gas in its territorial...

Iran extends huge credit line to Cuba.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Iran has issued Cuba a credit of 500 million euro (around $768 million)--a move supported by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and approved during a special session of Iran's Cabinet, reported the Tehran Times. The memo of...

Office releases telecom, Internet figures.
July 1, 2008... In 2007, Cuba had 1.24 million phone lines for its 11.2 million people, of which 910,000 were residential and the rest in state hands, according to a new report by the National Statistics Office (ONE). Mobile phones numbered just...

Chinese locomotives on their way to Cuba.
July 1, 2008... The first 11 of 40 type DF7G-C diesel-electric locomotives ordered from China Northern's February 7th Locomotive Works in Beijing were shipped from the Chinese port of Tianjin on June 12. The rest are due to be despatched from China during...

Construction sector to be decentralized.
July 1, 2008... Cuba has begun decentralizing decision-making in construction, in the second major reorganization of an industry since Raul Castro became president in February. Reuters reported July 11 that a parliament hearing focused on disorganization...

Santiago de Cuba to get new oil refinery.
July 1, 2008... Cuba's minister of basic industry said July 16 that the island plans to build a new oil refinery that will boost the island's refining capacity to 350,000 barrels a day. In remarks to Cuban media in Maracaibo, Venezuela, where she traveled...

Cuban doctors help poor Nicas see better.
July 1, 2008... Cuban specialists working in the Operation Miracle free eye-surgery program have performed more than 25,000 surgeries to patients in Nicaragua. Located in the municipality of Sandino, less than 20 km west of Managua, the Cuban doctors have...

Fiberoptic cable ready in 2010.
July 1, 2008... By early 2010, Cuba expects to have in place a shark-proof underwater fiberoptic cable that will connect the island with Venezuela and increase 3,000-fold its current capacity for phone connections abroad. Wilfredo Morales, an engineer...

Che Guevara on Marx and Engels.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... "Marx & Engels: A Biographical Introduction" is a thoughtfully succinct book about the lives and work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels by another devoted communist, Che Guevara, who himself made an original and unique contribution to Marxist...

Displacements and transformations.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... The geopolitical contours of the Caribbean have changed much over the centuries. Amerindian chiefdoms gave way to European colonies that have been replaced by nations of various political flavors. Connections between islands and countries vary...

Chinese in Cuban literature and culture.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... More than 150 years ago, the first Chinese contract laborers arrived in Cuba to work the colonial plantations. Eventually, over 150,000 Chinese "coolies" immigrated to the island, and their presence has had a profound effect on all aspects of...

The Cuba Wars: what's coming next?(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Jan. 1, 2009, marks a half century for a Cuban regime created and shaped by the powerful will of Fidel Castro--and even with the historic moment drawing near, the ailing leader has begun to fade from the scene and left his brother Raul firmly...

Statehood for Cuba: not such an crazy idea after all?
July 1, 2008... Just over 106 years ago, on Feb. 5, 1902, Congress passed a resolution sponsored by Rep. Frances Newlands, a Nevada Democrat and member of the House Ways and Means Committee, to annex Hawaii and invited Cuba to become part of the United States....

Bohemia marks 100 years.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Cuba's Bohemia magazine, which revolutionized Latin America's information panorama in the 20th century, recently celebrated its 100th birthday in Havana. According to El Nuevo Herald, the magazine made its debut May 10, 1908, following...

Criticism of LAWG unjustified.(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... I read your profile of the Latin America Working Group, which was interesting (see "LAWG's Mavis Anderson fights embargo on Capitol Hill," CubaNews, June 2008, page 8). But I question the use of anonymous sources criticing the group as...

Kudos from Key West.(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... I have been very tardy in thanking you so much for your fine article in CubaNews mentioning my little store down here in Key West (see "Experts ponder Cuba tourism potential as Raul cautiously opens up economy, CubaNews, April 2008, page 1)....

Calendar of events.(Calendar)
July 1, 2008... 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. July 30: "Cuba's Engagement With China: Domestic and Regional Implications,"...