CubaNews articles from June 2002

CubaNews archives from June 2002

Chasm widens between White House, Congress on direction of Cuba policy.
June 1, 2002... President Bush's long-awaited Cuba policy review failed to include tough new measures against Fidel Castro--disappointing hardliners in Miami--but his reaffirmation of support for Washington's 40-year-old trade embargo has widened the chasm...

U.S. food exports to Cuba on the rise as farmers pressure lawmakers.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... From a tiny organic-egg farm in New Hampshire to giant grain conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland of Decatur, Ill., agribusiness companies across the United States are starting to benefit from increased food exports to Cuba. "We're shipping...

Cuba food credit initiatives fail; lawmakers to try again.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... A mid-May attempt in Congress to end the U.S. ban on Cuba's use of commercial credit to buy American food products floundered during final negotiations over a massive new farm bill, but lawmakers from farm states vow they'll try again later...

Cuba and the EU: the new honeymoon.
June 1, 2002... After various diplomatic tensions with the EU and some minor skirmishes with Spain--mainly over human-rights issues--Cuba's relations with the European Union appear to be warming up again. The most concrete indication of this is Fidel...

Sandals to open all-inclusive resort.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... The 404-room Sandals Royal Hicacos Resort & Spa will open Jul. 16 in Varadero, marking the second Cuban property to be managed by Sandals Royal Resorts of Jamaica. Company officials say the Royal Hicacos will be the first five-star,...

The Russians are coming.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Russian tourists have begun traveling to Cuba in increasing numbers, thanks to special promotions initiated by the Castro government in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other major cities. "We are promoting Cuba as a destination in the Russian...

ASTA president visits Cuba.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Richard M. Copland, president and CEO of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), says he's "optimistic for the future of tourism in Cuba, an excellent destination." Copland, who visited the island in April, met with Fidel Castro, toured...

Several new hotels open in old Havana.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Cuban state entity Habaguanex S.A. is busy restoring old hotels in Havana's colonial zone, including the Santa Isabel, chosen by Jimmy Carter and his wife during the former president's five-day visit to Cuba last month. Habaguanex began the...

In their own words ...(Articulo Breve)
June 1, 2002... "Full normalization of relations with Cuba, diplomatic recognition, open trade and a robust aid program will only be possible when Cuba has a new government that is fully democratic, when the rule of law is respected and when the human rights...

Accor prevails in contract dispute.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... A hotel management contract disagreement between France's Accor S.A. and Cuba's Gaviota S.A. (controlled by the Armed Forces) has been resolved in favor of Accor, reports Caribbean Update. The dispute began earlier this year when Spain's...

London-Ciego de Avila flights begin.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... A European tour operator, JMC, brought 252 tourists to Cuba in early May--on the first of what's expected to be regularly scheduled flights between London's Gatwick Airport and Ciego de Avila. "This new itinerary corresponds to the increasing...

Holguin tourism up sharply.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... The eastern Cuban province of Holguin received 4,200 foreign vacationers in February, double the number who came in November 2001. The biggest sources of tourism for the province--which has 3,300 hotel rooms--are Canada, Germany, France,...

Citrus processing plant on track.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... A citrus processing plant in Contramaestre, in the province of Santiago de Cuba, has produced 16,400 metric tons of concentrated juice and 400 tons of essential oils since its inauguration in 1999. That allowed the plant to recover its initial...

Malaysia negotiates palm-oil credit.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Officials in Kuala Lumpur plan to give Cuba a $10 million credit to buy Malaysian palm oil. The financing is the second such loan granted to Cuba; the first was in 1998. Experts say palm oil is cheaper, free of genetically modified organisms...

U.S. corn finds its way into Havana tacos.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... The first of a planned 47 kiosks offering tacos and tortillas made with U.S. corn has been established in Havana, reports Caribbean Update. The tacos and tortillas have soy-, vegetable- or bean-based fillings and sell for two to three pesos...

Chinese venture bears fruit.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... A Chinese-funded venture to boost Cuba's agricultural production is reportedly in full swing one year after starting up operations. With an initial investment of $800,000, the Shanghai-Havana Project covers 20 hectares near the town of Managua,...

Pescanova invests in aquaculture.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Spanish seafood giant Pescanova plans to invest over $30 million in six shrimp farms throughout Cuba, from which it will produce 3,000 to 5,000 tons of shrimp over the next few years. Pescanova is reportedly taking over three farms which the...

Fertilizer firm expands core business.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Cuba's Empresa de Fertilizantes Nitrogenados Cienfuegos (EFNC) is branching into non-traditional lines of production. In 1997, in a venture with an unnamed foreign firm, EFNC began making polyethylene bags under the brand name Polialaba,...

Potato harvest dashes expectations.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... The same mild winter, warmer and drier than usual, that has benefitted Cuba's sugar harvest seems to be the main reason for a shorter-than-expected potato crop in some provinces--at a time when the Cuban government desperately needs a...

Wayne Smith: time to end 'utterly stupid' embargo.(Entrevista)
June 1, 2002... Thanks to former President Carter's mid-May visit to Cuba, and President Bush's speech to hardline Cuban exiles in Miami barely a week later, the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba is suddenly generating more headlines than it has in years. ...

Israeli group buys 15% of Havana real-estate project. (Construction).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Habas H.Z. Investments, owned by Israeli investors Baruch and Herzl Habas, has acquired 15% of the Miramar Trade Center in Havana--a project its secretive proponents have billed as Cuba's first "intelligent office building complex." Tel...

Cuban phone numbers expand to accommodate growth. (Construction).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... All Havana phone numbers will get a seventh digit and all the provinces will receive new two-digit area codes this year, as state phone monopoly Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (Etecsa) struggles to modernize the island's antiquated...

Harlem Globetrotters dribble their way back to Havana.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Later this month, if all goes according to plan, the Harlem Globetrotters will play their first Cuban game in 46 years--marking the first visit of a professional U.S. basketball team to Cuba since the 1959 revolution. The five-day tour,...

Forest fires blaze across Cuba.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Just as Cuban authorities expressed satisfaction for the low number of forest fires this dry season, a series of new blazes erupted through the island--damaging natural preserves, woodlands and fruit plantations while jeopardizing human...

Venezuela shuts off the oil spigot. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Officials of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. say the state-owned company will stop shipping Venezuelan oil to Cuba because of repeated delays in payment. Two years ago, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez agreed to sell Cuba 53,000 barrels of oil a...

Uruguay-Cuba rupture: so what? (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Uruguay's decision to break diplomatic relations with Cuba in late April is unlikely to affect either country's economy, since commercial relations between Montevideo and Havana never amounted to much anyway. A spokesman at the Uruguayan...

Software factory opens. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Cuba has inaugurated a software factory in Tarara, about 20 kilometers east of Havana. That's the word from Centersoft, a division of Cuba's Ministry of Informatics and Communications. Alicia Fernandez Barreto, director-general of Centersoft,...

U.S. firms invited to attend food fair. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... The Cuban government is inviting U.S. companies to participate in a food-industry exposition scheduled for Mar. 24-28, 2003, in Havana. Humberto Cabezas, president of the Alimexpo 2003 organizing committee, says U.S. firms are welcome to attend...

Bike shop offers used bargains. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... A Canadian non-profit organization, Bicycles Across Borders, has opened a shop in Old Havana, selling second-hand bikes to Cubans for $20 each. The project's coordinator, Nani Reddy, said half of all proceeds will be donated to Old Havana's...

Chilean seafood to Cuba. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... In the first shipment of its kind, Chile has begun exporting seafood products to Cuba. A Panamanian-flag vessel, the Hanchinohe Bay, left the Chilean port of Talcahuano on May 2, carrying 15,000 tons of frozen and 560 cases of canned products...

ASCE publishes conference papers. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... The Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE) has published a 500-page volume entitled "Cuban Economy in Transition." The book contains papers from the ASCE's 2001 conference--provocative articles, essays and data in both Spanish...

Accountants form group. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... The Castro government has formed an organization aimed at improving accounting standards in Cuba. At a May 4 ceremony presided over by Vice President Carlos Lage, the Comite de Normas Cubanas de Contabilidad was inaugurated in Havana with 25...

CPF: energy sector has `major' potential. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... U.S. energy firms could earn $2-3 billion annually in new revenue once the trade embargo against Cuba is lifted, claims the Washington-based Cuba Policy Foundation. In a new report entitled "The Potential for the U.S. Energy Sector in Cuba,"...

Caudal covers 51% of storm losses. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Six months after Hurricane Michelle plowed into Cuba, the Insurance and Financial Services Group of Cuba (known as Caudal) has paid out $16.4 million to its policyholders, out of a total $31.8 million in reported losses. Alejandro Gil...

More doctors to Guyana. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Another group of Cuban doctors has arrived in the South American nation of Guyana. An initial 11 from a total of 32 physicians forming the Cuban Medical Brigade were welcomed by Jose M. Inclan, Cuba's ambassador to Guyana, and other officials....

Government bans PC sales. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... The Castro regime has quietly outlawed the sale of personal computers, diskettes, CD-ROMs and other accessories to the general public. While officials refused to comment on the reason behind the ban, sources in Havana speculate it may be tied...

Cuba withdraws Mexico loan guarantees. (Business Briefs).(Articulo Breve)
June 1, 2002... The Cuban government said two state-owned telecom entities, Etecsa and Telefonica Antillana, would no longer provide loan guarantees for Cuba's $380 million debt-restructuring agreement with Mexico's Banco de Comercio Exterior...

Coca-Cola bottler eyes Cuba. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. hopes to use its Mexican bottler as a springboard to break into the Cuban soft-drink market, according to the Mexican magazine Finanzas. Jaime Toussaint is communications director at Fomento Economico Mexicano...

Barytex, Orion plan copper mine. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Two Canadian companies, International Barytex Resources Ltd. and Northern Orion Explorations Ltd., say they're negotiating a financing package to establish a copper mine at the Mantua project in Pinar del Rio province. Discussions are...

Iberia opens air cargo terminal. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Empresa Logistica Carga Aerea (ELCA), a joint venture between the Cuban government and a unit of Spain's Iberia, has inaugurated a modern cargo terminal at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport. The $2 million facility is a 50-50 venture...

Russia may ship oil to Cuba to pay debts.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Russia might export crude oil to Cuba to settle Moscow's debts for closing the Lourdes spy station last year. Dow Jones, quoting the Russian daily Vedomosti, reported May 14 that state-owned oil entities OAO Rosneft and OAO Zarubezhneft hope to...

Venezuelan tax breaks for Cuban drugs.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... A Venezuelan government decree issued last August and renewed on Mar. 21, 2002, exempts a number of Cuban medicines, vaccines and medical equipment items from value--added tax, customs service charges and import duties. The U.S. Embassy in...

I can't believe it's not butter.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Cuba's only margarine factory, Camaguey's Fabrica de Conservas y Vegetales El Mambli, produced 30 tons of margarine in the first quarter of 2002, reports Cuban state media. This new line of production results from a joint venture between the...

Fewer tourists, falling sugar prices push Cuba into recession.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... Cuba's gradually improving economy seems to have stalled, as the island has fallen victim to an unlucky combination of factors including a poor sugar harvest, miserable market prices, a remarkable slowdown in tourist arrivals and the lingering...

AmCham, NPA urge respect for workers.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... AmCham Cuba, a Washington-based organization representing U.S. companies that once did business in Cuba or are interested in doing so in the future, is urging its members to endorse a set of principles aimed at guaranteeing the rights of Cuban...

Global exchange seeks delegates.(Artículo Breve)
June 1, 2002... San Francisco-based Global Exchange is currently organizing and recruiting for a 200-member U.S. delegation to participate in Cuba's 4th International Conference on Environment and Development, to be held in Havana in June 2003. The...