CubaNews articles from June 2004

CubaNews archives from June 2004

New OFAC travel rules could devastate U.S. charter operators flying to Havana.(Office of Foreign Assets Control)
June 1, 2004... Tough new U.S. regulations aimed at depriving Cuba of dollars won't force Fidel Castro from power, but they could put several Miami-based charter operators out of business as Cuban-Americans stay away from the island or risk flying to their...

Foreign interest in oil exploration rises as Repsol-YPF prepares to drill in Gulf.(Repsol-YPF S.A.)
June 1, 2004... Sometime in the next few weeks, Spanish oil company Repsol-YPF S.A. plans to start drilling its first exploratory well off Cuba's northwestern coast, sparking interest among Canadian, European and even U.S. oil giants. But don't expect...

CTS seeks approval for Puerto Rico-Cuba direct flights.(Cuba Travel Services)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... California-based Cuba Travel Services (CTS) plans to petition the Bush administration for permission to begin direct air service between San Juan, Puerto Rico, and at least two Cuban destinations. The announcement by general manager Michael...

Plan to boost Radio, TV Marti broadcasts raises questions.
June 1, 2004... On May 6, President Bush heartened politically influential Cuban exiles with his announcement that he'd authorize the use of a C-130 military aircraft to carry the signals of Radio and TV Marti to thwart the jamming of those broadcasts by Cuba....

Cuba puts new curbs on self-employment.
June 1, 2004... Effective Oct. 1, the Cuban government will no longer issue new licenses for 40 categories of self-employment--known in Spanish as cuentapropismo--that were legalized in 1993. Those categories include jewelers, restauranteurs, masseuses,...

For Cuba's independent journalists, every day a challenge.(Claudia Marquez)
June 1, 2004... Claudia Marquez walked the aisles of the Miramar dollar store, her eyes darting right and left. Her arms were packed with food she would later bring to her husband Osvaldo Alfonso, a dissident languishing in Guanajay prison, 45 kms from Havana....

Activists criticize Bush policy.
June 1, 2004... A group of political activists who support more U.S. contact with Cuba predict that the Bush administration's latest attempt to appease hard-line exiles in South Florida will backfire, opening the way for a possible Kerry victory in the...

In their own words ...
June 1, 2004... "It is a strategy that will prevent the regime from exploiting hard currency of tourists, and of remittances to Cubans, to prop up their repressive regime. It is a strategy that says we're not waiting for the day of Cuban freedom." ...

Former spy base at Lourdes becomes IT learning center.(Universidad de Ciencias Informaticas, information technology)
June 1, 2004... For almost 40 years, the Soviet eavesdropping station at Lourdes was a major headache for U.S. defense officials. Built in 1964, the USSR used Lourdes for decades to spy on the United States. After the USSR collapsed, Russia tried to keep...

Central America avoids closer Cuba ties.
June 1, 2004... El Salvador's new, fervently pro-American president says democracy in Cuba would make life there more "convenient," and that he hoped to "see the island living in the kind of open democracy we have seen in other countries." Tony Saca, a...

Dollar stores reopen after two weeks.(price hikes)
June 1, 2004... Cuban stores selling goods in dollars reopened May 24, two weeks after the Castro government abruptly shut them down to raise prices, blaming U.S. measures aimed at squeezing the island's economy. According to a front-page story in the...

ATRIP, USA*Engage, NFTC form alliance.(Association of Travel Related Industry Professionals, National Foreign Trade Council)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The Association of Travel Related Industry Professionals (ATRIP) and USA*Engage--a coalition sponsored by the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC)--have decided to combine forces in their effort to ease U.S. restrictions on travel and trade...

Reich quits job to help Bush Campaign.(Otto Reich)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Otto Reich, the White House special envoy to the Americas, said he'll leave his post in June to rejoin the private sector and work on President Bush's reelection campaign. The Cuban-born Reich, despised by the Castro regime and many...

Pastors for Peace to defy U.S. Embargo.(volunteering)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... On Jul. 7, Pastors for Peace and hundreds of U.S. and foreign volunteers will cross the U.S. border into Mexico, in an effort to challenge American restrictions on travel to Cuba. Since 1992, Pastors for Peace has delivered 2,350 tons of...

Prices at the Cubanacan Nautica dollar store.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Here's a sampling of the merchandise offered at the Cubanacan Nautica's "Todo X Uno" department store in suburban Havana. Note: These items were priced in mid-April, before Cuba's dollar stores were shut. They have since reopened, with prices...

Old car of Cuba: potential market for parts makers?
June 1, 2004... Barely a travel article about Cuba gets published these days without a prominent mention of the vintage 1950s Chevrolets, Fords, Plymouths and Buicks that add so much color and tourist appeal to the island. But few people have thought of...

Lawmakers challenge Bush.(Cuba Sanctions Reform Act of 2004 to be approved)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... U.S. Senators Max Baucus (D-MT), Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Mike Enzi (R-WY), along with U.S. Representatives Jeff Flake (R-AZ), William Delahunt (D-MA) and C.L. Butch Otter (R-ID), on May 20 introduced legislation that would require Congressional...

Sherritt aims to generate 20% of Cuba's electricity by 2007.(Sherritt International Corp.)
June 1, 2004... Toronto-based Sherritt International Corp. hopes to expand its Cuban power subsidiary, Energas, by generating 71% more electricity in Cuba over the next three years, according to Canadian Press. "Energas will have about 150 megawatts of new...

Puerto Rico angles for bigger slice of Cuban food market.
June 1, 2004... Despite its relative proximity to Cuba and a common language and culture, the U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico is landing only a tiny fraction of the contracts that the Cuban government is awarding to U.S. food-exporting companies. Antonio...

UBS pays big fine for currency violations.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Switzerland's largest bank, UBS, has agreed to pay a $100 million fine to settle allegations it illegally transferred funds to parties in countries subject to U.S. economic sanctions. In announcing the settlement, the Federal Reserve said...

Cuba inaugurates fourth TV channel.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Cuba has inaugurated its fourth TV channel in an effort to promote education and culture throughout the island. Education Channel 2 went on the air in late April with a broadcast of a national Olympic sports event. Up until now, Cuba had...

California firms seek Alimport Contracts.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... What do Bumble Bee Seafood, Vineyards International, Nielsen Citrus Products, Lee Kum Kee, Lozen International, Capurro Marketing, C-Shore International, New World/Harlan Bakeries and City Seafoods have in common? All are California-based...

Cuba again tries to limit internet access.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The Cuban government is quietly introduction a new Information Security Law aimed at centralizing and restricing access to the Internet, e-mail and telephone service, according to El Nuevo Herald. The Miami newspaper reported May 16 that...

Cuba promotes 'cocomovil' taxi in Brazil.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Cuba has begun overseas promotion of its cocomovil, a yellow vehicle smaller than a Volkswagen Beetle that costs only $2,000 on the retail market. Last month, the unusual vehicle was featured at an exhibition in Brazil co-sponsored by the...

Ciego de Avila boosts fruit, veggie exports.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The central province of Ciego de Avila is boosting its presence in the international agriculture market, according to Jose Luis Tapia of the ASEMAG state-run trading entity. Tapia told Prensa Latina that his company has exported tomatoes,...

CPT profits from soap-opera popularity.(Casa Productora de Telenovelas)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... A Cuban TV production company, Casa Productora de Telenovelas (CPT), recorded sales of 12 million pesos and profits of 3.5 million pesos last year, reports Prensa Latina. Alredo Calderon Vera is director-general of CPT, which belongs to...

CIES: better-fed chickens mean more eggs.(Centro de Investigaciones de Energia Solar)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... A new application of homeopathy in the veterinary field is giving Cuba an effective technique to improve the nutrition of hens and increase egg production. The research was carried out with a phosphoric calcareous substance rich in calcium...

Argentine mission leads to food deals.(food industry exports )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Argentine companies will export $15 million in goods to Cuba in 2004, mainly foods, following a mid-April trade mission by 34 Argentine companies to Havana. Argentina will sell to Cuba 3,000 tons of black beans, 10,000 tons of wheat flour,...

USDA issues study on fruits of tourism.(United States Department of Agriculture)(growth of fruit industry)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... A jump in international tourism could help revitalize and upgrade Cuba's processed tropical fruit products industry, says the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In a new report on Cuba, the USDA said the island's climate and land are ideal...

Havan fails in bid to host 2012 olympics.(Havana Bancshares Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Havana has lost its chance to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, earning the lowest score of the nine cities bidding for the Games. The International Olympic Committee dropped Havana from the list of finalists, along with Rio de Janeiro,...

Cuba Travel Network launches website.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Cuba Travel Network, based in the United Kingdom, on Apr. 30 announced the launch of its "flight-only" website. Through the site, any tour operator holding pre-contracted flight inventory to Cuba can access cubajet.com's large and highly...

U.S. threatens Jamaica's SuperClubs with sanctions.
June 1, 2004... The Bush administration has informed John Issa, chairman of Jamaica's SuperClubs hotel chain, that his top officers will be denied entry into the United States because of investments SuperClubs has made on confiscated property in Cuba. ...

EIU projects Cuba's 2004-05 GDP growth at 3% or better.( Economist Intelligence Unit )
June 1, 2004... The following is excerpted from an Economist Intelligence Unit report issued on May 20, 2004. For more information, contact Emily Morris, senior analyst/Latin America, at EIU in London. Tel: +44 20 7830-1127. Fax: +44 20 7830-1083. E-mail:...

Sanchez says Cuba has 100,000 prisoners.
June 1, 2004... Human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez says Cuba's jails hold about 100,000 prisoners today, up from 4,000 in 1956. Sanchez, who heads the independent Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, has presented what he says...

Old Cuban plane now monument to freedom.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... A vintage Cuban cropdusting plane seized by U.S. court order in a rare judgment against the Castro government is now a work of art. According to the Miami Herald, the Soviet-made Antonov AN-2 'Colt' in which a pilot and his family made a...

Clarifications.(Correction Notice)
June 1, 2004... A religion brief in the May 2004 issue of CubaNews incorrectly referred to Aida Wasserstein as a Cuban-American Jewish activist. Wasserstein says she is not an activist. Also, a chart in our April 2004 issue listed $87.6 million in U.S....

Calendar of events.(Calendar)
June 1, 2004... 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. Jun. 3-6: US-Cuba Sister Cities Association to hold 5th Annual Conference...