CubaNews articles from June 2007

CubaNews archives from June 2007

Even with Democrats running Congress, Cuba-related legislation goes nowhere.
June 1, 2007... Advocates of easing U.S. sanctions against Cuba initially saw the Republican Party's loss of power in Congress as an opportunity--but even under Democratic leadership there's been no action on Capitol Hill. More than a dozen bills relating...

OFAC goes after Cuba-bound travelers, buyers of banned Cuban cigars online.(Office of Foreign Assets Control)
June 1, 2007... Nobody--from high-school students to affluent cigar-smokers and even prominent filmmakers--is above the law when it comes to buying Cuban products or traveling to the forbidden island without express government permission. That's the...

Fidel's return to spotlight begs question: what's next?(Fidel Castro)
June 1, 2007... To the disappointment of scores of experts, some U.S. officials and opposition activists in Miami and Havana, Fidel Castro is back from the dead. Regardless of his illness, the fact remains that since July 31, he was--and remains--very...

Judge to hear academic travel suit.(Wayne Smith v. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control )
June 1, 2007... A federal judge in Washington will soon decide whether to allow a case to move forward against the Bush administration over its policy of restricting academic travel to Cuba. In June 2004, the White House imposed tough restrictions on such...

OFAC drops fine against Baptist Church.(Office of Foreign Assets Control)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Treasury Department officials have dropped the threat of a $34,000 fine against the Alliance of Baptists over "forbidden economic activities" during recent trips to Cuba by some of its members, the Associated Baptist Press reported May 17. ...

Canada's Sherritt to invest $1.25 billion in Cuba projects.
June 1, 2007... Canada's Sherritt International Corp. plans to invest US$1.25 billion in Cuba over the next two years, thanks to record-high prices for nickel, now ranked as the island's top source of foreign exchange. "Cuba is one of our favorite places...

UN human rights Cuba expert wants to quit.
June 1, 2007... Catherine Chanet, the UN's human rights expert on Cuba, says her attempts to probe the situation in Cuba have reached an impasse because of Havana's refusal to cooperate. French news agency AFP reported Jun. 12 that Chanet delivered a...

EU may soon end freeze on contacts with Cuba.(European Union )(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... The European Union may soon end a freeze on contacts imposed on Cuba after a crackdown on dissidents in 2002, Reuters reported Jun. 11. Spain sent its foreign minister to Cuba in April in a possible first step to thawing ties, but a number...

Cuba withdraws welcome for U.S. fugitives.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... The Castro regime says it'll no longer provide safe haven to U.S. fugitives who enter Cuba--a promise Havana has met twice since September. The promise and deportations amount to a rare sign of cooperation by the regime, according to an...

"In their own words ...".(officials speak up)
June 1, 2007... "On Cuba, I am not sure that we see eye to eye. I don't see how democracy is advanced by simply dealing with the current regime--a regime that seems to be setting itself up for a non-democratic succession when the transition takes place in...

Alimport contracts for $118m in U.S. food purchases.
June 1, 2007... The largest gathering of U.S. food exporters in Cuba since Raul Castro took the reigns of power last year came off without a hitch--and resulted in $118 million worth of new food deals with Alimport, Cuba's state food purchasing agency. ...

PR-DR duo to conduct Cuba consumer market surveys.
June 1, 2007... A Puerto Rico-based market research firm has teamed up with a Dominican partner to conduct consumer surveys in Cuba four times a year. Gaither International, headquartered in San Juan, and Horwath Consulting of Santo Domingo, will offer the...

Vietnam to drill for Gulf oil.
June 1, 2007... Vietnam's state-run oil and gas consortium has become the sixth petroleum company to sign risk contracts to explore Cuba's promising Gulf of Mexico waters, Reuters reported Jun. 3. Petrovietnam signed contracts for blocks 31, 42 and 43 in...

Radio commentator Max Lesnik: 'Man of Two Havanas'.
June 1, 2007... Attendees at the recent Tribeca Film Festival in New York were pleasantly surprised by the screening of a moving documentary, "Man of Two Havanas." The film portrays Cuban-born Miami radio commentator Max Lesnik, whose life takes various...

Cuba to invest $180m to upgrade seaports.
June 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...

Hydroelectric plant in Santiago de Cuba.
June 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...

China's Yutong wins $370m bus contract.(Yutong Group)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Yutong Group, a leading coach and bus manufacturer based in Zhengzhou, Henan province, has signed a $370 million contract provide buses to Cuba. Yutong will manufacture 5,384 vehicles for Cuba by 2009, under the contract's terms, reports...

Police raid counterfeit cigar factories.
June 1, 2007... Cuban police have raided and shut down several clandestine Havana factories illegally making and selling cigars and cigar products. The weekly Tribuna, quoting local authorities, reported Jun. 10 that the underground tobacco dealers would...

ITC studies embargo's impact on food sales.
June 1, 2007... The U.S. International Trade Commission will soon complete its investigation of the effect of Washington's 45-year-old trade embargo on U.S. exports of agricultural commodities to Cuba. The investigation, "U.S. Agricultural Sales to Cuba:...

COHA: time for Washington to give Gitmo back to Cuba.(Council on Hemispheric Affairs)
June 1, 2007... The Bush administration has made several declarations expressing its willingness to help Cuba make a smooth transition to a Washington-approved democracy, achieved through a "soft landing." This transition would take effect upon Fidel Castro's...

Sancti Spiritus: colonial charm not enough to keep people: this is the 10th 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.(Geographic overview)
June 1, 2007... Located in central Cuba, Sancti Spiritus province has existed since 1976, when the old province of Las Villas was split into three new jurisdictions: Sancti Spiritus, Villa Clara and Cienfuegos. Covering 6,737 sq kms (2,602 sq miles),...

Trinidad's old sugar mills fascinate visitors.
June 1, 2007... In its heyday in the early 1800s, when sugar was king in the Caribbean, the sugar mill valley in central Cuba boomed with wealth, dazzling visitors with sprawling hacienda homes and even a watchtower rising nearly 15 stories high. But...

Catering to tourists in Sancti Spiritus.
June 1, 2007... The colonial town of Trinidad, on Cuba's south-central coast, is one of the island's most-visited historic attractions. But few relatively few tourists pass through Sancti Spiritus, capital of the province of the same name in which Trinidad...

Cuba's santeria culture offers great tourist potential.
June 1, 2007... Get ready, Cuba: Here come the neopagans (New Age religion devotees) and it will soon be time to cash in. Already inundating the Peruvian Amazon, neopagans trip on the drug ayahuasca, swim in piranha-infested waters, and run naked through...

Cuba to spend $185m to upgrade tourism facilities.
June 1, 2007... Faced with a slumping tourism industry and increasing competition from nearby Caribbean vacation destinations, Cuba announced plans in mid-May to spend $185 million to improve tourist facilities. The three-year plan was detailed in the...