CubaNews articles from March 2005

CubaNews archives from March 2005

In wake of tough new OFAC regulations, food exporters turn to letters of credit.(Office of Foreign Assets Control )
March 1, 2005... U.S. agribusiness interests and farm-state lawmakers have vowed to fight new White House attempts to curb trade with Cuba, but some American farmers are taking the new restrictions in stride, turning to letters of credit to complete their...

Dissidents organize May 20 gathering, posing big dilemma for Castro regime.
March 1, 2005... With the advent of spring, two showdowns are rapidly converging--one in Geneva, the other in Havana--in the midst of considerable media coverage. The first is the annual political and diplomatic maneuvering at the UN Human Rights...

Council's future uncertain following Kavulich resignation.(United States-Cuba Trade and Economic Council )
March 1, 2005... The future of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council (USCTEC) is up in the air, now that its founder and president has decided to call it quits. John S. Kavulich, who established the organization in 1994, announced his resignation in a...

Castro revalues peso 7% amid rumors of currency's eventual demise.
March 1, 2005... Cuba's Central Bank has increased the value of the peso against the U.S. dollar by 7%, following Fidel Castro's announcement Mar. 17 that the peso convertible--which was previously equivalent to 27 ordinary pesos--could now be bought for 25...

Louisiana governor's trip nets $15m sales commitment.
March 1, 2005... Gov. Kathleen Blanco this month became the first governor of Louisiana to visit Cuba since the 1959 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power. Blanco's Mar. 8-10 trip and her widely publicized lunch with Castro--criticized by...

Mississippi angles for bigger slice of Cuba trade.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The state of Mississippi and the Cuban government have renewed an agreement aimed at making Gulfport, Miss., the main facility for container cargo to Cuba as U.S. ports compete for growing exports to the island. The accord was signed Feb....

CANF pushes attendance at dissident meeting.(Cuban American National Foundation )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... For the first time, the Cuban American National Foundation is urging its directors to travel to Cuba, the Miami Herald reported Mar. 11. CANF wants to participate in a meeting of dissidents, diplomats and journalists in Havana this May,...

USAID hands ICCAS another $1 million.(U.S. Agency for International Development)(Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) has been given another $1 million from the White House to promote a "transition to democracy" in Cuba. This is the third grant from the U.S. Agency for...

In their own words ...
March 1, 2005... "Once again, they have committed the infamy of speaking about Castro's fortune, placing me almost above the Queen of England." --Fidel Castro, outraged over a Mar. 15 article in Forbes that estimated Castro's net worth at $550 million....

Business opportunities lure the Russians back to Cuba.
March 1, 2005... With the tensions sparked by the collapse of the Soviet Union now a fading memory, Russians seem eager to reactivate their once-vibrant trade relations with Cuba. Russians arriving in Cuba now dress in blue jeans and designer suits and...

Cuba-N. Korea relationship more complex than it seems.
March 1, 2005... Two months ago, CubaNews published an analysis by the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies entitled "Cuba, North Korea and weapons of mass destruction" (see CubaNews, January 2005, page 15). After a North...

Cuba claims issue: another viewpoint.
March 1, 2005... I read with interest Ana Radelat's article last month on U.S. claims, and the interview with Mauricio Tamargo, chairman of the U.S. Foreign Claims Settlement Commission (CubaNews, February 2005, pages 1 and 8). In 1960, I shared an office...

Castro backs Beijing's saber-rattling.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The Castro government--more dependent than ever on Chinese investment--is justifying Beijing's latest moves to prevent Taiwan from seeking formal independence. Cuba's Foreign Ministry, in a statement published Mar. 15 by the Communist...

More Cuban doctors arrive in Zimbabwe.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... A new group of Cuban physicians has taken up residence in Zimbabwe, continuing the medical collaboration that has existed between the two nations since 1987. The team of 50 health professionals, including specialists in integral general...

Letter to the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2005... Dear Editor: Good article about the Cuban doctors in Paraguay (CubaNews, February 2005, page 6). In the end, where you mention the United States, I asked myself what would happen if Washington wouldn't send troops and anti-drug fighters to...

Urban population growth shrivels after decades of economic crisis.
March 1, 2005... Population growth in Cuba's main cities has slowed significantly over the past 15 years, a result of the deep economic crisis that has plagued Cuba since the early '90s. The resulting drop in living standards for most of the island's 11.2...

Drought-plagued sugar harvest could be worst since 1909.
March 1, 2005... Cuba's sugar minister said he expects a "violent" drop in yield from the current sugar harvest because of ongoing drought in eastern Cuba. "In the last 50 years, the sugar industry has suffered three large and expensive droughts, but none...

Bigwigs enjoy cigar fiesta as Pinar boosts tobacco output.
March 1, 2005... Those attending the $500-a-plate gala dinner which usually closes Cuba's annual Habano Festival were disappointed by the absence of Fidel Castro. On the other hand, the appearance of British movie star Jeremy Irons seems to have made up for...

Castro gets tough on medicine sales.
March 1, 2005... Fidel Castro has warned the state-run pharmaceutical industry that he intends to crack down on illegal sales of medication, and pointed a finger at those in charge of producing and distributing legal drugs. Spanish news agency EFE reported...

C&W, Cubacel sign roaming agreement.(Cable & Wireless Ltd. )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Cable & Wireless Ltd. has announced a deal with Cuban mobile operator Cubacel to extend international roaming service. The Mar. 6 agreement, signed in St. Lucia, will allow mobile carriers in the 13 Caribbean territories in which C&W operates...

OFAC: 113 people fined for Cuba violations.(Office of Foreign Assets Control )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued its latest monthly penalty report of civil penalties imposed on companies and individuals for allegedly violating the sanctions regimes administered by OFAC. The...

FDA allows cancer drug developed in Cuba.
March 1, 2005... The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of YM BioSciences Inc.'s experimental TheraCIM (R3h) drug in a clinician-sponsored study to treat a child with advanced brain cancer, Toronto's Globe & Mail reported Mar. 17. The...

PDVSA, Petrobras have Cuba in their plans.
March 1, 2005... Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva agreed Feb. 21 to create a "strategic alliance" between the two countries involving Cuba. Peter Howard Wertheim, writing in the Oil & Gas Journal, said...

Sherritt signs J-V with Cuba to boost nickel output.(Sherritt International Corp)(jpint venture)
March 1, 2005... Canada's Sherritt International Corp. and the Cuban government plan to spend up to $450 million to increase the island's production of nickel and cobalt. The Toronto-based company announced Mar. 3 that combined annual output of nick-el and...

San Diego probes port official's Cuba trip.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... A San Diego port official who traveled to Cuba last month and signed an unauthorized trade agreement with state-owned Alimport will be investigated by an ethics committee, even though he has resigned his job. Kourosh Hangafarin, who was...

Cuban-Vietnamese trade takes off.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Vietnamese-Cuban exchange in several productive, scientific and commercial fields is on the rise, said the Vietnamese ambassador to Cuba, Pham Tienh Tu. The diplomat said Cuba has contributed to the construction of a sugar mill which has...

Kansas Coop snares Cuban wheat deal.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Kansas-based Garden City Coop has won a contract to ship 10,000 metric tons of wheat to Cuba for $3.5 million. "We're excited a new market is opening," said John McClelland, manager of the cooperative. "There's just a lot of optimism right...

Cuba-Curacao drydock venture cancelled.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... A joint venture between the Cuban government and Curacao Drydock Inc. in the Netherlands Antilles has been terminated. F. Edgar Wanga, commercial manager at Curacao Drydock, told CubaNews that "after 11 years together, we decided to...

Bancomext hopes to recover Cuban debt.(National Foreign Trade Bank )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... This year, Mexico could recover $50 million in debt that Cuba owes the National Foreign Trade Bank (Bancomext), once an international court decides when it can gain access to this money. Salvador Rojas Aburto, Bancomext's assistant...

DHL says courier business up slightly.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... DHL Express says its global package shipments to and from Cuba increased slightly in 2004 compared with the year before. According to Economic Eye on Cuba, DHL reported 88,532 shipments to Cuba and 51,119 shipments from Cuba last year, for...

Cuba: section 211 violates WTO rules.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Cuba's top diplomat in Geneva has denounced the United States for violating intellectual property standards in the case of the Cuban rum brand Havana Club. In a Feb. 18 meeting of the Organ for the Solution of Disputes in the World Trade...

Uruguay, Cuba renew trade, cooperation.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and his Uruguayan counterpart, Reinaldo Gargano, plan to sign a series of trade accords following the re-establishment of diplomatic relations Mar. 1 by President Tabare Vazquez. "This new era in...

The European Union and Cuba: diplomacy or duplicity?
March 1, 2005... The following analysis was prepared by the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of CubaNews or its publisher. We invite readers with opposing viewpoints to e-mail us...

ASCE issues call for scholarly papers on Cuba.
March 1, 2005... The Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE) has issued a call for papers as part of its annual Student Research Award Competition. ASCE calls the contest "an internationally recognized venue for undergraduate and graduate...

Salvage venture sinks without a trace.
March 1, 2005... Some years ago, a Canadian underwater exploration and salvage firm calling itself Visa Gold Exploration (no relation to the credit-card company) began combing the waters off Cuba's northern coast, in search of sunken Spanish shipwrecks. ...

Tourism workers ordered to watch out.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Cuba's 100,000 tourism employees have been told to restrict their contact with foreigners to an absolute minimum, under a resolution drafted by Tourism Minister Manuel Morrero and approved by the Castro regime on Feb. 11. The long-winded...

Cuba expects 2.5 million tourists this year.
March 1, 2005... After receiving just over two million tourists in 2004, Cuba is hoping to reach a new milestone this year: 2.5 million visitors. Oscar Gonzalez, Cuba's deputy tourism minister, said in Madrid that 20 million tourists will visit the...

Luxner photo site revamped.(Luxner News Inc.)(www.luxner.com)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Luxner News Inc., which publishes this newsletter, is proud to announce the redesign of its global stock photo website. Visitors to www.luxner.com will find a sleek new look, a completely revamped user interface and easy access to over...

Calendar of events.(Calendar)
March 1, 2005... 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. Mar. 3-Apr. 1: "As American as Cafe Cubano." Art exhibit by Cuban-American...