CubaNews articles from May 2004

CubaNews archives from May 2004

Lawmakers react quickly.(reaction on Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba's report)
May 1, 2004... Initial reaction over the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba's report to President Bush ranged from "ecstatic" to "outraged"--depending on who in Washington you talk to. South Florida's three Cuban-American House members--Ileana...

Remittances, travel privileges curbed under Bush proposals unveiled May 6.
May 1, 2004... The Bush administration says it will immediately enact a whole range of recommendations affecting family remittances and travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba, in response to a report issued by the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba. The...

Dollars for democracy.(government funding dissidents in Cuba)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The Bush administration plans to give the State Department, USAID and other agencies $36 million "to aid the training, development and empowerment of a Cuban democratic opposition and civil society," under the plan announced May 6. This...

Tensions rise in Miami and Havana as panel issues Cuba recommendations.
May 1, 2004... The Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba sent its long-awaited recommendations to President Bush on May 3, but details of the plan are shrouded in secrecy. Four out of the five chapters in the 500-page report deal with proposals from...

Alimport conference generates $106m in new contracts for U.S. food exporters.
May 1, 2004... Some 405 representatives of U.S. food companies, farm cooperatives, state agriculture commissions and non-profit groups jammed Havana's Palacio de Convenciones last month for four days of negotiations that resulted in $106 million worth of...

Experts still waiting for results of botched 2002 census.
May 1, 2004... Incredible as it may seem, nobody knows what happened to the September 2002 census conducted by Cuban authorities. The figures were to be disclosed by the end of 2002, but nothing was disclosed. In July 2003, Fidel Castro made a short...

Cuba starts to pay back short-term debt.
May 1, 2004... Cuba is meeting restructured short-term debt payments to certain governments, apparently using increased tourism and nickel revenues, along with cash gleaned from recently imposed hard-currency controls. But Reuters, quoting foreign...

Argentine ties warming.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... A 37-member Argentine delegation visited Cuba last month, and succeeded in signing $12-15 million in deals for the export of Argentine grain and food products. During the Apr. 19-22 meeting, the director of Buenos Aires-based Banco de la...

Splash not selling only daiquiri mix anymore.(Splash Tropical Drinks)
May 1, 2004... Florida-based Splash Tropical Drinks, which entered the Cuban market by selling frozen daiquiri and pina colada mix to Alimport, has begun branching out into processed foods and acting as a go-between for other U.S. companies wishing to crack...

Cuban church feels threatened by new sects.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... A prominent Christian leader says Cuba's Protestant churches are under assault from new religious groups that have taken advantage of the improved climate since the early 1990s, when Cuba officially dropped atheism and the Cuban Communist Party...

Holocaust memorial dedicated in Santa Clara.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Cuba's Jewish community has unveiled a memorial to the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust. The small shrine is located within the Jewish cemetery of Santa Clara, home to 23 of Cuba's estimated 1,500 Jews, and less than a mile from the...

Russian Orthodox Christians to get church.
May 1, 2004... The Russian Orthodox Church will soon have its own house of worship in Havana. A wire report from Moscow quotes Archbishop Nicholas Balashov as saying contacts have been made between Cuban officials and the Patriarchate's Department of...

"In their own words ...".(quotations relating to situation in Cuba)
May 1, 2004... "It's a vote in favor of a cause, not against a nation that has always deserved and will continue to deserve our respect and support. It was not based on political or circumstantial considerations. On the contrary, our vote in favor of the...

Cautious German companies hold off on investing in Cuba.
May 1, 2004... German companies are thinking twice about pouring money into Cuba due to uncertain economic conditions in both nations, a high-ranking German diplomat told CubaNews. Anka Feldhusen, deputy chief of mission at the German Embassy in Havana's...

D.R. sees Cuba trade rising gradually.(Dominican Republic)
May 1, 2004... The resumption of diplomatic relations between Havana and Santo Domingo in the late 1990s has slowly but surely encouraged more trade between the Caribbean's two largest island nations. According to the government-run Center of Dominican...

Cuba travel generates $1.5m a year for Emely Tours.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Santo Domingo-based Emely Tours is capitalizing on the growing trade and tourism ties between the Dominican Republic and Cuba. Graciela Rosario, the agency's director of Cuba travel, says 105 Dominicans a week travel to Cuba, and that Emely...

Future uncertain for Cuban MDs in Haiti.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Haiti's new interim government says it has not decided whether it wants more than 600 Cuban doctors and other experts to remain in the impoverished Caribbean country. "The relationship will have to be evaluated," said Foreign Minister Yvon...

Grenada strengthens ties with Cuba.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Cuba and Grenada have strengthened bilateral relations following their 7th Joint Cooperation and Economic Commission meeting that concluded in St. George's, the Grenadian capital. Radio Havana Cuba reported Apr. 16 that commission sessions...

Jamaica, Cuba to fight drug trafficking.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Jamaica and Cuba have signed an agreement pledging greater cooperation against drug trafficking through the Caribbean. The memo of understanding, signed in Havana by Jamaican National Security Minister Peter Phillips and Cuban Interior...

An exclusive CubaNews interview with Ricardo Alarcon.(Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada)(Interview)
May 1, 2004... Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada, president of Cuba's National Assembly and one of the island's top politicians, relaxed with a Partagas cigar and a glass of guava juice as he offered his views on the decaying state of relations between Washington...

Tropiflora hopes to revive Cuba's wiltering flower exports.
May 1, 2004... Before the 1959 revolution, Cuba was one of the largest suppliers of cut flowers to the United States. Entering via Florida ports, Cuban flowers joined fresh fruits and vegetables sent by rail for the 24-hour voyage to the Northeast--often...

Severe drought hurting Cuba's cattle, sugar, coffee sector.
May 1, 2004... Eastern Cuba is suffering through its worst drought in a decade, with rainfall during the 12-month period ending Apr. 30 at only 84% of its historic average. The Communist daily Granma reports that 100 head of cattle are dying of thirst...

Mexican investors inaugurate flour mills at Havana port.(Groupo Altex)
May 1, 2004... A Mexican investment group has installed two flour mills at the port of Havana in a project valued at between $10 million and $20 million. Jose B. Avalos is executive vice-president of Grupo Altex, a $200 million food conglomerate based in...

Executives launch Florida-Cuba Business Council.
May 1, 2004... In any other state, it wouldn't even be considered news. But in Florida--long dominated by politicians who support the U.S. embargo against Cuba--it's unusual when a group of executives establishes an organization dedicated to normalizing trade...

Venezuela may purchase idle oil refinery.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Venezuela is thinking about buying an oil refinery in Cienfuegos, and will likely open a bank branch in Havana as it seeks to expand trade with Cuba, says the country's new ambassador in Havana, Adan Chavez. The envoy--elder brother of...

Cuban women make significant advances.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Women currently represent 66% of Cuba's technical workforce, 35.4% of all administrators and 35.9% of the members of the National Assembly, according to government statistics. In addition, 61% of all state prosecutors are female. Women...

Vt. couple faces hefty fine for Cuba travel.(Office of Foreign Assets Control)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... A retired Vermont couple is facing $55,000 in fines for four trips to Cuba they made while writing a travel book for bicyclists, reports AP. Wally and Barbara Smith of Stafford, Vt., say they plan to contest the penalty. "We think...

BBC implicates Bacardi in past violence.(Bacardi Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... A TV documentary aired in mid-April by Great Britain's BBC3 claims that during the 1960s and '70s, members of the Bacardi family used the rum empire's millions to finance plots to kill Fidel Castro and a terrorist attack that killed 73 airline...

Fiji seeks Cuba's aid in fixing sugar sector.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The Pacific island nation of Fiji wants Cuba to train its athletes. It also hopes to pursue technical cooperation in the areas of sugar and tourism, reports the Pacnews agency. Col. Isikia Savua, Fiji's first ambassador to Cuba, said that...

Ohio firm supplies electrical outlets at Cuban marina.
May 1, 2004... Outside of 1950s-era gas guzzlers and old refrigerators in private homes, you don't see many American products in Cuba these days--certainly not electrical equipment made in the last 10 years. That's why it was such a surprise recently when...

Oil producer Pebercan reports sales drop.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Canada's Pebercan Inc. reported 2003 sales of US$44.7 million, down from $54.7 million in 2002. The company blamed "a decrease in oil production delivered to its Cuban customer due to undersized treatment capacity" Pebercan is involved in...

Airport duty-free prices.(Illustration)
May 1, 2004... Airport duty-free prices * PRODUCT PRICE Gordon's London Dry Gin (1 liter) $14.00 Chivas Regal 12-Year-Old (1 liter) 38.65 Teachers Whiskey (1 liter)...

Cienfuegos Cereal Plant in full production.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The Cienfuegos Cereal Plant has reached its maximum production capacity of 700 metric tons a day, reports Cuban media. The plant, which recently received an injection of 10 million pesos in new equipment, is expected to process 180,000 tons...

Habanos: enough tobacco for everyone.(Habanos S.A.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Cuba's 2004 tobacco harvest is finished and weighs in at around 22,000 metric tons, up from 17,000 tons last year. That will ensure supplies for the country's cigar production, Reuters reported Apr. 22. "Pinar del Rio met its plan for this...

Nacional welcomes back American guests.(Hotel Nacional, Havana)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Americans once again are the most frequent guests at Havana's Hotel Nacional--for the first time since the 1959 revolution. Last year, said sales chief Eric Splinter, U.S. citizens comprised 19% of the hotel's clientele, followed by...

FCC fines Miami station for prank on Fidel.(United States. Federal Communications Commission fines WXDJFM, Fidel Castro)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The Federal Communication Commission ruled Apr. 24 that Miami radio station WXDJFM should be penalized $4,000 for making a crank on-the-air phone call to Fidel Castro. Spanish-speaking DJs Joe Ferrero and Enrique Santos used snippets of an...

Tourist arrivals up 13.5% so far this year.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The number of tourists visiting Cuba rose 13.5% during the first three months of 2004 over the same period last year, with Canadian arrivals up 29% and British arrivals up 37.9%, according to official statistics. If current trends...

Germans open Cienfuegos marina complex.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Cienfuegos, known as Cuba's "pearl of the south," is now home to the only yacht basin on Cuba's Caribbean coast, with the opening of a joint venture between state-run Cubanacan Nautica and Bluesail, a subsidiary of Germany's ConImpex. ...

IBC enjoys monopoly on Miami-Havana air cargo service.(International Bonded Couriers Inc.)
May 1, 2004... Mercedes Costa hopes growing U.S. food exports to Cuba will boost revenues for IBC Airways, the only airline offering direct cargo service between Miami and Havana. Costa is an account executive at IBC, a subsidiary of International Bonded...

DVD traces 25 years of U.S., Cuba air links.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Estela Bravo's new 33-minute documentary, "Free to Fly," examines efforts by U.S. activists to end the travel ban against Cuba. Bravo, who showed the DVD at last month's Alimport conference in Havana, declined to say how much it cost her...

Cuban rockeros thriving on concerts, albums and videos.
May 1, 2004... When talking about Cuban music, usually the first thing that comes to mind is the Buena Vista Social Club, the Grammy Award-winning project that was one of Cuba's most successful musical collaborations of the 1990s. Compay Segundo's Chan...

Calendar of events.(Calendar)
May 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. May 3: "Cuba's Economy and Social Welfare in the 21st Century." Lecture by...