CubaNews articles from May 2005

CubaNews archives from May 2005

Congress fires opening salvo in bid to reverse Bush crackdown on Cuba trade.
May 1, 2005... Prodded by agricultural interests, lawmakers have made their first attempt to roll back President Bush's new restrictions on trade to Cuba, but have already been checkmated by embargo supporters. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) tried to attach...

For older Cubans squeezed out of tight job market, life is a constant struggle.
May 1, 2005... Sometimes, the 69-year-old retiree has nothing but eggs and rice to put on his family's table for days on end. He and his wife accept the dull menu as one of the many hardships they must endure on a retiree's meager pension in Cuba. But the...

Lawmakers form pro-embargo caucus.
May 1, 2005... A group of 25 lawmakers opposed to lifting the embargo have formed the Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus--a move aimed at weakening both the Castro regime and efforts in Washington to ease the ban against U.S. travel to Cuba. Sen. Mel...

US-Cuba Trade Association established to fight embargo.
May 1, 2005... Pledging to "protect current trade with Cuba, expand and increase the potential for future business" and work toward full normalization of bilateral trade relations, nearly 40 entities have established the US-Cuba Trade Association in...

Venezuela's PDVSA to search for oil off Cuba's Gulf coast.(Petroleos de Venezuela S.A)
May 1, 2005... Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., the Venezuelan state petroleum giant, says it'll prospect for, pump and refine oil from Cuba's Gulf of Mexico. The announcement was made Apr. 26 by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who also said PDVSA will...

Mobile, Ala., to host Jun. 10-11 'summit' on Cuba.
May 1, 2005... Mobile, Ala., will play host to the 2005 National Summit on Cuba, an event expected to attract hundreds of business leaders, politicians and others eager to do business with the island nation. The summit, set for Jun. 10-11, will focus on...

Luxner photo site revamped.(Luxner News Inc)(Brief Article)
May 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...

Florida measure to limit travel to Cuba dies.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... A move to curb travel from Florida to Cuba fell apart in the state Senate when committee members said they don't want to stop anyone from visiting a sick or dying relative, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Apr. 26. The plan,...

Cuba activist Al Fox to run for Congress.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Albert A. Fox Jr., founder of the Washington-based Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy Foundation, plans to run for Congress. Fox, profiled several years ago by this newsletter (CubaNews, March 2003, page 8), says he'll join the Democratic...

In their own words ...
May 1, 2005... "The United States must have zero tolerance for terrorists. This is just as true in Iraq, Israel or the United States. It's one of many reasons why Luis Posada Carriles, an anti-Castro militant with a long history of violence, shouldn't be...

Minimum wage increases from 100 to 225 pesos a month.
May 1, 2005... For the first time in a decade, Cuba's minimum wage is going up--and more than 1.7 million Cubans stand to benefit from the generous increase. President Fidel Castro announced that the hike, effective May 1, more than doubles the minimum...

Cash2Cuba.com stops accepting U.S. credit cards for Cuba remittances.
May 1, 2005... Cuban-American exiles who wire their relatives money through Cash2Cuba.com, one of several Canadian-based online remittance services that handle wire transfers to Cuba, were surprised last month to find out that Cash2Cuba has stopped accepting...

Loyola pulls the plug on its Cuba program.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Bowing to criticism that it could get sucked into the battle between Washington and Havana, Chicago's Loyola University has suspended a U.S. government-funded program to provide English-language courses to adults in a poor Havana neighborhood,...

UM library inherits Batista collection.(University of Miami)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The University of Miami's Cuban Heritage Collection has received the Fulgencio Batista Zaldivar Collection, consisting of thousands of documents--correspondence, memorabilia, photographs, and books--owned by the former Cuban dictator. This...

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco seeks closer Cuba ties.(Interview)
May 1, 2005... In March, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco became the fourth governor--and the first one from a southern state--to visit Cuba since the 1959 revolution and meet with Fidel Castro. Her three-day trip was widely supported by those who favor an end...

State governments rush to sign trade deals with Cuba.(international trade agreement)
May 1, 2005... From Alabama to Vermont, state governments are enthusiastically sending trade missions down to Havana, eager to do business with the Castro regime despite opposition from the Bush administration. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who visited...

CANF leader calls governor's lunch with Fidel a big blunder.(Cuban American National Foundation)
May 1, 2005... NEW ORLEANS -- Gov. Kathleen Blanco's recent trip to Havana was a moral outrage, charges one of Louisiana's most prominent Cuban-Americans. George Fowler III, a New Orleans attorney and vice-president of the Miami-based Cuban American...

Meager 2005 sugar harvest to yield only 1.3 million tons.
May 1, 2005... Cuba's goal of achieving a shorter, more efficient and more rewarding efficient and more rewarding sugar harvest this year has vanished. The island's prolonged drought dealt a final blow to the ailing sugar industry, which this season...

Cuba says it's found a 'safer' cigarette.
May 1, 2005... While Cuba has joined most of the rest of the world in adopting anti-smoking measures, Cuban scientists say they have also developed a new, less harmful variety of tobacco to lessen the ill effects of this habit, reports Inter Press Service....

Drought-stricken farmers to get relief.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Cuban farmers belonging to 500 cooperatives will receive a special credit of 50 million pesos from the government to alleviate damages caused by a prolonged drought, according to the Communist Party daily Granma. The credit will be...

Dry spell threatens aquaculture sector.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The lack of rainfall in eastern Camaguey province is threatening local aquaculture, despite production of 1,504 tons of freshwater fish in the first three months of 2005. This production growth is due to a lowering of water levels in...

Fla. cattleman to ship 500 animals to Cuba.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Florida rancher J. Parke Wright IV says he's negotiating to supply 500 head of cattle to Cuban state agency Alimport, together with the Holstein Association USA Inc., for a total price of around $1 million. Of the 500, about 100 animals...

Tourism, nickel revenues spur FX earnings.
May 1, 2005... Driven by unusually high nickel prices and cobalt prices, exports reached $2.2 billion, compared with a little less than $1.7 billion in 2003, according to Reuters, quoting official figures. Service exports grew by close to $500 million,...

Cuba unveils new geography website.(www.iderc.co.cu)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The Cuban government has inaugurated a new website with key geographic features, say Tania Delgado, executive secretary for Cuba's Special Data Compilation Program. The site, at www.iderc.co.cu, was developed by Infraestructura de Datos...

Chinese firm to build buses in Cuba.
May 1, 2005... Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co. Ltd., China's No. 1 large-and-medium-sized bus producer, plans to build assembly plants in foreign countries to boost its exports. The company, based in central China's Henan province, is in talks with partners...

Nickel output virtually stagnant.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Cuba's 2004 production of unrefined nickel plus cobalt was actually little changed from 2003's level, despite a government report four months ago that said output increased substantially, Reuters reported Apr. 21. Economy and Planning...

Sabzali off the hook--finally.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The U.S. government has withdrawn all charges against Canadian businessman James Sabzali, and will no longer seek to deport him from his adopted home in Philadelphia. The Communist Party daily Granma reported Apr. 29 that at one point,...

Russian expert helps Cuba fight computer viruses.
May 1, 2005... Whoever saw him in the lobby of Havana's Hotel Nacional could have taken him for a yuppie--one of those young successful executives dressed in Armani suits, flying down to Cuba looking for a good deal. Eugene Kaspersky, however, belongs to...

Spain, Cuba sign aviation accord.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Spanish and Cuban authorities have signed a civil aeronautics agreement aimed at boosting bilateral cooperation. The pact, signed May 2 by Spain's development minister, Magdalena Alvarez and Rogelio Acevedo, chief of Cuba's Civil...

U.K. travel agency cancels bookings.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Hundreds of British vacationers had their travel plans wrecked after Ebookers cancelled all its bookings to Cuba, reports The Observer. Ebookers also owns Travelbag, Flightbookers and Bridge the World, all of which have canceled every...

Italian Airline opens Havana office.( Blue Panorama Airlines )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Italy's Blue Panorama Airlines will expand its presence in Cuba with the opening of the Distal Caribe travel agency, located inside the Hotel Habana Libre. Franco Pecci, president of the airline, said he was confident in Cuba as a...

Qatari, Cuban officials in energy talks.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Top officials of the Persian Gulf state of Qatar visited Cuba, with energy cooperation the focus of their three days of talks. The Qatari delegation was led by Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hamad al-Attiyah, second vice-president of Qatar's Council...

Melia to inaugurate hotel no. 22.(Grupo Sol Melia launches Melia Las Dunas in Cuba)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Spain's Grupo Sol Melia has announced the opening of its 22nd hotel property in Cuba. The Melia Las Dunas, to be inaugurated in early 2006, is located in Cayo Santa Maria, a small island off the province of Villa Clara. Amaury Escalona,...

Pernod sues Matusalem over 'Cuban' rum.
May 1, 2005... French drinks giant Pernod Ricard, which has long battled the Bacardi empire in court over use of the "Havana Club" trademark, is now taking on another legal battle. This one is against Matusalem, a Miami-based company that sells "Cuban"...

What's next for Cuba's Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias?(Revolutionary Armed Forces)
May 1, 2005... No other institution in Cuba reflects better the fundamental changes that have taken place--and continue to take place--within the existing power structure than Cuba's Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (Revolutionary Armed Forces, known by its...

Cuban military delegation holds talks with North Korean counterparts.(military cooperation)
May 1, 2005... A Cuban military delegation visited North Korea in early May and held talks with North Korean officials on boosting friendly relations and issues of mutual concern, according to Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). South Korea's...

Calendar of events.
May 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. May 7-Aug. 12: "Cuba: The Natural Beauty." Clyde Butcher's large-format...