CubaNews articles from October 2002

CubaNews archives from October 2002

Cuba food expo nets $95m in contracts; U.S. firms say this is only the beginning.
October 1, 2002... They were only five months old, but Louise and Clarke--two female buffaloes from southern Minnesota--quickly became star attractions at last month's U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition in Havana. Even so, the pair of baby bison--along with...

Isidore and Lili devastate Pinar del Rio; tobacco, grapefruit industries ravaged.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... Cuba's tobacco and grapefruit crops are in ruins, following the onslaught of two hurricanes that ravaged the western end of the island within 11 days of each other, leaving at least 10,000 people homeless in their wake. On Sept. 20,...

Rice exporters see tremendous market in Cuba.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... HAVANA -- U.S. rice exporters have signed contracts worth about $12 million to deliver 120,000 metric tons of rice to Cuba as a result of last month's U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition in Havana. That's over and above the 75,000 tons...

Elections set for Oct. 20. (Politics).(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... Cuba's next National Assembly elections will be held Oct. 20, with a runoff scheduled Oct. 27. Some 14,700 nominees are running for 14,000 positions as delegados (delegates) and diputados (deputies). Regardless of how one feels about the...

White House targets Cuba in global war against terrorism. (Politics).(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... Cuba has been caught in the U.S. dragnet on terrorists as the Bush administration appears to have launched a pre-election crackdown on the Castro regime. Daniel W. Fisk, deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs,...

Cuba measures go nowhere. (Politics).(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... Attempts to remove restrictions from trade and travel to Cuba floundered as Congress failed to finish its work before it adjourned in early October. But there was little hope of easing the embargo anyway, due to President Bush's opposition...

Cuba's answer to Washington: a flashy new `anti-terrorism' website. (Politics).(www.antiterroristas.cu)(TA: www.antiterroristas.cu)(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... The Castro government has launched a new website, www.antiterroristas.cu, aimed at "providing up-to-date news, information and analysis relating to terrorism and acts of aggression against Cuba, as well as to the five Cubans unjustly...

Is Havana Flying Club dead? (Tourism).(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... The Toronto-based Havana Flying Club, which has spent the past two months heavily promoting $99 charter flights between Florida and Cuba via Nassau, is running into serious problems even before getting off the ground. HFC, which was to...

In their own words ...(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... "I never dreamed I'd set foot here. The embargo went into effect when I was 10 years old. But clearly, it hasn't worked, and after 40 years, you have to look at alternatives. President Castro is going to be here whether we like it or not." ...

U.S. produce exporters show off their fruits and veggies. (Agribusiness).
October 1, 2002... Washington pears, New York apples and Florida onions vied for attention along with thousands of other tasty items at last month's U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition--in a gamble by U.S. exporters that Cubans will pay hard-earned dollars for...

Shipping firms, Gulf ports vie for share of Cuba commerce. (Transportation).(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... U.S. ports and shipping companies are vigorously competing for the chance to transport an expected $200 million worth of agricultural commodities to be sold to Cuba over the next 12 months. Proof of this intense interest is the fact that...

Crowley, trailer bridge hope to dominate containerized cargo trade. (Transportation).(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... So far, the shipping company that's benefitted the most from renewed food exports from the United States to Cuba is Crowley Liner Services of Jacksonville, Fla. Jay Brickman, vice-president of Crowley's Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela...

Michel Villand: French pastries for the masses. (Newsmakers).(Entrevista)
October 1, 2002... The Golden Arches haven't yet sprouted up on every Havana street corner, and Pizza Hut is still nowhere to be seen. But Pain de Paris--a franchised bakery chain specializing in French bread and pastries--is rapidly becoming a household name...

Wineries offer premium brands to Cuban tourist sector. (Marketing).(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... Passing by the Southcorp Wines booth at last month's food expo in Havana, President Fidel Castro stopped to sip a glass of Seven Peaks Cabernet Sauvignon. "Fantastico!" Castro told Ignacio Melero, Southcorp's Miami-based sales director for...

French investment in Cuba extends to rum, hotels, energy and telecoms. (Marketing).(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... HAVANA -- French investment in Cuba totals around $300 million, making France the fourth-largest foreign investor in the island after Spain, Canada and Italy. That's according to Pierre Sella, economic attache at the French Embassy in...

Bacardi-Havana Club trademark battle enters new phase. (Marketing).(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... The long-running battle for the prized Havana Club rum brand name has taken a political twist, with the revelation that Florida Gov. Jeb Bush used his office to try to help Bacardi in the case--prompting a Cuban-French competitor to cry foul....

U.S. companies to promote Havana Club rum in Cuba. (Marketing).(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... HAVANA -- Despite their ongoing legal battle with Bacardi, the makers of Cuba's famous Havana Club rum are sending a clear message that they're eager to do business with U.S. firms. During last month's U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition at...

Cuba begins repaying Venezuelan oil debt.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... Cuba has started repaying its $142 million oil debt with Venezuela, prompting the pro-Castro government of Hugo Chavez to resume shipments to Havana. The Caracas daily El Nacional reported that Cuba has paid the first of seven installments...

Cuba seeks new offshore oil, gas deals.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... Cuba hopes to sign "a significant number" of new offshore oil and gas exploration contracts in a 43,243-sq-mile area in the Gulf of Mexico, just north of its westernmost provinces, Oil Daily reported Sept. 27. The newsletter, quoting...

Cowal resigns as head of CPF.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... Sally Grooms Cowal has stepped down as president of the Cuba Policy Foundation, a non-profit organization formed 18 months ago as part of a bipartisan effort to push for a lifting of the U.S. embargo against Cuba. Brian Alexander, who's been...

Popular restaurant scores big profits.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... Restaurante El Aljibe, run by the state-owned Palmares chain, has served over 1.4 million customers since its inauguration in 1993. The dollar-only establishment, located in Havana's upscale Miramar district, specializes in Cuban...

Chinese-Cuban J-V gets hotel financing.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... The Bank of Shanghai has awarded a $72 million loan to a Chinese-Cuban joint venture, SunCuba, for construction of a 700-room hotel in Shanghai's Pudong district. A contract formalizing the loan was signed in October by Fun Jian Hua,...

ICCA: Cuba ranks 5th in conventions.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... Cuba is the fifth most popular country in the Americas for meetings and conventions, surpassed only by the United States, Canada, Brazil and Mexico, according to a ranking issued by the International Congress & Convention Association....

Sugar workers to learn new trades.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... The Cuban government is paying for 60,000 sugar-cane workers to learn new skills as part of a restructuring of the island's crippled sugar industry. The Associated Press, quoting Sugar Ministry spokesman Noel Casanaz, says the workers will...

Russia packs up Lourdes spy center.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... The Russian military has completed the withdrawal of equipment from the old Soviet electronic intelligence center in Lourdes, according to the Interfax press agency. It took two weeks and about 10 flights of heavy-lifting AN-124 military...

Cuba's euro zone to expand. (Business Briefs).(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... Effective Nov. 1, the euro will be accepted in two more of Cuba's leading tourist resorts: Jardines del Rey and Cayo Largo. Since June, the European Union's common currency has been circulating alongside the dollar in Varadero, the island's...

Swedish match told to drop `Havana' name.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... State-owned Cubatabaco and cigar producer Habanos S.A. have forced Stockholm-based Swedish Match AB to change the name of its Wilde Havana cigars, which Swedish Match has been producing since the 1970s. Wilde Havana cigars are not made in...

Facelift for Cuba's crumbling schools.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... The Cuban government has recently completed a massive project to rehabilitate substandard schools--especially in Havana--and strengthen a rundown teaching staff. The goal: to refurbish schools nationwide, reduce class size to 20 students...

U.S. foodservice seeks hotel deals.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... Maryland-based U.S. Foodservice is interested in signing a contract with various hotel chains in Cuba, according to one of the company's top officials. "The potential for a contract is very strong, and we are prepared to begin negotiations...

Good and bad news for nickel sector.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... A prominent engineer in Cuba's nickel industry says nickel deposits in the province of Camaguey are "extraordinary"--much bigger than in Holguin, where the island's nickel industry is currently centered. The engineer tells CubaNews that the...

Sherritt to finish power project this year.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... A unit of Toronto-based Sherritt International will complete the 75-megawatt expansion of its 98-megawatt thermoelectric plant in Varadero by year's end, bringing the plant's total installed capacity to 173 megawatts. Sherritt Power said...

Cuba to help Mozambique battle aids.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said his country would increase its assistance to Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony of 16 million. Roque paid a 24-hour visit to Maputo, the capital, on his way to the sustainable development...

Poll: 55% support ending Cuba travel ban.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... Fifty-five percent of Americans believe the United States should lift restrictions on travel to Cuba, while 33% say normalizing relations with Havana "would serve U.S. national interests" and 52% agree that "American corporations should be able...

Sugar-mill towns, oil and Varadero--Matanzas has it all. (Geography).
October 1, 2002... Barely 90 kilometers east of Havana, Matanzas has excellent agricultural lands, abundant fresh water, an ample and deep bay, good transportation routes, numerous oil deposits and Cuba's best-known tourist resort, Varadero. One of the...

Calendar of events.(Artículo Breve)
October 1, 2002... 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. Oct. 15: "The Cuban Embargo: Strategic Policy or Missed Opportunity?"...