CubaNews articles from October 2007

CubaNews archives from October 2007

London-based IISC to be Europe's first institute dedicated to the study of Cuba.
October 1, 2007... Great Britain's International Institute for the Study of Cuba (IISC) officially kicks off its activities Oct. 10 with a lecture by noted French journalist Ignacio Ramonet. Ramonet is editor of Le Monde Diplomatique and author of "Cien...

After Raul speech, Cubans are more critical than ever.
October 1, 2007... Something big is taking place in Havana and throughout Cuba today, and experienced foreign correspondents like Marc Frank of Reuters and Mauricio Vicent of Spain's El Pais are keeping a close eye on it. People all across Cuba are...

Official media expose delays in fixing housing, food shortages.
October 1, 2007... Cuba admits that its housing construction program is experiencing serious delays, especially in eastern Cuba, where 40% of the island's planned building projects still haven't begun. Spanish news agency EFE, quoting state-run weekly...

Don't be so quick to dismiss Cuba's upcoming elections.
October 1, 2007... As CubaNews went to press, photographs and biographies of candidates in Cuba's Oct. 21 local elections were being posted in public places throughout the island's 169 municipalities. More than 37,000 nominees are competing across Cuba, with...

Cuba: 10% GDP growth, 1.9% unemployment.
October 1, 2007... Alfonso Casanova, an official of Cuba's Ministry of Economy and Planning, predicts Cuba's 2007 GDP will grow by 10% this year. Casanova told participants at the 15th session of the Cuba-Spain Business Cooperation Committee that "Cuba's...

EU tentatively studies closer ties with Cuba.(European Union )(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... The European Union held informal exploratory talks with Cuba in late September on resuming closer ties after years of tension over human rights issues, an EU diplomat said. Reuters reported Sept. 25 that the foreign ministers of EU...

Tiny Nauru appeals to Cuba for help.(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... David Adeang, a high-ranking minister from the minuscule South Pacific island nation of Nauru, concluded an official two-day visit to Cuba. Adeang, Nauru's minister of foreign affairs and commerce, visited Cuba at the behest of his...

Police break up protest, arrest 21 dissidents.(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Cuba cracked down on a recent demonstration organized by the island's leading woman dissident. Martha Beatriz Roque told Agence-France Presse that at least 21 dissidents were detained and prevented from joining the protest outside the...

"In their own words" ...(end of dictatorship in Cuba)
October 1, 2007... "In Cuba, the long rule of a cruel dictator is nearing its end. The Cuban people are ready for their freedom. And as that nation enters a period of transition, the United Nations must insist on free speech, free assembly and, ultimately, free...

Cuba says embargo has cost it $89 billion.
October 1, 2007... Washington's 45-year-old embargo has cost Cuba more than $89 billion to date, claims the Castro government in a 56-page booklet presented to the UN General Assembly. Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said the controversial U.S. policy...

Amid business worries, Spain resumes ties with Cuba.
October 1, 2007... BY OUR HAVANA CORRESPONDENT Madrid and Havana have established a Spanish-Cuban Joint Committee that resumes Spain's cooperation projects on the island--projects that had been interrupted for four years in response to European Union...

Peter Kornbluh makes career of exposing old secrets.(National Security Archive)
October 1, 2007... Peter Kornbluh has spent his life prying secrets from the U.S. government--and so far, he's had plenty of success. Kornbluh is director of the Cuba Documentation Project at the National Security Archive, a Washington-based nonprofit group....

Cuba seeks to toss Dell out the Window.
October 1, 2007... Cuban authorities are preparing to quit the Windows operating system and use the GNU/Linux free software instead, thus avoiding any sanctions for using Windows by its owner, Microsoft Corp. According to a Sept. 15 report in Cubanow, over...

Revived AmCham Cuba to stress business, not politics.(American Chamber of Commerce)
October 1, 2007... Someday, in the not-too-distant future, U.S. multinationals will once again be doing business in Cuba--and AmCham wants to be ready for that day. With Fidel Castro's inevitable passing in mind, the American Chamber of Commerce of Cuba in...

Five new books examine Cuba's past, present and future.
October 1, 2007... Periodically, CubaNews offers glimpses and reviews of books we think will interest our readers. This month, we present five new books; one is a look at Fidel Castro's early years, the next is an analysis of U.S. laws that restrict...

Cuban-Russian trade expected to jump 60%.(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Trade between Cuba and Russia will grow this year by 60% compared to 2006, according to a forecast made here on Sept. 19 by officials of Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Trade, reports the Itar-Tass news agency. Alejandro Mustellier, co-chairman...

Shopping mall opens virtual store.
October 1, 2007... Havana's Plaza Carlos III shopping mall has opened a virtual store for its clients at www.carlostercero.ca. The website allows users anywhere in the world to make purchases for relatives or friends in Cuba, using MasterCard or Visa credit...

On-the-job stress just as bad in Cuba.
October 1, 2007... Cuba shows rates of work-induced stress similar to those in the United States and Europe, and in some professional sectors the malady affects up to 80% of employees, according to experts quoted Sept. 24 by the state-run newspaper Trabajadores....

Suriname, Cuba promote cultural ties.
October 1, 2007... Cuba will strenghten cultural cooperation with the Dutch-speaking South American nation of Suriname. Caribbean Net News of the Cayman Islands reported that Suriname's minister of education and human development, Edwin Wolf, signed an...

Cuba establishes arbitration court.(Cuba's International Trade Arbitration Court)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Justice and fairness are key rules for Cuba's International Trade Arbitration Court that will operate over the next 24 months with 21 judges and seven mediators, state-run Prensa Latina reported Sept. 15. The CCAC, a branch of Cuba's...

Cuba, Iran seek to eliminate trade barriers.
October 1, 2007... Cuba and Iran have signed a trade agreement on tariff preferences aimed to stimulate the export of 140 products. The accord, signed by Raul de la Nuez, Cuba's minister of foreign trade, and Sayed Masoud Mir Kasemi, his Iranian counterpart,...

Venezuela will fund Cuban railway project.
October 1, 2007... Cuba and Venezuela have agreed on a new area of cooperation after approving a loan to finance the recovery of the island's deteriorating railroad infrastructure. Executives from Venezuela's Banco de Desarrollo Economico y Social (BANDES)...

Taiwan responds to CubaNews article.(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2007... It was with pleasure that I read your article "Special report from the 'other' China: What Cuba can learn from tiny Taiwan" (CubaNews, September 2007, page 1). Today's Taiwan is a land with a sovereign government that finds itself in a...

China's Yutong exports buses to Cuba.
October 1, 2007... Chinese automaker Yutong Group Co. Ltd. has delivered 200 mass-transit buses to Cuba, the first such China-made vehicles ever exported, a company spokesman told the Xinhua news agency Sept. 25. In accordance with a Sino-Cuban export...

Hanoi-Havana relations get a big boost.(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Vietnam's new ambassador to Cuba has pledged to spare no efforts to boost bilateral economic, trade, cultural, scientific and technicl cooperation. Vu Chi Cong made the commitment while presenting his credentials Sept. 27 to Jose Ramon...

Forgotten Los Tunas is among Cuba's least-known provinces.
October 1, 2007... The province of Las Tunas has existed since 1976, when the former province of Oriente was split into five new territories. A piece of neighboring Camaguey was also carved to form the southwestern part of Las Tunas. With 6,588 sq kms (2,544...

Harvest to begin early in sugar belt.
October 1, 2007... Sugar milling will begin a month early this year in an effort to harvest cane left standing from the previous season and get a jump on the new crop, Reuters reported Sept. 17, quoting top Cuban sugar officials. Unseasonal rainfall and heat...

Calendar of events.(Calendar)
October 1, 2007... If your organization is sponsoring an upcoming event, please let our readers know! Fax details to CubaNews at (301) 949-0065 or send e-mail to larry@cubanews.com. Oct. 4: "US-Cuba Immigration Issues," Washington. Speakers: Lisandro Perez...