Chronicle on Cuba - September 2005

Economy

September 1: Fidel Castro highlighted the importance of saving fuel, in moments in which oil prices are still increasing in the international market. Castro spoke during the 5th ordinary session period of the 6th legislature of the National Assembly of People's Power (Parliament). He pointed out in his intervention that no one in the world is sure oil prices will be reduced in any way. "Few countries will be able to pay if oil reaches 150 dollars a barrel," he added. "Maybe US and Europe may buy it, but the Third World countries would only have the chance to devour one to each other." He said that Cuba is not one of the countries with a worse situation, and compared the island with other nations with lower economic resources, such as Haiti. (Prensa Latina, 1/9/05)

September 1: Cuba is carrying out a far-reaching housing construction project to recover from the damage caused by hurricanes and to resolve the domestic housing shortage, according to Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage Davila. In his briefing to a special session of the National Assembly of People's Power, Lage said that 150,000 houses would be built, and 380,000 conservation and restoration works would be accomplished in late 2005 and through 2006. The Cuban vice president explained that the State, unions, social and workers´ bodies would distribute houses, and financial assistance would be provided only to people with low incomes and economic difficulties. New rates will be put in effect for acquiring the houses, built by those who need them. Doctors working abroad, who will have priority in acquiring their new homes, should buy construction materials with their savings from salaries in US dollars. (BBC, Prensa Latina, 1/9/05)

September 2: The Industrial Bank of Venezuela in Cuba will provide $87 million in financing for the purchase of Venezuelan products and inputs, mostly for the construction and petrochemical industries. The manager of the Bank, Gerardo Reyes, said that the Cuban Ministry of Construction would receive $10 million for the purchase of ceramics, tiles, and bathroom fittings for the homes devastated by hurricane Emily. (El Universal, 2/9/05)

September 4: Cuba's second-most famous revolutionary, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, has become the stuff of packaged tourist tours, a popular draw for an island that in the past decade has begun to transform itself into a tropical vacation mecca. About 800 visitors each day make the trek to the city of Santa Clara, about 150 miles east of Havana to visit a museum and memorial dedicated to the Argentine who fought alongside Fidel Castro in Cuba's 1958-59 revolution. The remains of Guevara, who died in 1967 while attempting to foment a revolution in Bolivia, are interred at the site. Parked tour buses line a tree-shaded plaza fronting the sprawling complex, which sits high atop a hill on the outskirts of the city. (The Atlanta Journal, 4/9/05)

September 4: A total of 367 fires have damaged some 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) of Cuban forests so far this year, resulting in losses estimated at some $14 million, the official daily Juventud Rebelde reported. Specialists from the Cuban forest protection service quoted by the paper said that 90 percent of the fires started due to negligence or human error. (EFE, 4/9/05)

September 6: Six months after Fidel Castro promised that every Cuban household would get an electric rice cooker and other appliances, most Cubans are wondering where they are. In announcing the plan earlier this year, Castro took to the stage like a television game show host touting Chinese-made rice cookers, fans, stoves, washing machines and other electric appliances that would soon be available. The goods were considered evidence of communist Cuba's recovery from the deep economic crisis the Caribbean island sank into following the demise of the Soviet Union. But so far few have been sold, though some state stores have begun offering pressure cookers made in China and Brazil, and some residents are growing impatient. The delays are being blamed on the country's decrepit electricity grid as officials fear that the onslaught of new electric appliances will cause power failures and fires. Previously, the sale of electric stoves and cookers had been banned due to energy shortages. (Reuters, 6/9/05)

September 6: The overseas arm of India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. has successfully bid on two blocks in Cuba's potentially rich Gulf of Mexico waters, a company executive said. "We are very interested and simply waiting for the final signing before beginning work," the senior executive from ONGC Videsh Ltd. said, asking that his name not be used. He was in Cuba as part of a delegation led by India's junior foreign minister, Rao Inderjit Singh. High oil prices and the international scramble to buy up potential resources has increased interest in Cuba's largely unexplored Gulf of Mexico waters, a Cuban industry source said. He said contracts for the blocks would be signed with India in September and other blocks would go to another Asian country's state-run oil company soon. (Reuters, 6/9/05)

September 6: Cuban Tourism Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, left for Spain to attend the 5th Conference on the sector opening in the city of Zamora, Spain. The meeting is the prelude of the upcoming 15th Iberian American Summit. Some 13 ministers of tourism and official delegations from the 22 countries are taking part in the meeting. (AIN, 6/9/05)

September 6: Cuba remains the leader in the international market for hand-rolled cigars, continuing to export more than 100 million of the smokes annually despite a drought in recent years, a top tobacco company executive was quoted as saying. The number cited by Oscar Basulto, president of the Cuban-Spanish firm that markets the island's cigars abroad, was made in a report to Cuba's parliament, and carried by the government's business weekly Opciones. (Canadian Press, 6/9/05)

September 7: Cuba plans to shut down more sugar mills and replace them with food processing facilities, the Sugar Ministry said, in the first official confirmation many mills would be closed. "This period, through 2007, includes the closing for the next harvest of another group of mills that will be temporarily preserved," the Communist party daily Granma said, reporting on a meeting between ministry officials and workers. Warehouses and workshops will be put to other uses and "more than 100 factories to produce pastas, chocolate, candy, process soy beans and corn will replace mills," Granma said. The downsizing comes in the wake of this year's estimated 1.3 million tonne crop of raw sugar, the lowest since 1908, and the prospect that next year's will be more or less the same. Cuba is importing sugar from Colombia to meet contracts and cover its 700,000-tonne domestic consumption. In 2002, 71 sugar mills were closed. (Reuters, 7/9/05)

September 8: Indonesia and Cuba discussed their bilateral relations particularly in the economic and trade sectors in a meeting of the 4th Indonesia-Cuba joint commission in Jakarta. The working groups of the two delegations in the first day of the meeting agreed to enhance direct trade between the two countries. Indonesia-Cuba trade in 2004 reached over USD1.3 million, which included Indonesian exports to Cuba worth US$1,375,370 and imports from that country worth US$2,352. The balance of trade between the two countries is in Indonesia`s favour with a surplus of US$1,373,018. The obstacles often faced in enhancing the bilateral trade include the high transportation cost because of the great distance between the two countries, and the lack of direct shipping routes and corresponding banks. (ANTARA News, 8/9/05)

September 9: Cuba will not take advantage of Venezuelan credit facilities designed for the member nations of Petrocaribe, but instead decided to continue with the Integral Agreement of Cooperation that was signed for the first time in 2000 and due for reneawal next October. (El Universal, 9/9/05)

September 9: State-owned China Minmetals Corp. expects to form a joint venture in Cuba, investing up to $600 million to exploit the world's third largest reserves of nickel, a Hong Kong newspaper reported. The South China Morning Post quoted Zhou Zhongshu, president of China's largest metals trader, as saying the project was expected to come on stream by 2007 or 2008. Last November, Minmetals signed a memorandum of understanding to start up the Las Camariocas nickel project in Cuba, which it said should produce 68,000 tonnes of ferro-nickel annually. Cubaniquel of Cuba would own 51 percent of the plant and Minmetals 49 percent. (Reuters, 9/9/05)

September 9: Over 300,000 hectares of cane will be replaced with other cultivation in the second stage of the restructuring process undertaken by the Cuban Ministry of Sugar (MINAZ). The lands will be sown with vegetables, seasonings, fruits and timber-yielding trees to strengthen production for the domestic market and reforestation in the country. Through the information provision and discussion process lead by the MINAZ, farmers and agronomists learned that transport, health services, and food provision will continue under the charge of this Ministry. (Prensa Latina, 9/9/05)

September 9: The OPEC Fund for International Development signed a US$10 million loan agreement with Cuba to co-finance the modernization and expansion of the electricity network in Havana. The aim of the project is to improve the quality and efficiency of service delivery, with a view to boosting the country’s socio-economic development. Under the project, Havana’s high voltage transmission system and medium and low-voltage distribution network will be fully rehabilitated through the repair and construction of substations and power lines. Other works will include the installation of lightning protector cables and modernization of the underground networks in Havana’s historic district. Meters, power lines and other equipment connecting the distribution network to approximately 435,000 households, as well as major industrial and commercial premises, will be completely upgraded. Public safety will be enhanced by installing new street-lights and repairing existing ones. (OPEC Fund for International Development Press Release, 11/9/05)

September 11: Iran will export electrical equipment worth five million dollars to Cuba. The agreement to export the equipment is in its final stages. The Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI) is to finance the contract. (MNA, 11/9/05)

September 12: Moa Nickel, a nickel and cobalt mining partnership in Cuba between Metals Enterprise and Sherritt International Corp, will spend $450 million to expand laterite nickel mining capacity by 16,000 tonnes per year (tpy) by the first quarter of 2008. The brownfield project at Moa in Cuba will yield an additional 16,000 tpy of nickel and cobalt capacity, with the proportion breaking down roughly into a 10:1 ratio of nickel and cobalt, Peter Cordingley, manager of technology at Sherritt, told MB's 4th International Nickel, Stainless & Special Steel Forum in Bilbao, Spain. The laterite mine produced 32,000 tonnes of nickel and cobalt in 2004 and is on track to produce the same volume in 2005. "We have the advantage that we are investing in an area where we have significant reserves and know the ore characteristics very well," said Cordingley. "This enables us to have a rapid start-up and ramp-up process, as we will be adding parallel technology that is already in use in our current laterite mine." (Metal Bulletin News, 12/9/05)

September 12: A herd of 20,142 oxen is expected to guarantee the agricultural works in the Cuban province of Las Tunas, in the wake of the acute crisis of agricultural machinery that faces this territory, reported the local press. According to the provincial deputy-delegate of agriculture in Las Tunas, Eng. Alexis Velázquez, in the province only 20 percent of tractors are operational, which is a "serious challenge" for those responsible of organizing, executing and ensuring food production. (El Nuevo Herald, 13/9/05)

September 13: South Korea's main trade promotion agency said it has set up an office in Cuba, paving the way for more local companies to advance into the major trade hub of the Caribbean area. The trade office opened in Havana, with which South Korea has no formal diplomatic relations, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said. "South Korean companies have high interest in Cuba, as it is a strong economy with outstanding expertise in medical, information technology and biotechnology industries," Hong Ki-hwa, the president of KOTRA, said at a launching ceremony held in Havana. (Yonhap, 13/9/05)

September 14: Approximately 250,000 Cubans from different fields took part in cooperation activities in other countries from 1963 to 2004. That figure will increase this year with the 37,000 professionals who presently work in 108 nations. The Vice-Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation (MINVEC), Ricardo Guerrero, said that at present 24,824 collaborators on health represent 70.4 % of the 37,000 professionals and technicians who offer their services in countries of Latin America, the Caribbean, North America, Africa, Europe and Asia. (AFP, 14/9/05)

September 15: Cuba and Canada signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the sector of agriculture, the Cuban embassy to Canada said. Under the agreement Canadian agriculture companies will develop common projects with the Cuban state-run food importer Alimport and other Cuban agriculture companies. A delegation from Cuba, led by the president of Alimport, Pedro Alvarez, visited. It is not clear so far if Cuba will buy foods from Canada in the immediate future. The Memorandum was signed by the Cuban ambassador to Canada, Ernesto A. Sentí, and the Canadian ambassador to Cuba, Alexandra Bugailiskis. (EFE, Latin American News Digest, 15/9/05)

September 16: Venezuelans are flocking to Havana by the planeload for free eye operations under a medical program funded by their country that is helping Cuba pay for oil imports and keep its socialist economy afloat. More than 70,000 Venezuelans have been operated on for cataracts and other eye ailments this year and the goal is 150,000 by the end of 2005, a Cuban health official said. On Aug. 20, a record 1,648 eye operations at some 20 hospitals were performed in one day, the health official said. Hotels and educational campuses have been taken over to house Venezuelan patients who get free air travel to Cuba, lodging and food while they are in Havana, courtesy of the Venezuelan state. They are driven around in new buses from China, often escorted by police on motorcycles. The VIP treatment underscores the priority President Fidel Castro has given to a program that is paying for vital shipments of 90,000 barrels a day of Venezuelan oil and gasoline, which represents an energy bill that exceeds $1.5 billion a year at today's high prices. (Reuters, 16/9/05)

September 19: A major swine breeding company from Prince Edward Island, Canada, has secured an export contract with Cuba. York Point Farms Inc. is the major supplier for a genetic upgrade of the Cuban swine industry and will install a nucleus and multiplier pyramid system. Company President Donald MacDonald said the contract will see 15,500 females and 500 males shipped to the Caribbean country. While Prince Edward Island will be the primary supplier, there will also be animals provided by breeders from Ontario via Donaldson International Livestock Ltd. and Quebec via Comtois International Export Inc. MacDonald said the deal with Cuba is the largest single breeding stock order in Canadian history with a value over $5 million. (AgriSuccess Express, 19/9/05)

September 20: Indian ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, has acquired a 30 per cent stake in seven oil and gas blocks in Cuba, which hold more than 4 billion barrels of oil reserves. Spain's Repsol-YPF is the operator of some of the blocks and the remaining is with Norway's Norsk Hydro. "OVL has entered into an agreement with Repsol-YPF of Spain to acquire 30 per cent participating interest in deepwater exploration blocks in Cuba," a company press release said in New Delhi. (India Business, 20/9/05)

September 20: Venezuela could soon provide working capital to companies that have signed deals with the Cuban government but need funds to increase production, a Venezuelan minister said. In another step to help the Cuban government meet its needs for various goods, Venezuela will create special programs if necessary so local companies can supply Cuba's demand, Edmee Betancourt, minister of light industries and trade told reporters. Betancourt said the specifics of such a financing initiative are still being worked on. So far, companies have failed to sell enough goods and services to the island nation, Betancourt said, and added that she hopes a Venezuela-Cuba business roundtable this week will help increase trade between both nations. (Dow Jones, 20/9/05)

September 21: Preliminary reports said that Hurricane Rita severely affected the electricity service in the western Cuban provinces of Matanzas, Havana, and the City of Havana. Over 157 electric lines, out of 515, were damaged, as well as water and gas services. International flights were suspended, and schools were closed. Over 230,000 persons were evacuated. No deaths were reported. (AIN, 21/8/05)

September 22: The International Transport Fair (FIT 2005) was inaugurated at Havana´s EXPOCUBA exhibition center, attended by over 30 representatives from several countries. According to Transport Deputy Ministers Inocencio Alejandro García and Raquel Fundora, the fair is dedicated this year to Latvia and Venezuela, both of which will have leading roles in the exhibition along with China. (Prensa Latina, 22/9/05)

September 22: Venezuelan businesses signed deals to sell US$36.7 million worth of goods to Cuba that will include exports of shoes, underwear, artificial leather and industrial products to the communist country. More than 280 companies, cooperatives and other commercial organizations participated in the government-sponsored forum aimed at boosting trade between the two countries. "The businesses were satisfied, they were given financial advice and they will be accompanied through the whole process so that they can respond to Cuban demand," said Venezuelan minister of light industries Edmee Betancourt in a statement following the forum. The businesses signed letters of intent worth US$36.7 million dollars in deals, but that sum does not include other agreements signed earlier whose value has not yet been calculated, the statement said. (AP, 22/9/05)

September 23: North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly vice president, Yang Hyong Sop, praised the fulfillment of the agreements signed between Cuba and Korea. During a meeting in Havana with Cuba's minister for foreign investment and economic collaboration, Marta Lomas, the Korean leader expressed his interest in strengthening mutual relations in the agricultural and public health sectors. (AIN, 23/9/05)

September 24: Venezuela and China are considering projects to alleviate the serious problems of public and freight transport in Cuba. During the IX International Fair of Transport (FIT-2005), dedicated to China and Venezuela, representatives of the sector discussed projects of future cooperation and business opportunities. The Asian delegation showed interest in the reconstruction and modernization of Cuban ports and in railway transport. Luis Vásquez, technical superintendent of the marine division of Petróleos de Venezuela S. A. (PDVSA), affirmed that his company will help with "the transport of hydrocarbons to Cuba and to all the countries that are signatories" of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). (AFP, 24/9/05)

September 26: An UK High Court judge hearing a case over vintage Latin music has traveled to Cuba to hear evidence from witnesses. The English High Court has come to Havana to hear witnesses in a case which asks who owns the UK publishing rights to some of Cuba's best-loved songs. Examining the evidence is Mr Justice Lindsay. Last May, mid-way through a case in London, the British judge made the decision that justice would be best served if he came to Cuba, after an attempt to hear from several Cuban witnesses via video link failed, due to technical problems. He is presiding over a case which has been brought by the US-based Peer Music. Peer Music says that its legitimate copyright has been unlawfully taken over by the Cuban state-owned Editora Musica de Cuba (EMC). (BBC, 26/9/05)

September 26: A plant to produce humanized monoclonal antibodies to treat neck and head cancer, developed by Cuban scientists, opened in Beijing. The Chinese-Cuban Biotech Pharmaceutical Company will produce and commercialize hR-3 antibody, obtained by scientists of Cuba's Center of Molecular Immunology (CIM). The hR-3 has Cuban and Chinese medical registry plus patents issued in Canada, the US, China and various European countries. (Prensa Latina, 26/9/05)

September 27: Prior to the 45th anniversary of the establishment of official ties, China and Cuba are stepping up cooperation in all fields. This is the prevailing sentiment after four and a half decades of relations in politics, economy, trade, science and technology, in spite of historic and cultural differences in the construction of socialism according to their respective national realities. Cuban ambassador to Beijing Alberto Rodríguez Arufe lauded the excellent bilateral visits by top-level leaders, as well as both nations' contacts to exchange ideas, opinions and experiences. (Prensa Latina, 27/9/05)

September 28: Korean Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's largest shipbuilder, said it has won a US$330 million order for electric power generators from Cuba. "Hyundai Heavy is to deliver 244 packaged power generators with a combined capacity of 510 megawatts to Cuban authorities in charge of electricity by the end of 2007," a Hyundai official said. (Yonhap News, 28/9/05)

September 28: South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma held bilateral political discussions with her Cuban counterpart, Felipe Perez Roque, in Havana, the foreign affairs department said. Dlamini-Zuma is in Cuba leading a senior South African government delegation to the 4th Session of the Joint South Africa-Cuba Bilateral Commission on economic, scientific, technical and business cooperation, a statement read. The South African delegation includes South Africa's ambassador to Cuba, Thenjiwe Mtintso, the Directors-General of Health, Public Works and Social Development, and high ranking foreign affairs officials. (South African Press Association, 28/9/05)

September 28: Cuba continues to be plagued by an energy crisis and blackouts, despite major investments to modernize a service that now extends to nearly 96 percent of the country's 11.2 million inhabitants. An increase in domestic production and an agreement with Venezuela to import oil under highly favorable terms have brought an end to the severe shortages of the mid-1990s, which led to an abrupt plunge in Cuba's power-generation capacity. Nevertheless, the National Electric Power System (SEN) is still not able to maintain a stable supply of electricity, due to repeated breakdowns in its main thermoelectric power stations. (IPS, 28/9/05)