Chronicle on Cuba - September 2004

Economy

September 1: Cuba is stepping up efforts to make use of sugarcane derivatives for animal and human medications at a time when the island's sugar industry is undergoing restructuring due to the low sugar prices on the international market. Local experts are unanimous in touting ''alternative'' uses for sugarcane, to make sweets and alcohol, animal feed, resins, preservatives, plastics and manufactured products like paper or furniture. Of the surprising variety of sugarcane derivatives, the product that achieved perhaps the greatest international popularity in the late 20th century was policosanol, or PPG, discovered and developed in Cuban laboratories. PPG is applauded as a regulator of the metabolism for fats, including cholesterol, and as a food supplement for people in situations of great physical exertion. This ''natural'' medication does not have harmful side effects and is thought to enhance sexual function. The product has customers in Europe and Australia, among other points of the globe, and is sought by many of the tourists visiting this socialist-run island. (Tierramérica, 1/9/04)

September 1: Cuba has planted some 1700 hectares with citrus fruit annually since the 2001-2002 harvest and that figure is expected to significantly increase over the next five years. During a recent tour of eastern Ciego de Avila province, the president of the Citrus Fruit Entrepreneurial Group, Percy Ruíz Medina, said that the country needs larger orange and grapefruit plantations for domestic consumption as well as to increase exports of fruit juice. (Radio Habana Cuba, 1/9/04)

September 2: The bay in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, one of the island's most polluted, is showing slight improvements following the first few years of a water-treatment and nature-restoration program. Specialists at the Cuban Science, Technology and Environment Ministry have been able to identify 264 organic and non-organic pollution sources, the Juventud Rebelde newspaper reported. Before the project, the bay's "dissolved oxygen level was nil and prevented (the existence of) any life form," the ministry's environmental management specialist, Nadia Justiz, said. The bay's waters were black and smelly with waste from nearby housing developments, factory pollution and runoff from ships. "Currently, pollutants have gone down by 34 percent," Justiz said. The behavior of birds that traditionally inhabited the area - ducks, curlews, pelicans and gulls - shows "the clean-up has progressed," but not enough, according to ornithologist Luis Omar Melián. (EFE, 2/9/04)

September 2: The construction of a new small-capacity water reservoir in drought-stricken Holguín, east of Cuba, has entered its final phase. Water reservoir "Naranjo", with a capacity for 11,000 650 cubic meters of water and the first built since 2001, should begin its service in 2005 and start collecting water in the next rainfall period. (Prensa Latina, 2/9/04)

September 2: Cuban authorities called on the island's 11 million inhabitants to save electricity in the face of prolonged blackouts that have added discomfort to a hot summer. The outages began after Cuba's largest power plant, located near the city of Matanzas, broke down in May during maintenance work, depriving the country of 330 megawatts, almost one fifth of its power needs. Hurricane Charley made matters worse in western Cuba by downing high voltage power lines and electrical poles in and around Havana during its furious passage. Electricity demand regulator Victor Puentes said the Antonio Guiteras generator near Matanzas, 60 miles east of Havana, will be repaired in 10 days, improving power supplies. But maintenance work on other generators will mean power cuts will continue through the end of the year, Puentes said in an interview with the ruling Communist party newspaper Granma. "We must continue saving electricity at work places and homes to contribute to the stability of this vital service," he said. (EFE, 2/9/04)

September 6: Cuba hopes to cover almost 30 percent of its surface area with trees by 2015 with the help of a massive reforestation campaign announced by the National Forestry Office. The spokesperson for the office, José Garea, told local reporters that the campaign has a multi-million dollar budget and is inspired by the need to protect the environment and promote sustainable development. The reforestation will begin almost immediately and more than a million hectares of land have been earmarked for tree planting over the next ten years. (Radio Habana Cuba, 6/9/04)

September 7: Cuba and Argentina have signed a trade agreement worth US $200 million per year. According to Argentinean Ambassador to Havana, Raúl Taleb, the agreement is expected to be in force for three years and is renewable on a yearly basis, unless either signatory party otherwise denounces it. In a press conference, Taleb explained that the pact seeks to improve a bilateral trade balance that heavily favors his country. (AP, 7/9/04)

September 9: The Cuban government is attempting to strengthen and expand trade with China. Havana's strategy is not only aimed at boosting cooperation and trade flows, which in 2003 totalled 357 million dollars, but at attracting greater investment from China as well. Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Investment and Cooperation will present 41 proposals for joint ventures at the 8th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT), one of the biggest such events in Asia, which runs in the southeastern port city of Xiamen. (IPS, 9/9/04)

September 13: In passing over the island, hurricane Ivan tore off roofs, downed trees and telephone poles and brought waves 5 meters (16 feet) in height along the coast. Civil Defense officials said that practically everyone had been evacuated from the communities with the greatest risk from the storm. A total of some 180,000 people were evacuated from Pinar del Rio province, some 35 percent of the western province's population. Many coastal towns were abandoned as about 1.3 million evacuated their homes across the island, mostly seeking refuge in friends and relatives' homes. Others went to government shelters. High winds tore roofs off buildings, ripped trees up by their roots, damaged citric and banana plantations, important roads were submerged in water, tobacco fields drenched and power lines downed. Cuba's tobacco crop was safe, according to top grower Alejandro Robaina. Planting season doesn't begin until next month and remnants of January's harvest are protected in curing houses. A tobacco curing house had part of its zinc roof pulled away. (EFE, Sun Sentinel, Granma, AP, 14/9/04)

September 15: According to experts, aging and slow population growth rates in Cuba could hinder the island's social and economic development. With over 14 % of its citizens aged 60 and older by the end of 2002, Cuba is ranked among the nations with the highest rates of population aging on the planet. The 2001 Demographic Yearbook for Cuba reports a birth rate of 1.6 children per woman and a life expectancy rate of approximately 77 years. By 2010, the projected figure for people 60 and older is expected to reach 18 %. (EPS, 15/9/04)

September 15: The 22nd Joint Intergovernmental Commission between Vietnam and Cuba opened sessions in Hanoi, with an aim to promote bilateral trade and investment. The conference includes representatives of the Vietnamese and Cuban Chambers of Commerce as well as other officials from Hanoi and Havana. The purpose is to increase trade between both nations, said Frank Abel Portela, general secretary of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce. The new committee will support businesses in their search for new markets and clients, he added. (Prensa Latina, 15/9/04)

September 15: The President of the Panamanian Chamber of Commerce, Raúl del Valle, declared that the diplomatic breakup between Cuba and Panama had "immediate repercussions at the Colon Free Zone (CFZ)." Remaining optimistic, he added: "Talks have already taken place between both governments and bilateral relations have not ceased altogether. I am confident that things will go back to normal soon." According to CFZ sources, Cuban buyers are having difficulties purchasing products in Panama as the absence of a Panamanian embassy in Havana makes it impossible for them to acquire travel visas. With the Cuban outstanding debt to the Central American nation exceeding US $200 million, Panama is only accepting cash payments in its transactions with Cuba. (La Prensa, 15/9/04)

September 16: Hurricane Ivan caused almost no damage to Cuba's sugar industry as it roared by the western tip of the island, and the storm provided much-needed moisture to the drought-stricken crop, media reports and sources said. Damage was confined to western Pinar del Rio province which produced 75,000 tonnes of the most recent sugar harvest's 2.52 million tonnes of raw sugar. "Just a few of our 85 mills sustained minor damage and some cane is under water," a local sugar expert said. Brigades were hard at work draining flooded plantations before water could suffocate the plants, top Cuban sugar reporter Juan Varela Perez said in his daily radio spot. Ivan provided little relief to the drought stricken eastern part of the country as it passed south of the island, but precipitation increased as the Category 5 storm neared, benefiting the rest of Cuba which has also suffered a lack of rain this year. "Sugar workers and farmers in the western provinces, as well as some central provinces, have benefited from Ivan's rainfall, because they can now increase planting," Varela said. (Reuters, 16/9/04)

September 17: Results and perspectives of the commercial exchange between Cuba and Ukraine are among the topics to be analyzed at the 8th Session of the Inter Governmental Commission, to begin in Havana. The course of the Program for Attention to the children affected in Chernobil 14 years ago, and technical and economic projects in many sectors will be examined, as a note by the Cuban Ministry for Foreign Investment and Economic Collaboration pointed out. The projects are related to agriculture, industry, transport, iron and steel and other sectors. (Prensa Latina, 17/9/04)

September 18: Guanahacabibes Peninsula, located 200 kilometres west of Havana, is the westernmost point in Cuba, and was therefore the closest to the eye of Hurricane Ivan. It was declared a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) Biosphere Reserve in 1987. “There is very little vegetation left, and the trees still standing look like they were set on fire,” commented Omar Ledesma, head of the meteorological station in Cabo de San Antonio. Ledesma is one of a team of 14 men who managed to reach Cabo San Antonio, after clearing a path through 50 kilometres of wreckage with axes and machetes. It took them 12 hours”. Along the way we saw dead fish and iguanas, but we saw others that were still alive,” said Ledesma. He estimated that the hurricane affected 95 percent of the forests, as well as most of the beaches. Further to the east, throughout the rest of the province of Pinar del Rio, official sources have reported the destruction of 225 tobacco drying houses, the loss of almost 14,000 tons of citrus fruits, damage to 2,200 bee hives, and the death of 2,400 chickens. (IPS, 18/9/04)

September 20: Cuban authorities say that more than 70 percent of Pinar del Rio province, the most affected by Hurricane Ivan, have already had electric power restored. Local electricians and workers from seven other provinces have returned electric service to all main municipal cities, circuits in La Palma and Bahia Honda are 95 percent activated, with those in the provincial capital about to start, electricity company director Rolando Blanco informed. Cape San Antonio, hardest hit by the 162 mph winds with gusts of 217 miles per hour, and Sandino, Guane and Mantua, also severely affected, will have electricity restored this week. (Prensa Latina, 20/9/04)

September 22: The Cuba-Venezuela Joint Cooperation Commission got underway in Havana with the aim of further strengthening bilateral friendship and cooperation relations. The gathering takes place in the context of the current Comprehensive Cooperation Accord reached between Caracas and Havana four years ago. Cuba's Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Marta Lomas and Venezuela's Energy and Mining Minister Rafael Ramírez are presiding over the joint commission. Participants at the meeting are evaluating the course of several joint projects underway in 17 social and economic fields. They will also look at the current bilateral cooperation program and draw up a plan for 2005. (Radio Habana Cuba, 22/9/04)

September 22: Cuba and Ukraine inaugurated in Havana the Seventh Session of the Inter-Governmental Commission for Economic, Trade, Scientific and Technological Cooperation. The Cuban delegation, headed by Public Health Minister Jose Balaguer, and the Ukrainian delegation, led by Andry Pidaev, were expected to evaluate the current situation and prospects of bilateral cooperation, in particular commercial exchanges. (Xinhua, 22/9/04)

September 23: FIT 2004, the 8th International Transportation Fair, considered the most important opportunity for commercial exchange on the island, is gathering 72 exhibitors from 19 countries. FIT 2004 is organized by the Cuban ministries of Foreign Trade and Transportation, Cuba’s Chamber of Commerce, Expo-Cuba, and the Havana Convention Center. More than 200 national and foreign specialists, three more participants than last year, are participating, organizing committee chair Angel Garate noted. Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Holland, Mexico, Spain, and Panama are represented by the companies Mercedes Benz, Damex, Tokmakjian Group, Tri-Star Caribbean Inc, ZTE Corporation (China), Russia Automotriz, Corporación Cancun. (Radio Habana Cuba, 23/9/04)

September 25: Cuba appealed for the restructuring of the $400 mln (326 mln euro) debt the country has with Mexico's state-run National Bank for Foreign Trade (Bancomext), at a meeting of Cuban Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez, and Mexican Foreign Minister, Luis Ernesto Derbez, in New York. The exact offer made by Cuba for the debt restructuring was not disclosed. The acceptance of the offer by Mexico will include reinforcement of economic relations between Mexico and Cuba. The two ministers discussed the possibility of resuming the annual binational meetings between the two countries, which have not taken place since 1998. (Latin American News Digest, 25/9/04)

September 26: Current trade and other Russo-Cuban economic ties fall far below potential opportunities. In addition, sizeable reserves have remained unused, Alexander Yakovenko, official spokesman of Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, pointed out in an interview. Cuba remains among Russia's crucial Latin American commercial partners. A trend to reduce the bilateral trade deficit has been lately reversed. As Russia's Customs Committee statistics have it, the deficit approached 133 million US dollars during this year's first five months --9 per cent above the same period in 2003. The Russo-Cuban intergovernmental commission for trade, economic, research and technological cooperation is to meet for its 6th session before the year's end, added Mr. Yakovenko. (Novosti, 26/9/04)

September 27: Faced with growing difficulties in the local power grid, Cuban officials headed by Fidel Castro are appearing on TV these days to explain the whys and hows behind the island´s current chain of blackouts. Cuban television broadcast its regular Round Table, in which Fidel Castro suggested having a second program to thoroughly analyze a situation that has resulted in more frequent and prolonged power outages since May. Castro noted that this time and unlike previous occasions, blackouts had not been prompted by oil shortages. Experts appearing in the program offered explicit details regarding the damages that have affected power sources such as the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, in western Matanzas province, some 98 kilometers east of Havana. (Prensa Latina, 28/9/04)

September 27: Cuban and Venezuelan authorities approved 116 collaboration projects in 15 different areas, ranging from joint development of vaccines to sports training. Granma reported that, after 4 days of private sessions, the 5 th Joint Commission held its closing ceremony, with the attendance of Fidel Castro. Foreign Investment Minister Marta Lomas was quoted as saying that 120 Venezuelans and their Cuban counterparts had taken part in 20 working groups. (AP, 27/9/04)

September 27: The XI Session of the Intergovernmental Mixed Commission for Economic and Scientific-Technique Collaboration between Cuba and Congo was opened in Havana with the aim to strengthen bilateral exchange. The ceremony was at the protocol headquarter of the Ministry of Foreign Investment and Economic Collaboration (MINVEC) and was presided over by the minister, Marta Lomas. The Congolese delegation was led by Justin Ballay Megot, minister in charge of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and French-speaking countries. (Prensa Latina, 27/9/04)

September 28: During a second episode of a TV daily Round Table (Mesa Redonda) dedicated to Cuba’s electric grid, Fidel Castro announced that new emerging measures would be taken to save energy, including the possibility of closing Antillana de Acero, one of the biggest factories in Havana. Castro also announced that a third episode of the TV program will be dedicated to the electricity crisis in Cuba. Although many individuals have not been able to watch the TV transmissions due to recurring blackouts. (Radio y Diario Monitor, 28/9/04)

September 28: Investigators examining problems at Cuba's largest thermoelectric power plant have ruled out sabotage as the source of the breakdown. The Antonio Guiteras plant, in the western province of Matanzas, sustained damage to a rotor due to a sudden temperature drop apparently caused by oversights on the part of three computer operators in charge of monitoring temperature levels. During a broadcast on state-owned television dedicated to Cuba's electricity problems, Interior Ministry representative Lt. Colonel Nestor Borrero said authorities opened an investigation of the breakdown. Experts concluded that the workers implicated in the problem, who were not identified, had merely committed an "operational error," Borrero said. Fidel Castro, meanwhile, said "we've got to be half-wits to forget that there's an enemy that never ceases in his efforts to sabotage anything that can be sabotaged." The power plant experienced the breakdown when it was preparing to shut down for scheduled maintenance in May. Cubans have endured repeated and lengthy blackouts in recent months due, in large part, to problems at Guiteras, considered the "heart" of the island's electric grid. (EFE, 28/9/04)

September 29: Cuba said it would close more than 100 factories as part of measures to cope with an energy crisis that has caused daily blackouts of up to 12 hours, wreaking havoc on personal lives and the economy. “Steel, cement, paper, juice and other plants totaling 118 in all will be shut at least for October,” Vice President Carlos Lage said in a television broadcast. Lage said Havana's Antillana de Acero steel works, with a government reported capacity of 600,000 tonnes, would be closed. "The steel works has been working very little anyway," Lage said in a television broadcast. "The citrus processing plants can be shut down in October because the bulk of the harvest begins in November," Vice President Carlos Lage said. It was not clear how many of the four citrus plants in the country were scheduled to operate in October. Lage explained that in order to diminish effects on the population, production in factories would take place outside the hours of most consumption, although this would increase the country"s costs. To reduce use of lighting in workplaces, the commercial sector will only work until 7:00 pm, except for food service. Cuba will not establish daylight saving time in October this year to prevent an increase in power consumption, so the school and work schedule will also be reduced by a half hour for four months beginning October 25. “We all are to blame (...) we have a weak system,” Fidel Castro said, promising to invest in new capacity. He said supply problems could persist for five months or more. (Reuters, Prensa Latina, 29/9/04)

September 29: Homes and agriculture in western Cuba suffered the worst effects from Hurricane Ivan earlier this month, authorities said in Havana, in the first detailed assessment of damage. In a report released by the official press, authorities in Pinar del Rio province say Ivan damaged 19,828 homes, of which 807 were destroyed and 2,108 had their roofs blown off. The head of the provincial government of Pinar del Rio, Vidal Perez, said 311 schools were damaged, as well as 46 sporting facilities, 38 cultural centers, and 93 clinics, according to the official publication Granma. Agriculture was the hardest-hit economic sector. Some 6,500 hectares (16,049 acres) of tubers and roots were lost, along with 4,140 hectares (10,222 acres) of vegetables, 3,966 hectares (9,793 acres) of plantains, 295 hectares (728 acres) of fruit trees and 170 hectares (420 acres) of rice. Ivan, the second hurricane to hit Cuba this year, damaged the area's electrical and telephone infrastructure. The fishing industry, vital to the province's economy, also was adversely affected, as five processing plants were damaged and two days of fishing were lost due to bad weather. (EFE, 29/9/04)

September 29: Fidel Castro met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Havana. The Cuban leader expressed his interest in the implementation of some joint projects with Russian companies. According to Fidel Castro, joint projects can cover such spheres as car transport, production of medical equipment, development of mineral resources and modernization of the energy sector. Talking to the press, Castro and Lavrov expressed satisfaction with the Russian-Cuban political dialogue. (Novosti, 29/9/04)

September 30: Cuba's nickel and cobalt production were so far unscathed by the energy crisis griping the Caribbean island, industry sources said. Cuban officials had said the energy grid was functioning at just 50 percent of demand due to plant breakdowns and other problems, causing daily blackouts of six to 12 hours, and the crisis would continue in the coming months. “The nickel and mining plants are operating normally as they do not rely on the national energy system," said a foreign investor who visited Cuba's nickel mining region in eastern Holguin province last week. "The blackouts have affected office work, so some delays might develop," he added. (Reuters, 30/9/04)

September 30: After months of frequent, lengthy and unexpected power outages, Cubans will now at least be able to plan their lives around the weekly blackout schedule to be published in local newspapers. This measure, adopted in response to public demand, is just one part of a much broader government programme to ensure power supplies during the country's worst energy crisis in a decade. These unannounced power cuts had begun to last between six and 12 hours, and in some areas there were more than one in the same day. Some specialists noted that while the situation has been difficult in Havana, it has been even worse in other parts of the country. The schedule for the city of Havana will include six-hour blackouts during both daytime and evening hours, but none are planned for the early morning hours, according to a document from the provincial power company. However, since the outages are due to electrical power generation problems rather than fuel shortages, unplanned interruptions in service could still happen at any time. (IPS, 30/9/04)

September 30: Two hotels are closing in Havana, after the Cuban government announced a programme to ensure power supplies during the country's worst energy crisis in a decade. Hotel Riviera and Neptuno are closing temporarily as part of the severe energy plan adopted by Cuban authorities. The surprising decision is the first one in the tourism sector, after the government announced the austerity plan. (La Jornada, 30/9/04)