Chronicle on Cuba - January 2005

Economy

January 1: Cuba offered new special economic projects to Russia, the Cuban ambassador to Moscow, Jorge Martinez said. He said the car industry and modernization of railroads were the most promising areas for such projects. In 2004, Cuban-Russian trade witnessed noticeable increase, Ambassador Martinez said, adding: "Cuba and Russia could set up a business council that might help propel our economic cooperation". "Russian private businesses might also play a greater role in our trade," he said on the future prospects. "Investment in tourism and hotel business might become a major sphere of cooperation in the future". (ITAR-TASS, 1/1/05)

January 3: According to a Cuban official, power supply indicators in Cuba will behave “more favorably” in 2005. “It will be hard work but, by the end of the year, we should be ready to restore power generation back to normal levels,” said Basic Industry Vice-minister Pedro Abigantús. The official, who is also Director for Power Generation in the National Power Company, added that equipment breakdowns due to lack of maintenance have caused an electric power deficit problem that remains unsolved. (EFE, 4/1/05)

January 5: Conservation measures taken in Cuba saved close to 15,000 acres of land from biological damage and water erosion while protecting one of the most important water sources in the country, according to AIN News Agency. Conservation programs were implemented in communities surrounding the island's northeast Toa river basin - considered a major nucleus of Caribbean biodiversity. Measures included the application of organic fertilizers obtained from earthworm cultivation and crop wastes applied to soil to improve its physical and chemical properties as well as its fertility. (Radio Habana Cuba, 5/1/05)

January 5: Mexican entrepreneurs have reduced their investments in Cuba due to a lack of knowledge of the island’s productive sectors and because of fear of US policies that seek to impede the trade relationship with Havana, said Valentín Díez Morodo, president of the Mexican Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology Council (COMCE). “I think there is an entrepreneurial sector breakdown, due to not knowing, fear and a lack of initiative to intensify contacts with Cuba,” he said. Among the top countries investing in Cuba in recent years, Mexico does not appear on the UN organization’s statistics. Many Mexican companies do not invest in Cuba “due to (…) their presence in other countries that are not necessarily friends of Cuba,” Díez said, in reference to the Helms-Burton Act in the US, that considers sanctioning companies that maintain trade relations with Cuba. “Mexican companies, instead of introducing their products directly, must triangulate in order to avoid a problem,” he added. (El Economista, 5/1/05)

January 5: Sustained growth of forests in the eastern province of Camaguey, received a setback last year due to the intense drought affecting Cuba's largest province. AIN news agency released preliminary Forest Service figures which revealed that last year 2,584 hectares of land were reforested, meeting just 40 percent of the plan. Delayed and short duration of spring rains cut into the time available for tree planting. A subsequent lack of humidity caused heavy losses in new plantations. Camaguey currently possesses 21.8 percent of forested territory forested, an equivalent of 340 thousand hectares. (Radio Habana Cuba, 5/1/05)

January 7: Some 100,225 housing units in Cuba were damaged last year, including 5,360 that were completely destroyed, by hurricanes Charley and Ivan, which slammed into the western part of this Caribbean island nation. The tropical storms that hit Cuba every year aggravate the already chronic housing deficit, estimated at half a million units by the Housing Institute, which lacks the funding to provide solutions. Authorities and academics also agree that the state of housing units in Cuba makes them even more vulnerable to hurricanes and other storms. According to official figures, 40 percent of the country's more than three million housing units are in poor or mediocre condition - a proportion that rises to 50 percent in the country's eastern provinces. Experts with the Centre for Research on Structure and Materials (CIDEM), at the Central de las Villas University, say any reconstruction or construction strategy must keep in mind the need to reduce vulnerability to storms. (IPS, 7/1/05)

January 8: Iran and Cuba reached an agreement on a project to repair, maintain and renovate Cuba’s power industry. The Iranian ambassador to Havana, Ahmad Edrisian, visiting Yadira Garcia, Cuban Minister of Basic Industries, evaluated cooperation ties between the two countries. (MNA, 8/1/05)

January 7: Cuba predicted a smaller sugar harvest this year because of drought, one year after the island's harvest was down by a third. The harvest for the 2004-2005 season in Cuba is expected to be just four months long, beginning in January and ending in April. Cuban sugar harvests usually begin in November or December and stretch into May or even June -- a possible maximum of eight months. Sugar Ministry official Oscar Almazán del Olmo blamed droughts for the expected smaller harvest, the Communist Party daily Granma reported. He said the drought would depress sugar production in Thailand and India as well. (The New York Times, 8/1/05)

January 9: Tourism to Cuba increased eight per cent in 2004 compared to 2003, with Canadians topping the list of visitors, followed by Europeans primarily from Italy, France, Germany and Spain. The rise occurred despite new US restrictions sharply cutting back on how many Americans visit the island. More than two million tourists visited the Caribbean island, the largest number ever, Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero announced. Last year, about 1.9 million foreigners visited Cuba. Marrero told reporters tourism now represents 41 per cent of Cuba's foreign exchange income - a leap from just four per cent in 1990. (National Post, 9/1/05)

January 11: The number of Japanese tourists traveling to Cuba, which dropped sharply in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, has started to recover due partly to the popularity of Cuban music, the country's ambassador to Japan said. Cuba had some 6,000 Japanese tourists in 2004, up more than 10 percent over the previous year, and the number is expected to rise further to surpass 7,000 in 2005, Ambassador Orlando Hernandez said in an interview with the press. (Kyodo News, 11/1/05)

January 11: An innovative project entitled, the "Oil Logistics Platform" will be extended throughout Cuba in an effort to optimize the nation's oil reception and distribution network. A study headed by Dr. Roberto Gonzalez of the Carlos Rafael Rodriguez University in Cienfuegos, was first used in a pilot project in the central Cuban province. (Radio Habana Cuba, 11/1/05)

January 12: A Guatemalan newspaper has described as "a remarkable example of cooperation" facilities for the training of new doctors provided by the Cuban government at the Havana based Latin-American School of Medicine. Over 500 Guatemalan young people are currently studying medicine on the island, says the Siglo 21 editorial. The newspaper underscores that the doctors will serve the Guatemalan population for at least six years. (Radio Habana Cuba, 12/1/05)

January 13: Chinese and Cuban aviation department held talks in Beijing in a bid to further promote bilateral aviation communications as well as strengthen cooperation in technology, investment and personnel training. China has already started preparatory work on forming aviation links with Cuba, said Yang Yuanyuan, director of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC). China and Cuba signed an aviation agreement last year. Airlines from both countries planned to open routes via a third destination. Air China and China Eastern Airlines already signed aviation agreements with Cuban Airlines. And China Southern Airlines will follow suit next month. (Xinhua, 13/1/05)

January 17: More than 2 million foreign tourists visited Cuba last year, a record number that cements the hospitality and recreation industry as the Communist nation's most important earner of hard currency. According to official figures, the number of visitors represents a 15 percent increase in money spent here in comparison with 2003. The just over $2 billion that visitors left on the island doubles the amount of estimated remittances sent home by emigrants and exiles, the nation's second-biggest source of foreign exchange. Cuba hosted a record 2,048,572 tourists last year. About 1.9 million had visited in 2003. (EFE, 17/1/05)

January 18: Iran's ambassador to Cuba said his country will increase ties to the Communist dictatorship 90 miles from Florida by extending some 20 million in euro credit. Plans for more scientific collaboration were announced by Ahmad Edrian, Iran's ambassador to Cuba. They include plans by Cuba to help build a plant in Iran to produce vaccines and medicines. (World Net Daily, 18/1/05)

January 18: Iran Minister of Agriculture Jihad Mahmud Hojjati, heading a high-ranking economic delegation, arrived in Havana to attend the 10th Joint Economic Commission session and represent the government in a number of economic cooperation agreements. The Iran-Cuba Economic Commission is jointly chaired by Hojjati and Ricardo Cabrisas, Cuban Minister of Government. (IRNA, 18/1/05)

January 19: Collaboration in shipbuilding, technical assistance, economic cooperation, and scientific research are included in agreements signed in Havana by the Algerian and Cuban Fishing Industry Ministries. The agreements were signed by Algerian minister, Smail Mimourne, and Alfredo López, from Cuba. According to the signed documents, the island will pass on its experiences in agriculture and shipbuilding, a priority development policy for that northern African country. (Prensa Latina, 19/1/05)

January 19: Cuba and Russia seek to promote aeronautical cooperation as indicated by a recent visit to Moscow by President of the Cuba Civil Aeronautics Institute (IACC) Rogelio Acevedo. Acevedo met with heads of the Federal Agency of Civil Aviation of Russia during the visit, Cuban newspaper reports said. Both parties discussed agreements on personnel training, modernization of the Cuban fleet, hydrometeorological research and environmental monitoring. (Xinhua, 19/1/05)

January 20: According to a press release from its Media Relations Office, the Bulgarian government has given the stamp of approval to a direct cooperation agreement with Cuba in the areas of telecommunications, postal communications and information technology. This bilateral cooperative effort will seek to establish realistic market principles that can be applied to all modes of communication and information services, promote the use of the latest information and communications technology, as well as contribute to building the information society. (EFECOM, 20/1/05)

January 20: Cuba and the Islamic Republic of Iran signed in Havana a memorandum of understanding that comprises the main elements agreed upon during the 10 th Session of the Intergovernmental Joint Commission. The document encompasses three main aspects, namely the implementation of a €20 million line of credit to the island; collaboration in food production on land no longer in use by the sugar industry; and the procurement of supplies and equipment necessary to offset the impact of the drought affecting Cuba. In addition, production of Cuban vaccines will begin in Iran and further cooperation in the field of biotechnology is being contemplated. (Granma, 20/1/05)

January 24: Cuba will import Chinese locomotives for public and freight transportation in late 2005, Granma daily reported. The Cuban Transport Ministry’s General Importing Company will purchase these trains as part of the agreements signed between Havana and Beijing at the end of 2004. The introduction of these modern locomotives will improve railroad transportation, which was seriously affected during the 90’s after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Cuba was the sixth in the world to have railroad transportation. (Cuba XP, 24/1/05)

January 25: Consumers were taken aback by a new hike in the price of diesel fuel, which in less than 8 months has gone from .45¢ per litter before May 2004 to .55¢, and now .75¢. There have been no reports in the local media regarding the new increase, and Oro Negro and Cubapetróleo gas station operators said that they were given little notice before the price rise went into effect. They explained that the measure applies to the general public and private enterprises, which pay in cash; government enterprises and institutions will not be affected. (EFE, 25/1/05)

January 25: The local media informed that the protracted drought affecting Cuba since 2003 -- the worst in 74 years – has cost the country $834 million pesos in economic losses so far. That figure is equivalent to the same amount in US dollars, according to the official rate of exchange applied in Cuba. The official Granma daily said that, due to the lack of precipitation, tens of thousands of cattle heads have perished and some 700,000 people regularly receive their water supply via tank truck deliveries. Current water reservoir levels are 2,108 million cubic meters below December 2003 levels and, out of a total of 235 active reservoirs, 118 remain less than 25% full. (EFE, 25/1/05)

January 28: Cuba is taking firm steps to move into the era of digital television, notwithstanding its economic limitations and technical backwardness. Such innovation requires changes more important than moving from black-and-white to colour, because it is about achieving far superior image and sound quality, in addition to options such as mobile reception, interactivity and multimedia services which are so up-to-date nowadays with the Internet. In 2003 and 2004 the most relevant events occurred in Cuba's attempts to launch digital television: the creation of two new channels with completely digitized studios and national coverage. (BBC, 28/1/05)

January 29: Cuba has started building homes using lumber created from sugarcane derivatives. Construction official Jorge Gonzalez told the press that twenty such houses were built in the central region of Cienfuegos by the end of 2004, and there were plans to construct 700 more this year. The artificial wood is created by mixing cement and sugarcane waste pulp. Plans to modernize a factory to increase the production of the lumber are in the making, Gonzalez said. (Radio Habana Cuba, 29/1/05)

January 27: Brazil's state oil giant Petrobras, now boosting energy co-operation in Cuba, could team up with Canada's Sherritt International Corp. or Spain's Repsol as it moves to explore two new prospecting zones off Cuba, the Brazilian ambassador in Havana said. After passing on two zones earlier selected for it to explore in 2002, "Petrobras is waiting to find out its [new] designated zones to carry out deep-water offshore prospecting," ambassador Tilden Santiago said. "We don't know yet if we are going to do it with the Spaniards [Repsol], the Canadians [Sherritt] or alone," he added. (National Post, 31/1/05)

January 30: Venezuela has signed an agreement with Cuba to ship coal to fuel the Caribbean island's nickel industry and to receive Cuban nickel in return to produce stainless steel, President Hugo Chavez said. In comments broadcast in Caracas by state television, the Venezuelan president said the exchange formed part of a growing political and economic alliance between his oil-rich country and communist-ruled Cuba. He reached agreement on the deal with Fidel Castro during a visit to Havana in December. "The nickel is in Cuba and the coal is in Venezuela (...) this is the way to integrate our economies," Chavez told a news conference from the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre. He said a Brazilian company would help mine the coal in Venezuela and part of this would be delivered to Cuba. "This coal will be used in Cuba as fuel to produce the necessary energy - which the Cubans don't have - to exploit one of the biggest reserves of nickel in the world, which is in Cuba," Chavez said. "We're going to bring the nickel to Venezuela, so that, combining it with steel, we can make stainless steel, which Venezuela doesn't produce because it doesn't have the nickel," he added. (Reuters, 30/1/05)

January 31: Cuba and China signed a contract in Havana providing for the Asian giant's participation in extracting oil from a deposit off the island's north shore, the press reported. The deal is between Cubapetroleos and the Chinese oil company Sinopec, said the official daily newspapaer Granma. In December, Fidel Castro announced discovery of oil at a site offshore from Santa Cruz del Norte, some 55 kilometers (33 miles) east of Havana. The deposit is believed to hold some 100 million barrels of "light" crude, or the equivalent of 14 million tons. (EFE, Prensa Latina, 31/1/05)