Chronicle on Cuba - August 2005

Economy

August 2: The Austrian cigar company Tabaccoland and Cuba´s Habanos S.A., signed a contract for the direct sale of Cuban cigars in Austria. A Habanos source said a Swiss intermediary used to supply Tobaccoland with the brands Cohiba, Montecristo, Bolivar and Romeo y Julieta but was unable to meet the growing demand. This new contract includes the introduction of new brands to diversify supplies. Tobaccoland is a branch of the monopoly Austria Tabak. Since 2001 this company has shared the distribution of 450 tobacco products along with the British group Galleher. (Prensa Latina, 2/8/05)

August 3: Sherritt International Corp., whose interests range from metal mining to energy, in properties from Canada to Cuba and Asia, says its second-quarter profits rose $1.7-million to $56-million. "Sherritt's financial results for 2005 will likely continue to be positively affected by relatively robust nickel, cobalt, coal and oil prices and by continuing high levels of global demand for its products," the company said in a release. The oil and gas division is expecting a modest increase in production for the rest of 2005 as a result of higher drilling activity. (The Globe & Mail, 3/8/05)

August 4: Hard-pressed Cubans already suffering through frequent and long interruptions in the flow of electricity saw the problem worsen when Antonio Guiteras, one of the nation's largest plants, broke down. In a communique, state-owned Union Electrica explained that the pipeline feeding fuel into the plant's boiler was damaged. Problems in the power network are prompting blackouts of up to 10 hours a day in Havana and other cities around the country. (EFE, 4/8/05)

August 5: Cuba's sugar output is headed for another disastrous year due to drought and neglect, farmers told the press during a tour of the key sugar-producing provinces of Ciego de Avila, Camaguey and Las Tunas. "There is no cane" or "the sugar industry is a disaster" was just about all anyone had to say about the coming crop due for harvesting from January into May. This year's estimated output of 1.3 million tonnes of raw sugar was the lowest since 1908 and has forced the country to import sugar from Colombia to meet contracts and cover its 700,000 tonne domestic consumption. "The plantations that appear in good shape are only cultivated near the roads so bosses passing by think everything is fine. Go into the plantations a ways and you will see something else," he said. "The problem is these plantations have no real owners except for the state. No one cares," the tractor driver added with a wizard smirk, refusing to give his name. The government has not commented directly on the harvest and future plans, but Castro called the industry the country's ruin earlier this year. (Reuters, 5/8/05)

August 8: Cuba and Indonesia have reportedly signed a bilateral co-operation agreement to develop and manufacture the Cuban monoclonal antibody known as 1E10, a vaccine expected to be highly effective against cancer, according to Cuban news agency Prensa Latina. The 1E10 monoclonal antibody, which is currently produced by the Cuban Centre of Molecular Immunology (CIM), recognizes antigens in human melanoma and breast tumors and subsequently inhibits tumor growth, in addition to reducing metastatic lung disease. (Global Insight Daily Analysis, 8/8/05)

August 8: The number one unit of the Cuban thermoelectric plant "Lidio Ramón Pérez" in the northeastern town of Felton, Holguín, is now stabilized and assimilated into the national grid. Block 1 was incorporated to the national grid, but had to be withdrawn for adjustments to be made, and was incorporated again. The reincorporation of this power plant represents an improvement in the generation capacity of electric power for the country, because of its capacity to supply 500 Mw with its two blocks. (Prensa Latina, 8/8/05)

August 8: Old sugar mills in Cuba are being refurbished in order to allow for the processing of other agro-food products. In the province of Holguín, to the east of Cuba, six of the old sugar mills are being converted into corn silos and mills. Others, like the "Urbano Noris," also in Holguín, will scale down their sugar cane-processing capabilities, reallocating some areas for seed storage. (EFEAGRO, 8/8/05)

August 11: The Cuban government ended a contract with the company administering the island's cruise terminals following remarks by Fidel Castro that cruise ships exploit small Caribbean countries and were no longer welcome in Cuba. A Council of State resolution signed on August 2 and published in the Official Gazette ended a seven-year relationship with the Italian company Silares Terminales del Caribe, which operated in Cuba as a mixed-enterprise business with the island's CUBANCO S.A. Silares will no longer administer docking operations, and ownership of all equipment and infrastructure will revert back to the state, the resolution said. The resolution didn't say whether cruise ships would be able to come to Cuba in the future under different arrangements. The tourism ministry was contacted by the press but made no comment. (AP, 11/8/05)

August 17: Cuba increased its food imports to approximately $1,700 million USD this year to compensate for frequent setbacks in national production. The increase of imports in this sector coincides with difficulties in agro-food production caused by the intense drought that still affects the eastern provinces of the country. (IPS, 17/8/05)

August 22: Cuba will modernize its nickel plants in an effort to double yearly production, said sources in the sector. The authorities are planning to step up production from 76,900 tons to 120,000 tons per year, indicated the business weekly Opciones. The "René Ramos Latour" plant, in Nicaro, is the oldest of the three existing facilities - it was built 62 years ago - and at present delivers 12,400 tons per year. The "Ernesto Che Guevara" and "Comandante Pedro Sotto Alba," newer facilities built in 1994 in Moa under the terms of a Cuba-Canada joint venture, produce approximately 31,500 and 33,000 tons per year respectively. (AFP, 22/8/05)

August 27: A Cuba-Venezuela joint-venture will finance the construction of a shipyard on the shores of the Venezuelan lake of (west) Maracaibo, for repairs of the fleet operated by state-owned Oils of Venezuela (PDVSA). Irwin Marcano, public relations director of the National Institute of Investments (INC), told the press that the initial capital will be $6 million USD, 51 % contributed by Venezuela and the rest by Cuba. (AFP, 27/8/05)

August 28: Heavy rains and waves from Hurricane Katrina forced evacuations in western Cuba as the massive storm swept northward toward the southern United States, according to local reports. Telephone lines and power transmission were knocked out in many areas in the west hit by the storm and around 8,000 people were evacuated from flood-threatened areas in Pinar del Rio province as Katrina passed to the north. The coastal city of Surgidero de Batabano south of Havana was 90 percent under water, according to Cuban television reports. (AFP, 29/8/05)

August 28: The Caribbean Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) said it has begun negotiations with the Cuban government for oil exploration in that country. ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of ONGC is in talks with the Cuban government for oil exploration in that country,” ONGC chairman Subir Raha told reporters. (Indian Express, 29/8/05)

August 29: Cuba purchased 21 generators from a factory in Denmark's northern Jutland, Danish regional newspapers reported. To meet growing energy needs, Cuba acquired 21 generators worth approximately $26.7 million from MAN B&W Diesel in Frederikshavn. The unusually large order represents more than 20 percent of a year's production of motors at the factory. The generators, which will be used in six new power stations in Cuba, will all be delivered in 2006. The first shipment will be delivered in January. The two sides negotiated the order over the past six months; final confirmation of the order was signed by Fidel Castro. (Danmarks Radio, Energy Watch, 29,31/8/05)

August 31: Cuba's coffee harvest got underway with output from the hurricane-damaged crop forecast at less than last year's estimated 180,000 60-kg bags, based on comments from industry sources and state-run media reports. The Agriculture Ministry regularly refuses to comment on the harvest, and the government and state-run media rarely report the total crop, though provincial information is more frequently available. A rare July hurricane, Dennis, passed near coffee growing areas on the eastern part of the island, and then slammed into the ripening crop in central Cuba "Santiago de Cuba's coffee harvest got underway this week with the crop damaged by drought and then Dennis," state-run television reported. Santiago is one of four eastern provinces which account for more than 80 percent of the crop. (Reuters, 31/8/05)

August 31: Managing Director of Cuban Telecommunications Enterprise (ETECSA), Jose Antonio Fernandez, said that 89.6 percent of Cuban telephone lines would become digital in 2005. In his briefing to a special session of a Commission of the National Assembly of People's Power in Havana, Fernandez said that Cuba continues developing public telephone service by increasing payphones from 6,820 in 1994 to 34,125 by the end of the first half of 2005. (Prensa Latina, 31/8/05)