Chronicle on Cuba - October 2006

Economy

October 1: More than half of state-run enterprises inspected in the Cuban capital this year have cheated their customers, the Communist Youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde reported. Officials making spot inspections found that nearly 11,700 of the 22,700 businesses checked through August were selling their products at a higher price than advertised or delivering lesser quantities than required, a local director of inspection told the newspaper. Among the worst offenders are farm markets, restaurants and bakeries, the director said. Reporters at the newspaper did their own investigation, describing state cafes where beer mugs weren't filled to the brim and taxi drivers charged more than the metered fare. The two-page spread on the pervasive cheating came four days after Cuba's acting President Raul Castro urged workers to crack down on corruption and stealing from the state in a speech to the island's communist labor union. "Some state services are being used for personal gain by insensible people who change the prices and norms of the products, deceitfully passing the limit between state-run and private," the report in the state-controlled newspaper said. (AP, BBC, 1/10/06)

October 1: China and Venezuela are major players at this year’s Havana International Transportation Fair, both having demonstrated a desire to help Cuba modernize its transportation system. He Hongda, Chinese vice minister of Railroads, told official daily Granma that his country will do everything possible to assist Cuba in the development and modernization of its railway system. He said the collaboration could have a big influence on the rest of Latin America. Previous agreements, signed between Venezuela and Cuba, are also geared to boosting the island’s transportation infrastructure. One example is the recent forming of Astimarca, a joint enterprise between companies of the Venezuelan ministry of Infrastructure and the Cuban ministry of Transportation to build a floating dock in Cuba which will then be relocated to the Venezuelan city of Maracaibo, in the state of Zulia and used to provide maintenance to smaller ships. Cuban specialists are also providing technical assistance to the Venezuelan National Institute of Civil Aeronautics in more than 30 projects aimed at improving air navigation and airport infrastructure. (Periódico 26, 1//0/06)

October 2: Colombia and Cuba started a second negotiation round to expand and foster the Agreement of Economic Complementation, inked in the framework of the Latin American Integration Association. Cuban Trade Adviser to Bogota Alexis Martinez said the meeting is analyzing issues like access to markets, rules and proceedings. Martinez recalled that the first round held on September 18-20 tackled topics like solution to controversies and technical obstacles to trade, plus health measures. After this gathering, Martinez talked of third and fourth rounds as necessary to conclude the expanding and strengthening of the Agreement of Economic Complementation between the two nations. The increase of bilateral trade links was agreed between Colombian Trade, Industry and Tourism Minister Jorge Humberto Botero, and Cuban Foreign Trade Minister Raul de la Nuez, during the former's visit to Havana in April. (Prensa Latina, 2/10/06)

October 3: Pebercan, oil company quoted as PBC in Toronto’s Stock Exchange, announced an increase of 42 per cent in extraction of fuel from its north-western oil fields in Cuba this year, compared to the same period of 2005. Gross daily production at Block 7 in the Cuban north-western oil belt, approaches 21,000 barrels per day, of which 11,500 barrels is Pebercan’s share, and that was before the hook up of well STC-302 which has proven successful, according to the company. Subsidiary of Sherritt International which has also signed for four blocks in Cuban waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Pebercan expects that with the two extra wells that will be drilled before year-end, it should be able to achieve the objective of 15,000 barrels per day in her share of production, a 60 per cent increase over 2005. (Prensa Latina, 3/10/06)

October 3: The IT revolution taking place in Cuba is positioning the country as an attractive outsourcing option for Canadian companies, and a gateway to the Latin American market, according to website OffshoringTimes.com. Cuba has proved masterful in reinventing its economic priorities in troubled times, said the Canadian online news service. Since 1991, Cuba’s information technology sector has been developing at warp speed and now consists of about 45,000 highly skilled workers, 38 per cent of whom have specialized degrees. More than 85 per cent of the country’s IT industry is concentrated in technical services and software development, highlighted OffshoringTimes. "We´ve been investing in this sector for the last 14 years and we now have highly skilled IT workers at every level," says Luis Marin, general manager of Avante, the marketing arm of Cuba’s Ministry of Information Technology and Communications. "IT doesn’t require a lot of investment (...) except in human resources." Canada is Cuba’s third-largest trading partner and fourth-largest foreign investor, with more than $750-million tied up in the island nation, according to Canadian sources. Cuba’s Centresoft Corp. and Cimex Corp. have partnered with Sentai Software Corp. of Edmonton and Indcom Trading Co. of Orleans, Ontario, to create an international software consortium called CubaSoft Solutions Inc. CubaSoft is recruiting Cuban IT talent to work on projects for the Canadian companies and is also developing domestic IT projects. (Prensa Latina, 3/10/06)

October 4: Cuba introduced a new medical device to facilitate the diagnosis of vascular peripheral diseases, official sources said. The Cuban-made equipment, Digital ANGIODIN PD-3000 detects ailments like arrhythmia, arterial failure, erectile sexual dysfunction and micro and macro vessel failures at an early stage, Prensa Latina news agency reported. The equipment is simple in design and useful for the vascular haemal-dynamic laboratories. According to the National Information Agency, the island nation has exported this equipment to Venezuela, and is all set for its production by the Medical Biophysical Centre headquartered in Santiago de Cuba. (IANS, 4/10/06)

October 4: Sherritt International Corp., a Canadian company that produces nickel and oil in Cuba, plans to expand on the island nation because executives are confident the investment will be safe after Fidel Castro cedes power or dies. Nickel production at Sherritt's Moa facility in Cuba will rise almost 50 percent to 50,000 tons a year by about 2010, Chief Financial Officer Guy Bentinck said at a conference in Toronto. The company also will produce more than 20 percent of Cuba's electricity within the next few years, he said. Shares of Sherritt trade at a discount because of its joint ventures in Cuba, Bentinck said. The executive said he is counting on the company's investment in key parts of Cuba's economy and relationships with the government and workers to secure its investments after Castro leaves office, he said. ``Our relationships in Cuba are exceptional, and no matter who's in power, that will continue,'' Bentinck said. ``We operate all the assets and control the technology, that's one of the reasons that our position is so strong in Cuba.'' Shares of Sherritt are discounted because its business in Cuba prevents it from accessing US capital and markets, Bentinck said. (Bloomberg, 4/10/06)

October 4: Cuban farmers will help Trinidad and Tobago revive its anaemic agriculture sector, Trinidad's prime minister said. Trinidad, hoping to curb inflation fueled by high-priced food imports, will set up 10 large farms, two of which will be run with the assistance of Cuban agricultural experts, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said as he introduced his 2007 budget in Parliament. (AP, 4/10/06) 

October 6: Venezuela's state-owned oil firm PDVSA has cut its October unleaded gasoline export flow to neighbouring Cuba due to refinery problems, oil traders and ship brokers said. In the past two weeks, PDVSA shut its 54,000 barrels per day cat cracker at El Palito refinery after an electrical outage, and its Puerto La Cruz refinery was also experiencing operational problems. The export flow stoppage to Cuba was confirmed by a source close to PDVSA. "Venezuela will not be exporting any unleaded gasoline to Cuba in October," said a ship broker in the United States. A PDVSA official did not immediately respond to request for comment. (Reuters, 6/10/06)

October 6: After three days of tasting, meetings and exhibits, the 7th International Wine Festival, most important of its type in the country, was closed at Cuba’s Hotel Nacional. A group of foreign companies maintain their operations with the Caribbean island and confer a special touch to the international tourism. One of those business examples is the Juanita Mateo S.L Company importing the Fraixenet Spanish cava produced at the region of Penedes in Barcelona. The representative of those sparkling wines, Luis Ortega, is one of the main promoters of the culture of wine in Cuba, founder of the initiative in the Hotel Nacional and organizer of courses to train sommeliers. (Prensa Latina, 6/10/06)

October 7: The Viet Nam Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam) and the Cuba Oil Company (Cubapetroleo) signed an agreement for oil and gas cooperation. The signing ceremony was witnessed by visiting Vietnamese Minister of Industry Hoang Trung Hai and Cuba's Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas. In a working session the two ministers dealt with the two countries' cooperation, especially in the industrial field. The two countries were cooperating in basic industries, metallurgy, light industries and the food-processing industry. (Vneconomy, 9/10/06)

October 7: Cuban Vice Minister for Foreign Investment and Cooperation Ramon Ripoll visited the northern province of Hung Yen to review construction projects supervised and carried out by Cuban advisors in Vietnam. Ripoll was received in the provincial office of the Cuban consulting firm Quality Courrier International (QCI) whose general director Rasciel Alvarez gave detailed information on the six major road plans the entity advises in this country. Projects amount to 1,382 kilometres long, 116 of them four-lane highways with complex construction systems due to the soft ground, 410 bridges and more. (Prensa Latina, 7/10/06)

October 9: The increase of family vegetable gardens, popular organoponics and other tasks have added to urban agriculture over 139,960 plots of land to contribute to feeding the population. Now, nearly 76 percent of Cubans live in cities and towns, and the fostering of this method is more and more popular. More than 4 million tons of agricultural products were produced in these parcels using organic gardening methods. (Prensa Latina, 9/10/06)

October 11: Czech exports to Cuba rose by 57 percent year-on-year to $21.7m (around Kc480m) last year, the daily Pravo said. The Industry and Trade Ministry has therefore recently drafted a strategy for trade with Cuba, the paper said. Trade between the Czech Republic and Cuba showed a surplus of $8.3m last year. Cuba was one of the few Latin American countries with which the Czech Republic did not have a trade deficit. In recent years, the Czech Republic has exported mostly agricultural products and food to Cuba. Imports include mainly tobacco and tobacco products, and spirits. Some Czech companies have successfully launched operation in Cuba, Pravo said. Engineering company Skodaexport, for instance, does repairs and reconstructions of transformers in Cuba. It has also entered talks over the renewal of Cuban coal-fired power plants. Motorbike maker Jawa supplies to Cuba components and spare parts for motorbikes which are then assembled there. Company Simplex exports dried milk and other dairy products, hops, malt and beer to Cuba. Spark plugs maker Brisk Tabor has built an assembly hall in Cuba where it supplies semifinished products. Further growth in the development of Czech-Cuban trade is prevented by Cuba's approach to the repayment of its debt to the Czech Republic, the ministry said. The debt has first to be converted to a freely convertible currency, which Cuba refuses, the ministry added. (CTK, 11/10/06)

October 11: Iran is planning to export 100 freight train wagons to Cuba. Exports Development Bank of Iran (EDBI) has financed 85 percent of the seven-million-euro contract on the export of 100 freight train wagons from Iran to Cuba, the local press reported in Tehran. Earlier, the bank had undertaken to finance the export of 250 freight train carriages including 100 cement carrier and 150 trailer wagons to the Latin American nation. The bank has also helped develop major projects in Cuba including the building of sewage pumping station and water treatment facilities there. Based on the report, EDBI has so far earmarked around $200 million euros loans for development of various projects in Cuba. (Tehran Times, 12/10/06)

October 12: Cuba is eager to revive its once mighty sugar industry and, with the help of foreign investors, become a global player in the fast- growing ethanol fuel sector, say Cuba analysts and energy specialists. It has been decades since the communist island stood alone at the top of the list of the world's biggest sugar producers, but Cuban officials reportedly are adamant about reviving sugar, the country's No. 1 export until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. One Cuba analyst with close ties to the country's sugar ministry noted that Cuban officials were seeking overseas assistance in reviving the industry, though they acknowledged that will be difficult because of the country's chronic lack of revenue and resources. In response to the growing global demand for the commodity, Havana created a Cuban business society called ZERUS, which is charged with supervising investment projects in Cuba's sugar sector. ZERUS Director Jose Rivera Ortiz said in an recent interview with Cuban business magazine Opciones that Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Investment has already approved the group's initiative to revive the sugar industry - with an eye on ethanol. (The Washington Times, 12/10/06)

October 15: Theft and negligence are rife in Cuba's state-run services, with employees often making money on the side by changing prices or portions in places such as cafeterias, appliance repair shops and beauty salons, an official newspaper reported. The Union of Young Communists newspaper, Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth), gave a scathing assessment of such everyday services, saying the majority of places the paper visited during an investigation were "going through a bad moment." "A new analysis is needed to turn the situation around," the paper said in its report, the second part of an investigation into state-run services. It gave no indication what solutions might be needed. Investigative reporting is rare in communist-run Cuba, although occasionally the state-run media plays the whistle-blower role. Suggested remedies are usually calls for more discipline and control rather than for radical change. (Reuters, 15/10/06)

October 16: Cuban Sugar Minister Ulises Rosales del Toro announced an increase in the number of sugar mills active for the upcoming harvest, with a total of 51 factories. The current situation of the Cuban sugar industry and sugar cane plantations, plus the economic need to carry out a harvest between January 1st and April 30th, allows for the operation of an additional nine sugar mills over the number of factories that worked in the last sugar cane harvest. In recent statements, the Cuban Sugar Minister said the additional sugar mills did not work last year because of a low bulk of sugar cane or due to their need for important investment in their energy systems, Granma daily reported. (ACN, 16/10/06)

October 16: CDC Group, a British government development finance corporation, will sell its 60 percent stake in CariFin, a joint venture with Cuban banks that offers short- and medium-term financing in Cuba, officials said. "This was a decision of our share holders and we are selling to our Cuban partner, the Grupo Nueva Banca," CariFin president Paul Nabavi. CariFin has operated in Cuba since 1997 providing working capital and short-term trade finance to Cuban and foreign companies through loans and the purchase of bills of exchange at a discount. Nabavi said the decision to pull out of Cuba had no connection with the US government's tightened enforcement of sanctions against Havana that has led several international banks to close dollar accounts used by Cuba. (Reuters, 16/10/06)
 
October 17: The 4th session of the Cuba-China Business Committee ended with the signing of an action plan for 2007, according to Cuban diplomatic sources. The session, attended by representatives from sectors like transportation, tourism, electronics, fishing and others, took place in the context of the 100th edition of the Guangdong International Fair, held in the southern city of Guangzhou, China. About 50 representatives from Cuban companies and entities and 100 Chinese businesspeople from several branches of economy and trade took part in the exchange of information and experiences. The Cuban delegation is made up of Iron and Steel Industry Minister Fernando Acosta, Cuban Business Committee Pedro Alvarez, and Cuban ambassador Carlos Miguel Pereira. (Prensa Latina, 17/10/06)

October 18: After three years of remaining on a summer daylight savings time schedule, Cuba's National Electrical Union decided to go back to its normal schedule during this month of October. On October 28 going into October 29, watches should be set back one hour returning to the normal schedule, which in Cuba is known as the winter schedule. Due to electricity generation shortages, it was decided to maintain the summer daylight savings schedule for three years; however, the country is now in a position to produce all the energy it needs, which is why it was decided to go back to the regular schedule. (Prensa Latina, 18/10/06)

October 19: Cuba and China have agreed to launch a biotechnology venture to develop neurotechnology products in China, official Cuban media announced. Raul Morgalo, deputy chief at Cuba's Neurosciences Institute, and Xihong Wu, a representative of the University of Beijing, signed a letter of intent on the deal after two-day bilateral talks in Havana, the Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma reported. The venture will be the third between the two countries. The first two biotech ventures produce and market products from Cuba's Molecular Immunology Center and its Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Center. (AFP, 19/10/06) 

October 19: Cuban chemists look for new technologies that allow efficient use of renewable energy sources, said the president of the Cuban Chemistry Society Doctor Alberto Nuñez Sellen during the 27 Latin American Chemistry Congress, underway in Havana. The challenge facing our professionals is to find ways that make the country increasing independent from oil-based fuels, with the growing use of renewable energy sources and ecologic systems that have a positive impact on the planet’s environment, the expert said. In statements to the press, Doctor Nuñez said that chemistry can make its contribution to the development of the Cuban national energy program. He explained that some energy sources that can be exploited in Cuba include sun and wind energy, while the combustion of hydrogen is another challenge ahead. (ACN, 19/10/06)

October 19: During the inaugural day of the Spanish-Cuban Management Cooperation Committee’s annual Session in Havana, Spanish entrepreneurs ratified their bet on Cuba and underscored the country’s economic stability in the current political juncture. In the months since Cuban leader Fidel Castro temporarily transferred power to his brother Raúl, the Cuban economy has maintained its “normal” patterns and no decisions pertaining foreign firms on the island have been altered, stressed Juan Arenas, Spanish cochairman of the Committee. (Prensa Latina, 19/10/06)

October 20: Montreal-based junior Pebercan is gearing up for further development of its Santa Cruz field in Cuba's Block 7. Pebercan exploration manager Patrice Bedu said the company plans to spud three more wells this year as part of its Cuban oil programme. Santa Cruz is currently producing about 6,000 barrels per day, with output expected to reach commercial levels by the end of this year, possibly in November. Ongoing development and well drilling at the field should allow the company to take crude output to 15,000 bpd by the end of 2007, he said. Located off Cuba's northern coast between Havana and Matanzas, Block 7 holds three oil fields, including Santa Cruz, where horizontal wells on the shoreline tap deep into a stack of carbonated thrust sheets offshore. The other two fields in the block are Canasi and Seboruco. Pebercan holds a 60% stake in Canasi and 55% in Seboruco, with the two fields operated by Canadian oil producer Sherritt. (Upstream, 20/10/06)

October 20: Spanish exports to Cuba grew by 40 % in the first half of 2006, consolidating a tendency toward recovery that began in 2005 after four years of stagnation in bilateral trade. Cuba remains the third largest recipient of Spanish exports in Latin America, after Mexico and Brazil. Up until July, sales of Spanish goods to the island had already reached 351 million euros, whereas in 2005 Spain exported a combined 488 million euros worth of goods to the Caribbean nation, 13 % over the previous year’s figure. (El País, 20/10/06)

October 22: Satellite dishes are prohibited in Cuba, and those who defy the ban face a fine of 30,000 “pesos”, an exorbitant amount for a population with a median salary barely over 200 pesos a month. Three months ago, the government toughened the legislation to prevent the private use of these antennas and has added a fine of 20,000 pesos for those citizens who share with their neighbors their access to foreign TV broadcasts.
 (ABC, 22/10/06) 

October 23: The "Sierra Maestra" International Airport in the eastern Cuban province of Granma concluded a modernization process that left a 2.6 km long landing strip, according to an official report. A report from the Tourism Ministry indicated the airport is already giving first-quality international services. Located to eight kilometers from Manzanillo city, the airport has modern redecorated areas for travelers like waiting rooms and service cabins for passengers. (Prensa Latina, 23/10/06)

October 23: A seed "biofactory" with technology transferred by Cuba and an annual output capacity of five million seedlings was inaugurated at a scientific park in Colombia. The plant was officially inaugurated by the governor of the department of Antioquía, Aníbal Gaviria, who praised it as the “most advanced in Latin America." (EFE, 23/10/06)

October 24: According to sources in the tourist sector, the Cuban authorities have turned economic management of the majority of its resorts and hotels over to European hotel chains, mostly Spanish firms. High-ranking Cuban officials have acknowledged an alarming reduction in the number of tourists visiting the island. High prices and poor service quality stand out among the problems affecting the tourist industry in the Caribbean country. (El Mundo, 24/10/06)

October 24: According to the president of the High Council of Chambers of Commerce, Javier Gómez Navarro, for the first time in recent years, the Cuban authorities are ready to discuss the country’s debt to Spain, which exceeds a billion dollars. (EFE, 24/10/06)

October 24: At the close of September, the National Institute of Housing reported 79,751 homes finished out of a plan of 100 thousand this year. To support this effort, Cuba will set in motion this quarter investments of millions of dollars to complete resources for projects. This program is a priority of the country, said Construction minister (MICONS), Fidel Figueroa. He added that MICONS is working to set up a sustainable construction materials industry in each province. In addition to building houses, the program includes 250 thousand rehabilitation and conservation actions supporting about one thousand social projects with the production of materials, hand labor and technical means. With a new plant in Havana that produces 2.2 million square meters of flooring yearly, MICONS will produce seven million square meters of flooring a year. Contributing to the plan are 10 more tile factories, two plants that increased their productive capacities and the incorporation of tile industry. There is also a technological line to produce 52 thousand high quality sanitation fixtures. (Prensa Latina, Reuters, 24/10/06)

October 24: Cuban Sugar Minister, Ulises Rosales expressed satisfaction over the reactivation of sugar cane production in the country, while cutting this crop at a plantation in Pinar del Rio province. In statements to Cuban TV, the official said the future of the sweet commodity in Cuba depends on the quality of the grass, reason for which he exhorted to giving the best attention to the crop. Rosales headed a journey of spontaneous work at enterprise number 16 of the westernmost province of Pinar del Rio, where workers are trying to hasten planting and other labors of the sugar cane. The Minister assured recently that the next sugar harvest will be higher in volume and quality, judging by improved supplies and a better industrial and agricultural preparation. (Prensa Latina, 24/10/06)

October 24: Cuba is the only country in the world to achieve sustainable development, a leading global conservation organization said in Beijing in its biennial appraisal of the state of the natural environment. "The world's natural ecosystems are being degraded at a rate unprecedented in human history," according to the WWF's 2006 Living Planet Report, presented this year for the first time in Beijing.  "No region, nor the world as a whole, met both criteria for sustainable development. Cuba alone did, based on the data it reports to the United Nations," the report says. "That does not mean, of course, that Cuba is a perfect country, but that it does meet the necessary standards," Jonathan Loh, one of the authors of the study, said in response to a question from the press. "Cuba has reached a good level of development according to United Nations' criteria, thanks to its high literacy level and a very high life expectancy, while the ecological footprint is not large since it is a country with low energy consumption," said Loh, who presented the study in Beijing. (EFE, 24/10/06)

October 24: What have been billed as the world's most expensive cigars, a limited-edition from the hands of one of Cuba's most famous rollers, have gone on sale at $436 each. The Cohiba Behike, named after a tribal chief of Cuba's indigenous Taino tribe, was launched to mark the 40th anniversary of the Cohiba brand. Just 4,000 have been rolled, packaged in boxes of 40 and sold at $17,447. The humidors, made of ebony, cedar, sycamore, nacre and ox-bones, are numbered and bear a plaque on which the buyer's name is engraved. Ordinary hand-rolled cigars sell from about $3 up while "super premiums" can cost $14. The maker, Habana SA, justified the Cohiba Behike's price by saying each was rolled by Norma Fernandez, one of its most experienced rollers, or torcedoras, at the El Laguito factory in Havana. (Mail & Guardian, 24/10/06)

October 25: Venezuelan State Minister for Integration and Foreign Trade, Gustavo Márquez, announced that a line of credit for 220 million USD has been set up with Cuba through the Foreign Trade Bank (Bancoex), allowing exports to the island by more than 120 Venezuelan companies. According to the official, the Venezuelan goods exported to Cuba via this mechanism include construction materials, supplies, as well as plastic and ceramic products, textiles and boots. (El Universal, 25/10/06)

October 25: With the opening of another new bakery in the province of Camaguey, Cuba moves full swing into the modernization of some 1,000 bakeries across the island using Chinese technology. Alejandro Roca, Cuba’s Food Industry minister, said the modern new ovens employed in the bakeries will significantly raise the quality of bread and use energy saving and cost efficient technologies. (Granma, 25/10/06)

October 25: The Cuban parrot, an endangered bird species, has found a safe haven in Cuba following ongoing preservation efforts by environmental and governmental institutions on the island. More than 300 species of the Cuba parrot live under protection in the Peninsula of Guanahacabibes, a World Biosphere Reserve located in the westernmost region of the country. (ACN, 25/10/06)

October 26: Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage attended the inauguration of a 24 km water pipeline that will supply the 45,000 residents of Nuevitas, an industrial city in the province of Camaguey, with a safe and secure water source. The new pipeline runs from the California reservoir to Nuevitas and will be used both for domestic and industrial supply, Granma daily reported. Abundant rainfall this year has helped increase reservoir supplies in this drought-prone region of the country, but levels are still below the national average. Nuevitas was one of the worst hit municipalities by the prolonged drought of the last few years. A significant investment was required to install and put into operation the new California to Nuevitas pipeline. (Radio Cadena Agramonte, 27/10/06)

October 30: Cuban trade through September jumped 27 percent compared with the same period in 2005, the Caribbean island's foreign trade minister said, forecasting 2006 economic growth at around 12 percent. "The Cuban economy this year continued its ascent, which can also be seen in foreign trade," Foreign Trade Minister Raul de la Nuez said at an international trade show in Havana. The government reported trade was $9.5 billion in 2005, of which around $2 billion was exports and $7.5 billion imports. "Up to September of this year, trade of goods increased 27 percent compared with the same time last year," de la Nuez said. He said imports led the trend, but he did not provide detailed information to support the figure. The government said service exports and other revenues covered the 2005 trade deficit, leaving a current account balance of payments surplus, which sources placed at around $800 million. (Reuters, 30/10/06)

October 30: Cuban authorities are citing the island's international trade fair as proof that the US embargo has failed to fully isolate the communist-run nation. About 800 companies from 48 countries have exhibits at the International Fair of Havana, Cuba's most important trade event. "This is proof that the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States for 45 years has failed to achieve its objective of isolating us from other nations," Foreign Trade Minister Raul de la Nuez said at the fair's opening ceremony also attended by Vice President Carlos Lage.  Recently tightened sanctions against Cuba have provoked a decrease in the number of American firms at the fair this year, said Pedro Alvarez, head of the Cuban food import company Alimport. About 100 U.S. companies ordered booths at the fair, down from 188 last year, he said. (AP, 31/10/06)