Chronicle on Cuba - February 2007

Economy

February 4: Cuba said it will invest 300-plus million dollars in its basic industry, including nickel, to improve industry output and energy-saving efficiency. Holguin -located over 456 miles east of Havana- closed 2006 with a record production as nickel exports excelled as Cuba's largest hard currency income source. The announcement was made at a meeting of the Provincial Assembly of the People's Power with Basic Industry Minister Yadira Garcia. (EFE, 4/2/07)

February 4: With Fidel Castro ailing and absent from the public eye, one of the biggest challenges for his brother and political heir, Raúl, will be dealing with the bleak living standards endured by many Cubans. A dysfunctional economy means major problems with productivity and the delivery of goods and services, forcing many Cubans to break some law in order scrape out a living. Many steal from state enterprises and then sell items -- from air conditioners to microwaves to lobster tails and slabs of horsemeat -- "por la izquierda," or "from the left," a common phrase used to refer the black market. Communist authorities like to point out that all Cubans are guaranteed employment and education, health care, housing and food. Still, many workers who rely on their $12 to $15 a month in earnings from state-run businesses said salaries alone are never enough to make ends meet. "The perception is very clear among economists here that the Cuban economy doesn't function," said Pedro Monreal, a professor at the Center for Research on the International Economy. "In the end, it is difficult to imagine popular support for whatever follows Fidel if that (…) government does not deliver in terms of the well-being of the people." Monreal said he was encouraged by the government's willingness to at least discuss economic reforms that years ago were considered taboo, including decentralizing control in businesses, expanding the power of managers at privately owned agriculture cooperatives and increasing incentives to workers. "What are people waiting for? Cheaper food," he said. "If the Cuban government does not provide that, nothing of what it says will be believed. If you cannot produce food at reasonable prices, you will have no credibility." (Sun Sentinel, 4/2/07)

February 5: The  deputy minister of the Sugar Industry, José Carlos Santos, told journalists that qualitative changes are occurring in sugarcane production with improved quality in the sowing process, higher yields per hectare and an increase in sugarcane stalk population in the fields. The official said that the crop-sowing target for 2006 was completed at 95 %, with 123,600 hectares sowed country-wide and 9 provinces reaching their individual goals. (Notimex, 5/2/07)

February 6: Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp., or PetroVietnam, will expand its overseas oil exploration venture with two contracts this year, one in Cuba and the other in Nigeria, a top PetroVietnam official said. While negotiations on the Nigeria oil exploration contract are still preliminary, PetroVietnam is likely to conclude talks with Cuba by the second quarter, the official said. "We have been there (Cuba) many times, and the government-to-government relationship between Vietnam and Cuba is very good," Le Van Truong, E&P Director for PetroVietnam Investment & Development, said on the sidelines of an exploration and production conference in Singapore. "We have been offered one project (block), so we have to take this opportunity to get five offshore blocks (in Cuba). We hope to get a contract in the second quarter of this year," Truong said. The anticipated exploration contract comes on the heels of a cooperation agreement signed last October with Cubapetroleo, Cuba's state-owned oil company, under which Vietnam consented to Havana's oil terms. (Dow Jones, 6/2/07) 

February 6: The 7th meeting of Turkey-Cuba Joint Economic Commission (JEC) will be held in Havana between February 7th and 8th, stated Turkish Foreign Trade Undersecretariat. Turkish Justice Minister Cemil Cicek and Cuban Foreign Investment & Economic Cooperation Minister Marta Lomas will co-chair the meetings. Cicek will hold meetings with Lomas as well as Cuban Foreign Trade Minister Raul de la Nuez, Minister of Foreign Economic Relations Ricardo Cabrisas and Health Minister Ramon Balaguer Cabrera. During the meetings, officials will discuss commercial and economic relations between Turkey and Cuba as well as measures to be taken to further develop bilateral relations. They will also discuss the cooperation facilities on banking, health, maritime transportation, industry, culture, tourism and contracting. Turkey considers Cuba as the gate to Central America and Caribbean. (Anadolu Agency, 6/2/07)

February 7: The growth observed in the Cuban economy in the last three years, "which is even higher than the average for Latin America," must be reinforced by solving the dual currency issue, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) recommended.  In Cuba, "there is an official exchange rate of one Cuban peso to the dollar and now they have introduced the Cuban Convertible Peso, which is even stronger than the dollar, more or less on a par with the Euro, and that generates much fiscal accounting distortion,” said Jorge Mattar, CEPAL director for Mexico and the Caribbean. (AFP, 7/2/07) 

February 8: Cuba’s vice President Carlos Lage visited one of the country's largest sugar cane producing areas, in which he verified the reorganization of the sugarcane harvest after delays caused by rains. Lage talked to sugar workers in the eastern province of Las Tunas, 434 miles east of Havana City, who work hard to overcome the effects of frequent rains which hinder the harvest. Granma daily reported that 36 sugar mills across the country have started milling, eight less that those scheduled. (Prensa Latina, 8/2/07)

February 9: Cuban agricultural authorities have expressed concern with regards to the outlook for sugar production in 2007. According to a report in the Cuban media, the humidity of the soil has caused problems with the sugar crop in the current year. In addition, delays in the import of inputs for sugar fields have had an impact on the outlook for sugar production. Authorities had expected the current crop to be above last year’s 1.3 million tons of sugar production. However, this target may not be reached now. Furthermore, 139,000 hectares of lands for agriculture cannot be used as the Marabu, an African tree brought in the 14th century, has invaded these areas. The problem caused by the expansion of this type of tree is that it is extremely difficult to eradicate and farmers do not have the technology to do so effectively. (Global Insight Daily Analysis, 9/2/07)

February 9: Cuba's economy should follow two strong years of economic growth with an expansion of at least 10 percent, Economy Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez said. Rodriguez again defended Cuba's claims of 12.5 percent growth in gross domestic product for 2006, despite giving figures that indicated a slight slip in tourism -- the Cuban economy's chief income earner. Speaking at a congress of leftist economists, Rodriguez said Cuba had transformed its economy since the collapse of the Soviet Union, once its chief supporter and trade partner. An economy whose exports were 90 percent goods and only 10 percent services in 1989 now leans toward services, he said. Services now account for 76 percent of Cuba's overall economy while primary goods, such as crops, amount to only 4 percent. Rodriguez said growth in Cuba's GDP "should reach more than 10 percent this 2007" despite high prices for imported food and fuel. Cuba has been aided by steadily rising domestic oil production as well as by significant fuel aid from Venezuela. (AP, 10/2/07) 

February 10: A chain of debts within the government supply system has caused a cigarette shortage in Cuba's second-largest city, driving up the black market price of smokes, Cuban news media reported. The shortage led "a few unscrupulous people" in the eastern city of Santiago to sell Popular-brand cigarettes for 20 pesos (95 US cents; 73 euro cents) a pack, nearly triple the normal price of 7 pesos (33 US cents; 25 euro cents), according to the Communist Party youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde. The reports, first mentioned on February 9 by the government's Juventud Rebelde, follow official exhortations for Cuba's state-run press to do more reporting on problems faced by Cuban citizens. According to the newspaper, the government retail company in Santiago owes about 9 million pesos (US$430,000; euro330,000) to the government's regional cigarette wholesaler, which in turn owes 2 million pesos (US$95,000; euro73,000) to the government cigarette manufacturer. The manufacturer stopped shipping cigarettes to the wholesaler after the debt extended past 30 days. Juventud Rebelde said that officials were working to solve the payment problems and had begun to ease the shortage by bringing in cigarettes from other areas. (AP, 11/2/07) 

February 11: The London-based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranks Cuba among the world's worst business environments -- No. 80 of 82 nations surveyed, with only Iran and Angola rated lower for the past five years. And with little policy change expected, the Caribbean nation likely will stay among the worst for business over the next five years, the EIU predicted in a recent survey. Even managers of Chinese companies favored these days by Havana cite headaches. "Our company does business with 46 countries, and Cuba is the only one where we can't have a commercial representative to find clients and service them," said a Chinese executive who declined to be named for fear of Cuban reprisals. (Sun Sentinel, 11/2/07)

February 13: Cigar aficionados should not expect to see ailing Fidel Castro strut out to greet them at the annual Habanos festival, but they will be able to bid for humidors signed by him. The maker of Cuba's famous hand-rolled cigars said that five elaborate humidors to be signed by Castro will be auctioned for charity at the closing gala dinner on March 2. "There'll be five humidors signed by the Comandante," said Enrique Babot, marketing director for Habanos S.A., a joint venture between Cuba's communist state and Spanish-French tobacco group Altadis. Some 1,300 aficionados and retailers are expected for the Habanos festival starting on February 26. For five days they will puff away at the world's finest cigars, tour factories to see the cigars being rolled by hand and visit tobacco plantations outside Havana. The Cuban cigar industry will unveil an entirely aged version of the Montecristo No. 4, perhaps the top-selling cigar ever, Babot said. The Reserva de Montecristo will have binder and filler leaves, not just the wrapper, that have been fermented and aged for three years, as Cuba moves to add value to its sales. Habanos' sales rose 10 percent last year to $370 million, despite the fact that Cuban cigars are barred from the United States, the world's largest market for cigars. (Reuters, 13/2/07) 

February 15: An information technology fair is underway in this nation in which surfing the web, for the vast majority of citizens, is a pipe dream. The International IT Convention and Expo lacks the sector's heavy hitters such as IBM and Microsoft, which like other US information technology and software companies observe their nation's decades-old trade embargo against the Communist regime. In any case, their market in Cuba would be miniscule. Cuba, whose 48-year-old one-party government tightly controls inhabitants' access to information, has the lowest rate of Internet use in the hemisphere, with 0.9 percent of the population of 11 million able to connect, according to figures from a UN agency. Even most of those do not have unfettered access to cyberspace, with government-issued licenses and permits required for greater degrees of freedom to navigate.  The Netherlands-based NEC Phlips Unified Solutions has a booth, but an executive of the company told the press it certainly didn't come to Cuba thinking about making money. "One goes to another type of fair to do business. Cuba has its idiosyncrasies, but business is not one of them," he said. At the heart of the expo is the Chinese-Cuban consortium Gran Kayman Teleco S.A. (GKT). That firm has the contract to supply hardware and software for social development projects carried out under the auspices of the so-called "Battle of Ideas."  Yang Qi, sales manager for the Caribbean for ZTE, said his company's regional focus is on cellular telephones, but with only some 100,000 of the devices in use in Cuba, the market is not a big attraction. (EFE, 15/2/07)

February 15: A new undersea fiber-optic cable from Cuba to Venezuela should be finished within two years, a Venezuelan communications official said, dramatically expanding Cuba's internet and telephone capacity. Julio Duran, president of state-run Telecom Venezuela, told the press that the deal signed in late January calls for a line with a capacity of 160 gigabytes per second. That's well over 1,000 times the capacity of Cuba's current satellite-based internet link, which was listed as 65 megabytes per second on upload and 124 megabytes a second on download by Cuban Communications Minister Ramiro Valdes. It will break through what Cuban officials describe as choking restrictions imposed by the US commercial embargo on Cuba, which they blame for blocking possible connections with existing privately owned fiber-optic lines in the region. (AP, 15/2/07)

February 17: Cuba built an Internet search engine that allows users to trawl through speeches by Cuban leader Fidel Castro and other government sites, but does not browse Web pages outside the island. The search engine (www.infosoc.cu/buscador) unveiled at a conference this week underscored restrictions on Internet access in communist-run Cuba, which the government blames on US trade sanctions. Cuba's first search engine can search any subject, but only on Cuban servers, or the Cuban intranet, including 150,000 government sites and the state-run media. It has a special function key on the homepage to browse through hundreds of Castro's speeches since day one of his revolution in 1959. "The aim is to search Cuban Web sites without having to rely on foreign engines," said its creator, Leandro Silva. Cubans cannot buy computers and Internet access is limited to state employees, academics and foreigners. Cubans line up for hours to send e-mails on post office terminals that cannot surf the World Wide Web. Passwords are sold on the black market allowing shared Internet use for limited hours, usually at night. (Reuters, 17/2/07)

February 18: Cuba’s communist government has said that they are now considering adopting open source software to remove their reliance on the software giant Microsoft. The government said that they are trying to wean state agencies from Microsoft’s proprietary Windows to the open-source Linux operating system. Expert Hector Rodriguez said about this decision: “It’s basically a problem of technological sovereignty, a problem of ideology.” Cuban officials added that this step is also necessary for their national security as they are afraid of US government’s influence over Microsoft and other American companies. Rodriguez added: “Two years ago, the Cuban free-software community did not number more than 600 people … In the last two years, that number has gone well beyond 3,000 users of free software and it’s a figure that is growing exponentially.” (TheckWhack, 18/2/07)

February 18: Cuban police have broken up several counterfeiting networks in Havana specializing in printing both convertible and national currency, the press reported. The weekly Tribuna de La Havana reported that the police's DTI technical investigations unit "is confronting this class of crime in a systematic way with the intelligence of its officers and the collaboration of the citizens."  One DTI official, identified only as "Aramis," said that "therefore one can speak of results and complete cases (that have been) cleared up."Despite their tricks, we've broken up several of their networks," he told the weekly in reference to the counterfeiters. Aramis also told the paper about the case of a man in the capital's Diezmero distribution network in the municipality of San Miguel del Padron who was found guilty of printing bills of different denominations and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. (EFE, 18/2/07)

February 19: Cuban electrical authorities decried the "cannibalizing" of 36 kilometers (22 miles) of wire and more than 2,000 structures used to secure high tension towers in 2006, the official daily Granma reported. The official organ of the Communist Party said that the theft of the equipment had caused "noteworthy damage to the national economy," adding that "unscrupulous persons ... (are risking their lives) without thinking for a moment about the lethal consequences" that their actions could have. Data compiled by the state-owned utility Union Electrica indicate that the 2,193 tower-supports were stolen in 2004, 1,076 in 2005 and 2,094 in 2006. Among the measures adopted to prevent this type of plundering, Union Electrica has opted to weld the supports onto the towers up to a height of six meters (37 feet), something that the daily said cost an additional $250,000. Granma said that in August 2006 a three-hour blackout affected the western portion of Cuba after two towers weakened by thefts of various supports fell over, damaging the transmission cable and other equipment. (EFE, 19/2/07) 

February 19: Two of Cuba's largest sugar mills have been idle this season as unusually hot and humid weather have combined with repair problems to jeopardize plans to revitalize the sector after years of decline, and produce around 1.6 million tonnes of raw sugar. The country's largest mill, eastern las Tunas province's Guiteras, with a capacity of more than 100,000 tonnes, has been unable to start up because rainfall has made it impossible to operate cutting machines, provincial radio reported. In neighboring Holguin province, the important Urbano Noris mill remained idle due to late arrival of parts and machinery needed to make repairs, the local Communist party weekly said. Some worry the El Nino phenomenon could produce unseasonable humidity and rainfall during the entire December-to-April dry season when sugar is harvested, lowering yields and slowing mechanized harvesting. The national weather service reported temperatures in January were the highest in 15 years.  "Up to today the province's four open mills have processed 54 percent of the cane planned and produced 43 percent of the raw sugar, or 17,600 tonnes less than the plan," eastern Santiago de Cuba's Sierra Maestra weekly reported this month. Some mills probably will have to operate in May, if not into June, meaning higher costs. The sugar Ministry last reported that 39 of 49 mills scheduled to be open by March were grinding. Cuba hoped this season to launch a new era for sugar, once its most important industry, after a 15-year decline from 8 million raw tonnes produced in 1990 to 1.2 million tonnes in 2005. (Reuters, 19/2/07)

February 20: Cuban officials are tackling problems such as child care, poor lighting and insufficient transportation for workers so they can keep some government offices open later, the Communist labor newspaper reported. The goal is to have offices open at times when people can use them before or after their own eight-hour workdays, taking advantage of an expanding economy. Trabajadores, published by Cuba's Communist Party labor federation, reported that some notaries and civil registries in Havana are already working until 8 p.m. and officials hope to expand hours at least some days of the week at child care centers, primary schools, hair dressers and workshops. The effort is linked to a government campaign for greater discipline among workers, with a crackdown on absenteeism, overlong lunch breaks, sloppy work and theft. (The Miami Herald, 20/2/07)

February 20: The official daily Granma praised three Caribbean nations for signaling the possibility of their support of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), a Venezuelan initiative opposed to the Free Trade Area promoted by the United States in Latin America. "The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) shines out its beacon of integration and progress towards the Caribbean,” said the newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party’s Central Committee. Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and San Vicente and the Grenadines signed a memorandum of understanding during a visit by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, to explore their support for ALBA in the future. (AP, 20/2/07)

February 21: Hugo Chávez' Government is encouraging tourism travels to Cuba by offering four plans to visit towns such as Havana, Varadero, Trinidad, Santiago, Camagüey, Guardalavaca and Holguín. Rafael Rivolta Rincón, Vice-Minister of Quality and Tourism Services, Ministry of Tourism, said "the goal this year is to benefit 100,000 Venezuela from all social strata by offering them financing at lower interest rates through (state-owned bank) Banco Industrial de Venezuela." (El Universal, 22/2/07)

February 23: Official daily Juventud Rebelde said that "economic chaos and a slacking off in morals and discipline" were the reasons Mincin enterprises ran substantial losses last year. The publication also said that in 33,843 inspections carried out during this fiscal year, almost 125,000 shortcomings were detected among more than 90 percent of the units investigated. (EFE, Juventud Rebelde, 23/2/07)

February 22: Sherritt International Corp. rode strong commodity prices, especially for nickel, to its best-ever annual results in 2006. Sherritt said its full-year profit almost doubled to $245.6-million, $1.42 per share, from $124.3-million or 70 cents per share in 2005, as revenue increased to $1.11-billion from $1.02-billion. Power production at Sherritt's Cuban utilities faded by 11 per cent amid scheduled maintenance. An expansion project is set for completion by midyear, increasing the company's capacity in Cuba to 376 megawatts. (Canadian Press, Globe & Mail, 23/2/07)

February 22: The Cuban Chamber of Commerce has convened the second Business Forum of the Non Aligned Movement from May 7 through 10 in Havana. The several sessions and four panels is to promote bilateral contacts on new ways to cooperate in trade, investments and finances, plus viable development alternatives for the people. The meeting also convenes chambers of commerce, economic associations from the 118-member NAM plus its 15 observers and 33 guests. Its sweeping agenda covers, among other topics, world trade today, the World Trade Organization and its Round of Doha and means to enhance South-South exchange and integration. (Prensa Latina, 22/2/07)

February 23: Sherritt International Corp. said it expects growth to come this year through expansion of its power and metals mining projects in Cuba as well as coal projects in Canada, after doubling its full year earnings. The diversified energy company said metals expansion at its Moa nickel mine in Cuba will lead to a 12 per cent increase in the project's mixed sulphide capacity in 2008, with further expansions planned. Power production capacity increased to 311 megawatts in 2006 and will reach 376 MW in 2007 – a 66 per cent increase in capacity from the 226 MW at the beginning of 2006. (Canadian Press, 23/2/07)

February 25: Cuba has opened an experimental wind farm, hoping alternative energy sources can one day ease occasional power shortages while reducing the island's dependence on oil, state news media reported. The $3.4 million park, featuring six 180-foot windmills, was established on Isla de la Juventud, an island south of Havana, according to the Communist Party youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde. Exactly when the park was inaugurated was unclear, but officials estimate that during its first year of operation it could produce 1,800 megawatts of electricity. That would save Cuba about $136,000 in oil costs on the international market, the newspaper said. The park was built using French technology, and its windmills are designed to be disassembled quickly in case of hurricanes or tropical storms. Officials hope to finish work on another wind park with six windmills, located in the eastern province of Holguin, by the end of the year. (AP, 25/2/07)  

February 25: With the presence of more than 1,500 international participants, the 9th Habano Festival started, including a varied program of meetings, exhibits, dinners, and expert meetings. With the presentation of brands Cohiba Maduro and Reserva de Montecristo, the 9th Habano Festival constitutes the most important meeting of its kind in the world. As in previous fairs, the closing dinner and activity in EXPOCUBA will include an auction of humidors and the presentation of the 2006 Habano awards. (Prensa Latina, 25/2/07)
 
February 26: Cuba has begun mobilizing cane cutters and will extend the sugar harvest from April into May as rain, hot weather and organizational problems jeopardize plans to produce around 1.6 million tonnes of raw sugar. Two months into the harvest, mills are operating well below expectations of 80 percent of potential and yields are well below the 11 percent or more that had been planned, national and provincial reports indicated. “We have some delays in plans due to rainfall. Also, some resources arrived late," Sugar Vice Minister Juan Godefoy said in an interview on national radio. The provinces of Villa Clara, Camaguey, Las Tunas, Holguin and Granma, due to produce close to half of this year's output, were particularly affected, Godefoy said. Temperatures have dropped and drier weather set in over the last week. But some worry that the El Nino phenomenon could produce unseasonable humidity and rainfall during the entire December-to-April dry season when sugar is harvested, lowering yields and slowing mechanized harvesting. Central Camaguey province reported at the weekend 4,700 macheteros would be mobilized in hopes of increasing the flow of raw material to mills. (Reuters, 26/2/07)

February 26: The Cuban Urban Gardening program has provided more than 45,000 jobs as the initiative has expanded to all 14 provinces with an increasing offer of fruits and vegetables. Sources with the Cuban Agriculture Ministry revealed that more than 35,000 hectares of cultivable lands have been dedicated to urban gardening, and the figure could increase with other idle plots of land. (CAN, 26/2/07)

February 26: An increase in the sales of counterfeits of high demand products such as coffee, beer, cigarettes and perfumery items in Cuban state-controlled retail stores was deemed "disturbing" by the official newspaper Juventud Rebelde. "The sale of fake products has been claiming a space in the commercial networks of the island,” says an article based on a three-month investigation conducted by a team of Juventud Rebelde journalists at a number of stores as well as a survey carried out among over one hundred consumers in the whole country. The survey showed that the most counterfeited items include alcoholic beverages such as rum and beer, cigarettes and cigars, the Cubita brand of coffee powder, some brands of ice cream, natural water and perfume, as well as soap and deodorants from the Suchel brand. (EFE, 26/2/07)

February 26: Cuba sold US$370 million worth of cigars in 2006, which Habanos said was an 8 percent increase over the previous year. Javier Terres, Habanos' vice president for development, said that for strategic reasons the company couldn't divulge how many total cigars it sold last year, though in 2005 it said it sold 160 million. Terres said the top markets for Cuban cigars are Spain, France and Germany, as well as Cuba. Because of Washington's four-decades-old trade embargo against the communist island, the cigars are not legally sold in the United States. Like fine wine, the taste of top tobacco depends much on the soil and climate in which it is grown. Sun-drenched plantations outside Havana and in the neighboring western province of Pinar Del Rio have made Cuban cigars famous for centuries, and most cigars produced here are hand-rolled and intended for the premium market. Despite the US embargo, Terres said Cubans still account for as much as 35 percent of cigars sold worldwide. He said American smokers consume up to 220 million top-end cigars a year — a market officials here would love to crack. (AP, 26/2/07)

February 26: Cuba's trade with China more than doubled in 2006 to nearly $1.8 billion, the Chinese customs office said, as the Communist-run island prioritized its new revolutionary partners China and Venezuela. Since Cuba signed an agreement with Venezuela in late 2004 bartering and selling services for oil and also began receiving more credit from China, it has ordered all state companies to prioritize trade and investment with the two countries. China reported bilateral trade was $1.792 billion last year, up 105.4 percent from 2005 and compared with just $526 million in 2004. Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage said in January that bilateral trade with Venezuela was $2.6 billion in 2006, compared with $2 billion in 2005 and $1.4 billion in 2004. The Cuban government reported trade grew 27 percent in 2006, compared with the $9.5 billion reported in 2005, or to around $12 billion, meaning China and Venezuela accounted for more than 35 percent of all trade.  Spain was Cuba 's third trading partner in 2006 at just under $1 billion. (Reuters, 26/2/07)  

February 26: Cuba and Venezuela have proposed to each other to undertake about 300 joint economic cooperation projects this year valued at more than $1 billion, Havana's minister of foreign investment and economic cooperation said. Marta Lomas presided, along with Venezuelan Ambassador to Cuba Ali Rodriguez, at the first day of the 7th session of an intergovernmental panel that will conclude on February 28 with the signing of new agreements, Cuban state media reported. The Cuban minister said that the two countries carried out projects worth more than $700 million last year. "This, our integration, begins all the work that has to do with the process of ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas )," an integration iniciative being pushed by Caracas which Cuba , Bolivia and Nicaragua have joined. Lomas recalled the cooperation projects and so-called social missions that have been undertaken since the bilateral agreement signed in 2000, "which has given rise to integration and our entire incorporation to ALBA and, therefore, what we have to do is continue working and honing it." (EFE, 26/2/07) 

February 26: A brief article in the official Communist Party daily, Granma quoted Deputy Minister of Economics and Planning Magalys Calvo telling elected officials in predominately agricultural Camaguey province that the country must reduce its dependence on imported foodstuffs in 2007. Cuba imports 84% of the food destined for the basic shopping cart at a cost of “some one billion dollars” with most of government spending going for these imported foodstuffs and petroleum, Calvo was reported as saying. (CBS, 26/2/07)

February 27: Cuba's state-run distribution and retail network plans to gradually reduce its payroll from the current 309,000 employees to around half that number, the weekly Trabajadores reported. The publication cited the minister of internal commerce, Marino Murillo, as saying that some 150,000 to 160,000 workers would be sufficient to staff the system. More than 6,500 workers under Mincin, as Murillo's department is known, have already been placed in other jobs as part of a restructuring launched several months ago, said Trabajadores, the official organ of Cuba's state-controlled CTC labor federation, the island's only legal union. The process of downsizing applied to services will be rolled out gradually and will extend to the rest of the Mincin units," the weekly said. Many of the relocated workers are remaining in the sector for a program of technical requalifying, in which up to five training options are provided, Murillo said. The minister told the weekly publication that the workday for services in the network of state-run shops will be extended by up to two hours, in line with a resolution on working hours that goes into effect this April. (EFE, 27/2/07)

February 28: The seventh session of the Cuba-Venezuela Inter-governmental Joint Commission concluded in Havana, focusing on cooperation and exchange in the framework of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). Directors and experts from both countries signed 355 cooperation projects worth $1.5 billion in fields such as science, technology, social security, labor, health, communications, and education. In the framework of ALBA, Havana and Caracas, along with Bolivia and Nicaragua, will increase bilateral trade to make good use of each country´s advantages, affirmed Omar Verde, executive director of Venezuela´s State Research Center for Agro-industrial Experimental Production (CIEPE). CIEPE, he added, brought 16 projects to the island to strengthen food sovereignty and security, particularly of dairy and meat products, as well as fruits and vegetables. The official also referred to the creation in Venezuela of a center to assess food quality and produce fortified food for children and pregnant women, as well as emergency food rations. As part of the agreements, Cuba and Venezuela decided to construct 11 factories to produce ethanol from sugar cane. Cuban Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Marta Lomas said, "our integration is just starting. Steps towards integration under ALBA are starting." Acting Cuban President Raul Castro, Vice President Carlos Lage and Venezuelan minister of Energy and Oil Rafael Ramirez attended sessions. But Raul did not speak during the closing ceremony. (Prensa Latina, AP, El Universal, 28/2/07)

February 28: Iranian First Vice President Parviz Davudi said in Tehran that Iran is willing to develop cooperation with independent states, including the Latin American state of Cuba. In a meeting with Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade Raul de la Nuez Ramirez, Davudi said that the ground is well prepared for cooperation among independent states especially in the field of trade, adding that the opportunity should be taken for multilateral growth of the developing nations. Davudi said that Iran has attached great importance to expanding economic and trade relations with Cuba and that a Tehran-Havana Joint Economic Commission has been set up within the Iranian Ministry of Industries and Mines to help upgrade industrial cooperation between the two countries. He said that Iran enjoys high engineering capacity and both Iranian and Cuban officials are expected to enforce the accords already reached in the industrial and engineering sectors. (Tehran Times, 1/3/07)