Chronicle on Cuba - May 2007

Economy

May 2: Diversified Canadian miner Sherritt International Corp. posted a 150-percent jump in its first-quarter earnings, bolstered largely by higher nickel prices. Sherritt, which has power, oil, and nickel investments in Canada and Cuba, earned C$89.1 million ($80.3 million), or 52 Canadian cents a share, up from a profit of C$35.7 million, or 20 Canadian cents, in the year-prior period. (Reuters, 2/5/07)

May 3: Venezuela and Cuba will create Aceros del ALBA, a joint venture with majority stakes owned by Caracas that will manufacture stainless steel for the domestic markets of both countries as well as for the Latin American region. Caracas will own 51 per cent of the shares in Aceros del ALBA, with the remaining 49 per cent going to Havana. (Reuters, 3/5/07)

May 3: The Cuban agricultural authorities have reported a decrease in this year’s potato harvest. Losses are estimated at nearly 30 per cent as compared to the previous year’s crop, and have been mainly ascribed to high overnight temperatures in December and January. (Cubanet, 3/5/07)

May 4: Cuban and Venezuelan Labor and Social Security ministers signed a memorandum of understanding in Havana that includes jobs, training, security and health. Cuban Minister Alfredo Morales noted that this is an important step in the framework of the agreements of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), boosted by both countries, and for the close relations between both peoples and governments. These programs, projects, and actions that we will carry out will help extend our work in favor of both peoples, Morales said, after saying the meeting was one of "brotherhood and collaboration." We are going to learn from each other, with great modesty and interest in supporting each other, he said. Venezuelan minister of People’s Power for Work and Social Security, Jose Ramon Rivero, said the agreement will facilitate progress in training and assisting inspections of corporations industrial security system, giving special attention to sugar mills. (Prensa Latina, 4/5/07)

May 5: Orlando Lugo Fonte, president of the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), told a press conference that “the Ministries of Agriculture and Sugar owe no arrears to private farmers.” However, he said that they are still behind in their payments to cooperative farmers that supply education and health centers. (Granma, 5/5/07)

May 7: Cuban experts started assembling equipment to measure wind force in Las Tunas Province, an area considered among the most favourable for the use of this alternative energy source. In view of the shortage, high prices and harmful effects of oil and its derivatives, and in contrast with the genocidal policy promoted by US President Bush to turn food into fuel, Cuba promotes the use of renewable, economic, clean energy sources.  The works, which are expected to be completed in a year, will determine the kind of generators to be used and their contribution to the National Electro-energy System (SEN), among other aspects. (Prensa Latina, 7/5/07)

May 8: In order to increase the arrival of tourists in Cuba, authorities announced a series of measures that will make it easier for travelers to fly to the Caribbean island. Heriberto Prieto, first vice president of the Civil Aeronautic Institute, said that the new measures are aimed at boosting Cuba's tourist industry. They are aimed at stimulating traditional markets and others that are emerging, above all by strengthening organizational measures and investment to speed up arrivals in such airports as Havana and Varadero. With that goal in mind, new air routes are operating: Buenos Aires-Cayo Largo, Córdova (Argentina)-Havana, and Santiago (Chile)-Havana. In addition, authorities are working to increase frequencies in the Moscow-Havana route. (Prensa Latina, 8/5/07)

May 8: The Center for the Promotion of Bolivia (CEPROBOL) and Cuba’s Chamber of Commerce (CCC) signed a cooperation agreement in La Paz, diplomatic sources said. The signing of the accord, attended by Cuban ambassador to La Paz Rafael Daussa, establishes the coordination of missions and exchange of information on trade. It also strengthens benefits of the People’s Trade Agreement and the Economic Complementation Agreement, in force between both nations. CCC judicial director Ivan Marichal and CEPROBOL executive director Martin Lopez signed the document. (Radio Cadena Agramonte, 8/5/07)

May 8: Canada, the island’s main tourist source for many years, has the leading role at the 27th International Tourism Fair of Cuba (FITCUBA 2007). The Cuban vice-president, Carlos Lage, attended the opening ceremony, during which Manuel Marrero Cruz, the Cuban minister of Tourism, welcomed the participants in the fair, “on this occasion dedicated to Canada, this vast country (...), a pioneer in the development of the Cuban tourism industry, and from which today we receive more than 600 thousand travelers every year.” The already historical Cuban relationship with the Canadians “resembles an amalgamation of two countries, because millions of Canadians have mingled with us (...), forming indestructible bonds of friendship and familiarity," he added. (World Data Service, 8/5/07)

May 9: Cuba released an advance copy of an article by convalescing Fidel Castro on the evils of biofuels. It is the sixth article attributed to Castro, 80, in the nine months he has been recovering from intestinal surgery. In the article, to appear on May 10 newspapers, Castro chastises biofuel proponents for being ignorant or indifferent to the fact that people will go hungry in order for fuel to be produced -- or the proponents are doing it for their own material interest. Support for biofuels is "ethically and politically unacceptable," and what is needed is "an energy revolution, but one at the service of the people and not of the monopolies and imperialism (US dominance)." It is Castro's second written comment of the week. Four of the six articles attributed to the Cuban leader have been on the "dangers" of biofuel production. [The Debate Heats Up] (AFP, 9/5/07)

May 9: In 2006, poor controls in the Cuban milk industry translated in the loss of millions of litres of milk to bad quality, pickup delays and delivery detours. The official daily “Granma” denounced that, in 2006, just in terms of milk going sour, 14 million litres were lost while a similar quantity was used to make what is locally known as “farmer’s cheese” (cheese curd blocks) due to "milk collection difficulties," even though the country produced 44 million litres more than the previous year. "All you need to do is drive along" the country’s highways "to understand where part of the milk goes," referring to curd cheese vendors on road shoulders. The State does not allow the sale of this cheese. Despite the increase in milk production, "the country could not decrease its powder milk import volumes," Food Industry vice Minister Fray Álvarez told “Granma”. (EFEAGRO, 9/5/07)

May 9: The financial sector fell prey to corruption in Cuba, Granma reported. For the first time, the official newspaper “Granma” made a brief mention of banking troubles on the island. The head of Auditing of the Republic’s General Prosecutor's Office, Sabó Herrera, revealed to the newspaper the existence of "loopholes in the banking system that facilitate the unsupervised creation and use of bank accounts."  (EFECOM, 11/5/07) 

May 10: A forest fire has destroyed 2,140 hectares of trees in a UNESCO-protected biosphere reserve in western Cuba. The fire, which began on March 30, expands a total of 2,500 hectares in the Ciénaga de Zapata bioreserve, approximately 100 km from Havana, reported the official daily “Granma”. (Reuters, 10/5/07)

May 11: The Cuban government will ease customs restrictions to allow non-profit imports of electrical equipment and motor vehicle parts, which had been prohibited for years. The list of products and accessories ranges from whole vehicle bodyworks and engines to power generators. The new regulations issued by the General Customs Office of the Republic of Cuba will go into effect on June 1. (El Nuevo Herald, 11/5/07)  

May 14: Cuba has renovated its aircraft fleet with three Russia-made Il-96-300 passenger planes. Cuban officials said Russia’s liners have already begun regular international flights. “Russia’s state-of-the-art planes meet high security standards and will fly different routes,”  Cubana de Aviacion President Arturo Bada said. He pointed out that Russia’s aircraft will be used for humanitarian programmes within the framework of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, an international cooperation organization based upon the ideas of social, political and economic integration between Latin America and the Caribbean. (Itar-Tass, 14/5/07)

May 14: Companies interested in developing Cuba’s oil and gas sector appear confident that the industry is set for significant growth. According to officials, total Cuban oil and gas production is expected to rise from its current level of around 85,000 barrels/day (b/d) of oil equivalent to 100,000 b/d by 2009, with investment spending of US$300m-400m. Increased extraction from existing fields will initially account for the expansion, but in the longer term, hopes are pinned on potential finds in Cuba's exclusive economic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. So far, the bulk of foreign participation in the sector has been Canadian, led by  Sherritt International and Pebercan, but new potential participants from Spain, India, China and Norway are said to be interested. According to Cuba’s minister of basic industry, Yadira García, negotiations in progress with companies are likely to result in a sharp rise in the number of new wells being drilled, both on land and in coastal zones as well as in offshore deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Vietnam's state oil company,  PetroVietnam, is due to ink a new oil exploration partnership agreement in the coming months, following a co-operation agreement signed with Cuba's state oil company, Cupet, in October 2006. While Sherritt has indicated that it might be exporting part of its production of crude oil by the end of 2007, new processing capacity is expected to lead to the eventual export of refined hydrocarbons. A Cuban-Venezuelan project for the rehabilitation of Cuba's largest oil refinery in the central port city of Cienfuegos is being readied for operation by the end of 2007 or in early 2008. Initial production from the plant of 65,000 b/d of refined fuel is planned. (Economist Intelligence Unit, 14/5/07)  

May 14: A modernized oil refinery is set to go on line in December 2007, official media reported, in a shift due to turn import-dependent Cuba into an oil exporter. Overhauled with capital from a joint Venezuelan-Cuban company, the Cienfuegos refinery in south-central Cuba will meet the Caribbean country’s own demands, and earmark 9,000 barrels of gasoline a day for export, Venezuela’s communications and information ministry said in a release circulated in Havana. Vice President Carlos Lage confirmed the facility was set to start operations in December, the “Juventud Rebelde” newspaper reported. Vice President Lage said the refinery would process 65,000 barrels per day of petroleum by late this year or early 2008, the paper said. (Caribbean Net News, 14/5/07)

May 15: Cuba says it will spend about $185 million to upgrade more than 200 resorts, golf courses, marinas and other amenities to try to reverse a dip in tourism to the island.  The government has said the number of visitors to the island dropped by about 100,000 last year to 2.2 million, a situation that has hurt the communist nation's leading source of income. Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero announced the development plan at a tourism fair that was closed to the international press. The plan detailed in “Opciones”, a state-run newspaper for foreign investors, will run through 2010 and seeks to make Cuba more competitive.
About $162 million will be used to upgrade non-hotel amenities, such as golf courses, yacht clubs and theme parks. Other funds will be used to build 50 boutique inns around the country in addition to 10 already under construction and to improve the country's outdated highways, Marrero said. “Opciones”did not say how many tourists have visited Cuba so far this year, but quoted Marrero as saying that "in 2007, for the fourth consecutive year, the number will be greater than 2 million visitors." Many international visitors complain that Cuba is excessively expensive, especially because of a tax on required currency exchanges. (Sun Sentinel, EFE, ACN, 15,18/5/07)

May 16: Cuba's population declined in 2006 for the first time in 25 years due to fewer births, the Communist Party newspaper Granma said. The Cuban population dropped last year by about 4,300 to 11,239,536 inhabitants, according to official statistics. The number of births dropped to 111,084 in 2006 from 120,716 a year earlier, an 8 percent decline, the country's top demographic expert, Juan Carlos Alfonso, told Granma. Cuba's populace is aging fast and there is a marked rise in the number of people aged 60 and over compared to other age groups, Alfonso said. Women are deciding to have fewer children, said Alfonso, director of population studies at the National Statistics Office.  On average, Cuban families tend to have only one child. The country has faced economic hardships and overcrowded housing since it lost the support of the Soviet Union 15 years ago. Today, 16.2 percent of the Cuban population is 60 or over, according to the National Statistics Office. The agency estimated that about one-quarter of the Cuban populace will fall into that category by 2025. That is a worrying statistic for any society because it means a smaller working population and escalating costs for the state in health care and social security. Wealthier countries solve the problem with immigration. In Cuba's case, emigration has been a constant since Fidel Castro's revolution in 1959 steered the country to Communism. (Reuters, AP, Granma, Prensa Latina, 16/5/07)

May 16: The joint-venture oil refinery project at Cienfuegos central province, is not expected to be completed on time as planned for the end of this year due to slow work progress, industry sources said. Cuba, with help from Venezuela, is building an oil refinery in Cienfuegos and refurbishing its existing Havana refinery. The refinery projects could reduce the country's reliance on oil products imports from neighboring Venezuela or boost Cuba's oil exports, but it will not stop its oil imports from Venezuela. Cuba has an operating 120,000 barrels per day refinery at Havana, but the refinery is grossly under-producing due to operational issues, sources said. The Cienfuegos refinery is expected to have an initial output of about 65,000 bpd when completed. "The progress of the refinery projects is not as expected," said a source who is involved in upstream projects in Cuba. "Cuba and PDVSA are hoping to complete the abandoned refinery project left behind by the Russians, but it is a major project because there is a lot of work to be done," he said. Besides the Cienfuegos project, the Cuba state oil company is also working to refurbish and upgrade its underperforming Havana refinery, the source said. The Havana project has a better chance of completion this year than the Cienfuegos refinery, he said. (Reuters, 16/5/07)  

May 16: Cuban scientists who are advocating the exploitation of biomass to satisfy local energy demands gathered in the Cuban province of Matanzas to discuss a project which embraces ten years of experience on the topic. The workshop was attended by researchers and investors from the Ministries of Sugar, Agriculture and of Higher Education, from the Cuban Academy of Science and from other specialized institutions in the field of agriculture and livestock. The project emerges as an alternative to deal with the present challenges posed by the growing energy demands. The scientists propose the use of animal feces, the mass of oleaginous plants rich in oil and gas from agricultural waste as eco-friendly sources of energy to attain some regional independence from the national network. The initiative is supported by specialists from the Swiss Agency of Cooperation for Development, who delivered lectures on their experience in this area. (ACN, 16/5/07)

May 16: Cuba has increased the production of aluminium sections for its use in the construction of new buildings as part of the social programs currently being undertaken throughout the island. According to Alberto Garcia Oliva, vice president of the ALCUBA corporation, this increase is the result of the modernization of a manufacturing plant in Havana which is capable of processing 1.5 tons of aluminium sections an hour. ALCUBA is made up of 11 companies, which allocate over 90% of their production to the social programs underway throughout the island. (ACN, 16/5/07)

May 16: The harvest in Cuba's main tobacco-growing region is expected to be down 12 percent from last year's levels, the official press reported. The harvest of the solanaceae, which finishes at the end of May, "should provide a volume of the leaf equivalent to 88 percent of what we brought in last year" in the western province of Pinar del Rio, Cuban Communist Party daily Granma said. Nonetheless, the paper said the leaf this year is of a "higher quality" in order to "guarantee the product standards to which the industry and its export plans are committed." Pinar del Rio is thought to produce the world's finest tobacco. "The weather has been favorable for drying, which judging by samples and the first leaves of the harvest that have benefited from it should mean a more abundant supply of wrapper leaf (the cigar's outer covering) and of high-grade leaf for manufacture and export," Granma said. Corporacion Habanos SA, a joint venture of the Cuban government and the Spanish-French company Altadis, commands 83 percent of the global market - excluding the United States - for premium, hand-made cigars. (EFE, 16/5/07) 

May 16: The Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment (CITMA) recently issued a new national environmental strategy. The new plan seeks to improve protection and make rational use of natural resources. The 2007-2010 plan was announced by Orlando Rey Santos, CITMA’s environmental director, official daily Granma reported. It includes the main environmental problems facing the nation today and proposes ways and tools to resolve or minimize them. The drafting of the new strategy took some two years and substitutes the plan in force since 1997, Rey Santos said. (Prensa Latina, 18/5/07)

May 17: According to the Ministry of Labor, Alfredo Morales, the existing salary policy is currently under review, in a move to boost industrial productivity. At the same time, new workplace discipline regulations are being implemented and efforts to eradicate corruption are under way. "At present, we are conducting a review of the productivity-based payment system and are implementing the design of a salary policy that ensures that the salary constitutes the worker’s main incentive so that payment matches productivity," Morales told the official weekly paper “Opciones”. (EER, 17/5/07)

May 17: Cuba said that a Soviet-era refinery in the port city of Cienfuegos will be rebuilt by the end of November, in a joint venture with Venezuela. The Cienfuegos refinery, on Cuba 's south coast east of Havana, will begin refining 65,000 barrels a day of Venezuelan oil in January 2008, state television said. "We expect to finish renovating the refinery between the 23 and 30 of November," the refinery's maintenance chief Roberto Lopez said. "We plan to start production on January 1." Cuban television said Cienfuegos refinery will produce gasoline, fuel oil, jet fuel and liquid gas. Experts estimate the refinery renovation, which includes a new catalytic cracker, will cost at least $500 million. Oil industry sources in New York told Reuters the refinery was not expected to come on stream as scheduled by year-end due to slow work progress by the joint venture between the state oil companies CUPET of Cuba and PDVSA of Venezuela. (Reuters, 18/5/07)

May 18: Prensa Latina reported on the creation of a collaborative biotechnology venture between Cuba’s Neuronic SA and a Chinese state-held firm, Beida Wankun Science Development Co. The new organisation, which brings together two technology-transfer arms of Beijing University and Cuba’s Neurosciences Centre, will be known as Beijing Neurotechnology Limited. The new alliance reflects the deepening involvement of Chinese institutions in Cuban medical technologies, and builds on previous collaborations in the production of monoclonal antibodies (under the name Biotech Pharmaceutical) and interferons (under the name ChangHeber Pharmaceutical). In a new departure, the latest bilateral scheme will focus on neurology, although it has not been clarified whether the applications involved will be in the area of small-molecule central nervous system (CNS) treatments or in biotech areas such as stem-cell technology. (Global Insight Daily Analysis, 18/5/07)

May 18: At least 25 countries around the world block websites for political, social or other reasons as governments seek to assert authority over a network meant to be borderless, said a US-British-Canadian study. The The OpenNet Initiative said the regions chosen for review should not be considered comprehensive. It didn't include any countries in North America or Western Europe on grounds that filtering practices there have been better known than elsewhere. It also excluded North Korea and Cuba for fear of risks to collaborators it would need in those countries. The OpenNet Initiative, a collaboration project between researchers at Cambridge, the University of Oxford, Harvard University and the University of Toronto, has previously published reports detailing censorship in specific countries. The latest study was its attempt to compare filtering worldwide. (AP, 18/5/07)

May 18: Cuba has substituted 50 percent of chemical fertilizers for pest management mechanisms in more than 247,1000 acres of fruit, greens, pasture and root vegetable crops. Maximo Martinez, Vice Director of the National Center for Plant Health, said that some 200 centers reproduce over 10 entomopathogens and a great deal of entomophagous. Entomopathogens feed on crop predators and entomophagous feed on insects causing plagues. Martinez told Granma daily that those have been used to control white flies, sweet potato weevils, coffee bean miners (Hypothenemus hampei), plus live barriers at plantations like the Neem tree. Cuba consumed over 1.3 million tons of chemicals and fertilizers for pest management in the 80’s before the economic crisis of the early 90’s (Prensa Latina, 18/5/07) 

May 18: A hearing of the Economic Affairs Permanent Committee of the People's Power National Assembly (Cuban Parliament) met to analyze the efforts being made to improve labor discipline and productivity. Labor and Social Security Minister Alfredo Morales and Cuban Workers' Confederation Secretary General Salvador Valdes gave keynote speeches in the morning session. In his opening speech, Committee Chairman Osvaldo Martinez noted that labor discipline paves the way to increased productivity, a great goal to be achieved as part of a gradual political process. For his part, Minister Morales described that effort, based on the effective and responsible participation of workers and administrative leaders, as strategic for the construction of socialism. Morales pointed out that discipline involves compliance with labor and consumption standards, rational use of material and human resources, good quality and excellent services. CTC Secretary General Salvador Valdes noted that the trade union movement is working on the political and ideological education of workers as collective owners of production, and on boosting economic recovery. (Prensa Latina, 18/5/07)

May 19: The massive expansion of information and communication technology programs are being planned in Cuba, with implementation to take place over three to next five years for the benefit of the general public, government agencies and institutions, and student and youth organizations. Cuba’s Ministry of Computer Science and Communication is undertaking an ambitious program to facilitate the wider use of the Information and Communications Technologies (ITC) by the general public, government agencies and institutions, and student and youth organizations over the next three to five years. The plan was discussed by ITC chief Ramiro Valdes Menendez, who spoke to the press on May 17, in Havana, after signing an agreement between the computer ministry and Che Guevara Youth Center. Center Director Nurys Concepción Perdomo pointed out that Cuba is “developing the ‘informationalization’ of the country”. And added, “not only in the field of the telephony, but also in the area of ‘social connectivity’ and the Cuban intranet. It’s a very ambitious plan, and not just for children and youth, but for all sectors of the society and the public as a whole.” (Juventud Rebelde, 19/5/07)

May 19: Division General Ramon Pardo Guerra, Head of the General Staff Cuba’s National Civil Defense System, said recently in a press conference that the country has been preparing to face the approaching hurricane season, paying special attention to extreme situations that could arise and in accordance with the evaluation of possible risks. «Meteor 2007» natural disaster exercises will be carried out across the entire length of the island. Participation will include the National Defense Council, state agencies, economic entities and social institutions, municipal and provincial defense councils, defense zones and the general public, as well as command forces, units and entities of armed forces and the Ministry of the Interior. This exercise will analyze the capabilities, the degree of preparedness and execution of measures to reduce the impact of disasters. (Juventud Rebelde, 19/5/07)

May 20: Tourism, for 15 years the locomotive of the otherwise weak communist economy, faces erosion from within Cuba and without, the official Cuban magazine “Bohemia” reported. In 2006 tourist arrivals fell 3.6 percent, "falling short of plans to grow by almost eight percent and reach 2.5 million foreign tourists on our streets and beaches." Only 2.2 million showed up, the weekly Cuban magazine said in an article dated May 8. The number of European visitors slid during the 2007 December-April peak season. Canadians, the most numerous visitors to the Caribbean island, grew a meager 1.6 percent compared with 2006. The magazine blamed the slowdown in part on US restrictions on travel to Cuba, including Washington 's tightening of visits by Cuban-Americans to their families. "Foreign tour operators and Cuban hoteliers noted a drop in the quality of services in the sector," the report added. (AFP, 20/5/07) 

May 21: The Colombian Minister of Mines and Energy, Hernán Martínez, began an official visit to Cuba to sign energy collaboration and conservation agreements and to encourage Latin-American integration in this sector. Martínez came to Havana invited by the Cuban Basic Industry Minister, Yadira García. (AFP, 21/5/07)

May 22: Cuba and the Dominican Republic will expand air connections with the increasing of flights between both countries. Sources at Cubana de Aviacion airline said that current flights by IL-62 planes will be joined by modern TU-204-300 jets next September 1, with very competitive tariffs for the region. Meanwhile, Cuba’s Aerocaribbean airline will continue to fly between Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, and Santiago de Cuba. The airline company enjoys high demand as celebrations of the Caribbean Festival in eastern Santiago de Cuba approach; this year dedicated to the Dominican Republic. (ACN, 22/5/07)

May 22: Cuba is engaged in a new program of fuel oil energy generation that will add 1,700 MWe to the current national electricity system, Cuban Basic Industries Minister Yadira Garcia affirmed. The minister highlighted the results of the transformations made to Cuba’s electricity system in the last two years, to the 5th International Conference on Renewable Energy, Energy Saving and Energy Education meeting in Havana. The Energy Revolution promotes a conceptual change through decentralization of the national system, use of new energy resources and energy saving, installing 3,000 new generators in key economic points, public health and population services. The program also involves training operators and maintenance personnel to guarantee optimal function and reparation, she said. (Prensa Latina, 22/5/07)

May 22: The Cuban government is willing to contribute to electricity production in Angola, Cuba’s ambassador Pedro Ross Leal said. Speaking to the Angolan official news agency, Ross Leal said his country may bring to Angola the experience in energy saving and supply of this good to the population. Commenting on the Cuban experience, the diplomat pointed out the alteration of 52 per cent of the electricity network in that country. He reminded that Angola is in a phase of reconstruction and its government intends to contribute with its experience in various domains of human development, an intention already manifested to the Angolan authorities. Thus, the Cuban authorities are just waiting for the signing of co-operation accords soon. (Angolan Press, 22/5/07)

May 22: Cuba is modernizing its ethanol-producing facilities despite Fidel Castro's repeated assertions that making more of the biofuel could starve the world's poor. The island plans to upgrade 11 of its 17 refineries, which produce up to 47 million gallons annually of ethanol from sugar cane, said Conrado Moreno, a member of Cuba's Academy of Sciences. The refineries currently produce alcohol for use in rum and other spirits, as well as medications and cooking on the island. But the improvements will give Havana the capacity to produce fuel for cars, Moreno told reporters at a conference on renewable energy. Ethanol produced in Cuba is not for cars now, but "in four or five years, we'll see," he said. (The Miami Herald, 23/5/07)

May 23: Cuba is successfully testing new technologies in the field of communications, such as IP Telephony, digital TV, and different phone and electric connections for data transmission. IP Telephone technology is under evaluation at a Havana communication center, said Luis Conde, an expert with Cuba's Telecommunications Enterprise ETECSA, cited by Juventud Rebelde newspaper. We have made some tests with that technology, which will allow clients access through a single network to telephone, data transmission or digital TV services, based on the appropriate equipment. The evaluation process also includes what is known as Power Line Communications (PLC), which allows phone communication through power cables with no impact on the electric service. The expert spoke during the InfoClub conference underway in Havana. He said Cuba is also considering wireless connectivity at short and long distances. (ACN, 24/5/07)

May 23: Cuba announced the end of a disastrous sugar harvest after heavy rainfall in eastern provinces washed out efforts to recoup tonnage. The Communist Party newspaper Granma said the last few sugar mills still in operation had shut down operations, and only two of Cuba's 13 provinces, Matanzas and Cienfuegos, met their targets. No figures were given for the second year in a row. According to Reuters estimates, Cuba produced more than 1 million tonnes of raw sugar, but less than the 1.2 million tonnes milled in 2006, the worst harvest in a century. The government had planned to produce between 1.5 million and 1.6 million tonnes by May 1. (Reuters, 23/5/07)

May 23: Cuba's Ecosol Solar division is currently implementing several renewable energy projects in other countries. Ecosol Solar is an entity with  the Corporation of Electronic Technology Exports (COPEXTEL), which belongs to the Cuban Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications. Ecosol Solar experts Raul Novo and Rene Diaz told the press that several health care and education facilities received electricity from solar panels in countries such as Bolivia, Mali, South Africa, Honduras and Lesotho. (ACN, 23/5/07)

May 24: Toronto's Sherritt International Corp. is bullish on both the skyrocketing nickel price and its wide range of investments in Cuba and isn't terribly worried about being scooped up like most of its former Canadian-owned competitors in the last year, the company's chief executive says. "We are having a really nice time," Sherritt chief executive Jowdat Waheed announced to shareholders at the company's annual meeting at Roy Thomson Hall. "Prices for commodities are substantially higher than last year and are poised for another record year in 2007," he said. The miner will triple annual nickel production in the next five years with expanded output from its Cuban operations and also if its buyout of Dynatec Corp. is completed as planned next month, giving it control of the coveted Ambatovy nickel laterite project in Madagascar. Shareholders were curious about the future of the company's Cuban assets – from nickel and cobalt to coal, oil and real estate – with Fidel Castro's health still in question and any change in government that may come. "It's a terrific place for us to do business. We think we will endure under any circumstance," he said. The miner has committed $1.2 billion in capital spending on various projects there over the next three years. (The Toronto Star, 25/5/07)

May 24: The governments of Cuba and India signed a Protocol of Collaboration on Renewable Energy for 2007-2009. This agreement is the first India signed with a Latin American nation. The agreement was signed in Havana by Vilas Baburao Muttemwar, head of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of India, and Fernando Gonzalez Bermudez, acting minister of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment of Cuba. The agreement establishes the collaboration in the fields of wind energy, biomass conversion, small hydroelectric power stations, and thermo solar and photovoltaic energy. The two ministries will promote scientific exchange to share experiences, take part in workshops and seminars in the above mentioned fields, and the training of Cuban scientists. (Juventud Rebelde, 25/5/07)

May 24: At the close of the fifth International Conference on Energy Renewal, Conservation, and Education (CIER 2007), hydrogen as fuel was the discussion on the table.  The conference was held at the Havana Convention Center. Because hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element on Earth it makes sense that scientists would research its viability as a fuel.  Hydrogen combustion results in water.  Hydrogen as a fuel is thought to be extremely clean and energy efficient. At the CIER 2007 conference, studies involving the impact of hydrogen as a fuel for motor vehicles and its cost-effectiveness were discussed. Currently in Cuba, research on obtaining hydrogen from electricity generated by bagasse (a residue of sugar cane crushing) and through electrolysis is being conducted. (H2 Daily, 28/5/07)

May 27: Many international travelers complain that Cuba has become too expensive, particularly because of a tax required on currency exchanges. For instance, the government automatically takes 20 percent on all dollar exchanges. "We know that Canadian tour operators have complained about costs in Cuba," said Philip Peters, a Cuba expert and vice president of the Lexington Institute think tank in Arlington, Virginia. "Places like the Dominican Republic are much more competitive. Others in the business have complained that refueling costs for planes in Cuba are much, much higher than in other places." Dissident economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe said the subject of tourism had virtually disappeared from the state-controlled media and this reflected the ambivalence of some ranking government officials toward travel to the island. "Tourism has not been given the priority that it had in the past," he said. "There is a sector in the Cuban government that views tourism as a very serious political threat to its absolute power." (Sun Sentinel, 27/5/07)

May 27: At least two people were drowned and as many as 2,500 others had to be evacuated due to the flooding caused by the rise of two rivers in the eastern province of Camaguey, Cuban state television reported. Emergency services teams are evaluating damage and the potential for further flooding in areas already affected by torrential rains in recent days. Civil Defense authorities provided a preliminary report indicating that 158 homes have sustained damage of some sort, with at least 23 of them being completely destroyed. The two fatalities occurred when a youth and an adult man tried to swim through the strong current of the Hatibonico River. The heavy rains that have hit Camaguey, located some 570 kilometers (354 miles) east of Havana, exceeded 200 millimeters (7.8 inches) within a few hours, causing the Tinima and Hatibonico rivers to overflow their banks. Reservoirs are at 60 percent of capacity and dams are releasing water to address the situation, officials said. An emergency services spokesman in Camaguey said an alert had been declared in response to the heavy rains, which forecasts say could continue for several days. In Manzanillo, eastern province of Granma, several houses collapsed and others were reported damaged by the independent press. (EFE, Cubanet, 27/5/07)

May 29: Cuba plans to launch a three-year port modernization and expansion program that will cost $180 million, a high-level official told the weekly Opciones. The deputy transportation minister in charge of maritime and port affairs, Gilberto Ponce, said ports would be deepened, Chinese-made cargo handling equipment installed and other facilities improved. The island's busiest ports will also be dredged and terminals for shipping sugar will be repaired, Ponce said. Work has already started at several terminals at the port of Havana. Ponce said the port upgrades would increase productivity and shorten vessels' stays, cutting the fees paid for delays when cargo is unloaded. (EFE, 29/5/07)

May 30: Cuba and China have signed a sweeping new cooperation agreement in the areas of medicine and biotechnology, government-run media reported. The daily Granma newspaper reported that the president of China's Academy of Sciences, Lu Yong Xiangl signed the deal after meeting with Cuba's Secretary of the Council of State, Jose Miyar Barrueco. Granma reported that the deal would enhance mutual cooperation in the areas of vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, medical and agricultural biotechnology, renewable energy and nanotechnology among other areas. China is Havana's second-largest trading partner after Venezuela, with bilateral trade of some two billion dollars in 2006. (AFP, 30/5/07)

May 30: Various Cuban communities will benefit from social projects starting soon as a result of cooperation between Cuba and Venezuela, under the framework of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). The annoucement was made during the delivery of seven Fiat buses for public transportation in communities of the province of  Pinar del Rio (Sandino, Bolivar and Isabel Rubio). The delivery took place in a public act presided over by the highest authorities of this Cuban province and Ali Rodriguez Araque, Venezuelan ambassador to Cuba. Rodriguez Araque noted that these projects —both of a material and social character— show that Cuba and Venezuela are working on a path of mutual benefit and cooperation that will lead to better quality of life for the peoples. When the ceremony concluded, Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Marta Lomas told the press that the construction of Baracoa’s gravity aqueduct will soon start, as well as the revitalization of agriculture in the municipality of Venezuela, in Ciego de Avila, all this as part of the ALBA. (Juventud Rebelde, 30/5/07)