Chronicle on Cuba - July 2009

Economy

Julio 1: Cuba produjo 1,42 millones de toneladas de azúcar sin refinar en el 2008 y más que duplicó la refinación en un intento por recuperar parte del brillo de lo que fue en el pasado una vibrante industria, según un informe oficial. Si bien los resultados del 2009 no estarán disponibles hasta dentro de un año, Reuters calcula que la producción se redujo a 1,3 millones de toneladas de azúcar en la recién terminada zafra del 2009, según reportes de prensa y fuentes del sector. La estatal Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas (ONE) reportó en su sitio web que en el 2008 la producción de azúcar refinada fue de 247,000 toneladas, en comparación con las 110,000 toneladas del año anterior (Reuters, 1/7/09).

July 2: The Cuban government failed on three occasions to pay the installments on the US$355 million credit deal it signed with Russia on September 28, 2006, the Russian Federation's Audit Chamber revealed. "Since the signing of the agreement," which grants Cuba credit against Russian goods and services, "the Cuban side has three times violated the payment terms," said an Audit Chamber press release, read in Moscow by auditor Viktor Semyonovich Kosourov. "However, access to the credit line was not halted and, as of June 1, 2009, interest penalties for late payment have not been imposed." During the Russian audit, several "deficiencies" were found in Cuba's selection of Russian suppliers. Havana appears to have placed contracts with companies that have "minimal capitalization and scant production or marketing capabilities," Kosourov said (The Miami Herald, 3/7/09).

July 6: President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has signed a decree endorsing a cooperation agreement in the area of tourism between the Ministry of Tourism & Culture of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Tourism of Cuba, which was signed in the city of Havana, on 26 February 2009 (ABC.AZ Daily News, 6/7/09).

July 6: The ranks of Cuba's family farmers have grown by more than 30,000 this year as the government conducted the biggest land-lease distribution since the country's 1959 revolution in an effort to solve an agricultural crisis, a newspaper reported. Communist authorities began leasing 4 million acres of fallow state lands in October, mainly small parcels, to private family farmers and interested individuals as part of an effort by President Raul Castro to reform the state-dominated sector and increase food production.
The official trade union weekly Trabajadores newspaper said a total of 78,113 land leases have been granted since the program began, up from 45,000 in January when figures were last released. "A study of fallow state lands found there were 1.69 million hectares (4 million acres), of which 689,697 hectares (1.7 million acres) have been leased, or 41 percent," Trabajadores said. Farmers said the program had borne visible results, though they added it took months to actually gain the land once granted. "I am thrilled to see how wasted state lands are turning into food providers, but there are cases where the land is leased but has not been put to use due to organizational questions," Alfredo Estevez, a farmer in central Camaguey province, said. Trabajadores said 56,000 of the leases were in production (Reuters, 6/7/09).

Julio 7: Cuba sufre ya el impacto del cambio climático mundial con un aumento de la temperatura media anual, del nivel del mar y huracanes más intensos, afirmó la presidenta de la Agencia del Medio Ambiente, Gisela Alonso. Durante el siglo XX se registró un incremento de la temperatura media anual en la isla de 0.6 grados Celsius y una tasa del aumento del nivel medio del mar de 2.14 milímetros por año, aseguró la científica ante la VII Convención Internacional sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo. Según Alonso, también se incrementó la furia de los huracanes, se produjeron sequías más frecuentes, una mayor cantidad de tornados y eventos caracterizados por fuertes lluvias. Otras afectaciones son la merma del potencial hídrico, los cambios en los patrones de rendimiento de los cultivos, disminución de los manglares y enfermedades humanas relacionadas con el clima, confesó la especialista. Tras advertir que el cambio climático constituye una amenaza al desarrollo sostenible de la isla, Alonso dijo que se aplican programas para enfrentar sus efectos en Cuba, entre ellos el forestal Nacional, el ahorro y el uso racional del agua (Notimex, 7/7/09).

Julio 7: Cuba produjo 1,7 millones de toneladas de crudo en el primer semestre de 2009 y espera llegar a cuatro millones a fin de año, un volumen similar al de años anteriores, informó el jefe de Exploración y Producción de la petrolera estatal Cupet, Orestes Hernández. Cumplir esa meta de cuatro millones de toneladas "va a depender en gran medida de los resultados de pozos nuevos", que ya están unos en evaluación y otros en desarrollo, declaró el funcionario a la televisión estatal. Un informe de ese medio oficial explicó que la perforación y exploración de al menos once nuevos pozos figura entre los principales desafíos de Cupet para este año, especialmente en la llamada "franja de crudo pesado" del norte de las provincias de Matanzas y La Habana (EFE, 7/7/09).

July 7: Cuba and a consortium of foreign oil companies have once again postponed plans to drill for oil in the island's still-untapped fields in the Gulf of Mexico, diplomatic and industry sources said. Cuba had announced the consortium, led by Spain's Repsol-YPF , would drill in June or July, but now it is uncertain when work will begin in the waters that Cuban oil experts say may contain 20 billion barrels of oil. "The project has been postponed until a further date for more study," said a foreign oil industry source with direct knowledge of the plans. "It is premature to say when drilling might begin, later this year or next," he added. A European diplomat said he had first-hand knowledge that drilling was postponed at least until the end of 2009, if not into 2010. Neither source wished to be identified. Cuban authorities were not immediately available for comment (Reuters, 7/7/09).

July 9: Brazil said it would give Cuba up to $300 million in credits to start rebuilding the island's port of Mariel, better known as the site of a 1980 Cuban exodus to the United States. Brazilian Industry and Trade Minister Miguel Jorge said $110 million had been approved by his government and the rest would likely be, as Brazil strengthens its ties with communist-led Cuba. He said in a news conference that construction, to be led by a Brazilian company, would begin "very soon" with the building of infrastructure including highways and a railroad for the port about 30 miles (50 km) west of Havana. Brazilian officials said Cuba expects the entire port project, which will be built in several phases, to cost up to $2 billion. The first phase is projected to take four or five years to complete and cost $600 million, they said. Cuba wants Mariel to serve as logistics center for its still-nascent offshore oil industry and to be equipped to handle shipments from around the world, including the United States, just 90 miles (145 km) to the north of Cuba (Reuters, 9/7/09).

Julio 9: Cuba le adeuda a Venezuela unos $4,670 millones por la compra de petróleo y productos refinados, según estimaciones de la Universidad de Miami. La isla ha comprado petróleo y subproductos por $12,300 millones a Venezuela desde el 2003.
De ese monto, 38 por ciento fue financiado a 25 años, dijo Jorge Piñón, analista de temas energéticos en el Centro de Políticas Hemisféricas de la Universidad de Miami. Sus cálculos se basan en los precios de mercado y cifras difundidas por la Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas de Cuba. Las importaciones totales de Cuba crecieron el 64 por ciento a $4,100 millones en el 2008 conforme subieron los precios del crudo, dijo Piñón. Ningún funcionario de la embajada cubana en Caracas estuvo disponible para opinar (Bloomberg, 9/7/09).

July 15: A steady increase of business between Cuba and Mexico was confirmed by Odalis Seijo, vice president of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce. Seijo, who is taking part in the 16th Session of the Cuba-Mexico Business Committee in the Mexican capital, said that bilateral trade grew by 75% in 2008 and it is expected that it will continue growing this year. Seijo highlighted the importance of increasing the number of exports from Cuba to Mexico and put emphasis on the development of relations in the agricultural sector with products that are currently not included in the exchange list (ACN, 15/7/09).

July 15: Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras has completed seismic work in its leased Cuban offshore bloc and is studying whether to drill a well, the head of its Cuban operations said. Under terms of the lease, the company has until next May to make the decision, Joao Figueira said in a press conference at Petrobras's newly opened Havana office. He said the bloc, located east of Havana and offshore from Cuba's most prolific onshore oil field, has good prospects, but it remains to be seen if it has sufficient accumulations of oil to make wells profitable. "From a geological standpoint it's pretty well located in terms of oil generation," he said. "The challenge and uncertainty are related to the reserve distribution, size and production per well." Spain's Repsol-YPF, part of a consortium with Norway's Statoil Hydro (STL.OL) and ONGC Videsh of India, drilled an exploratory well in 2004 and said it found traces of high quality oil. But a planned second well has been postponed repeatedly due to problems that include difficulty getting a drilling rig that does not violate restrictions of the United States' 47-year-old trade embargo against Cuba. PDVSA, the national oil company of Venezuela, Cuba's socialist ally, has said it plans to drill an exploratory well in Cuban waters next year. Other bloc holders include Vietnam state oil and gas group Petrovietnam and Malaysia's state-run Petronas (Reuters, 16/7/09).

Julio 15: La crisis mundial no estropeará los planes de vender 5 millones de cajas anuales de Havana Club para el 2013, aseguró el director de la compañía, Marc Beuve-Mery. La empresa presentó una nueva va planta de producción del ron en la localidad de San José de las Lajas, a unos 40 kilómetro la capital. "El crecimiento de la marca ha sido continuo desde que comenzó", la coinversión en 1993 indicó el funcionario durante un recorrido por las nuevas instalaciones. Havana Club Internacional es una mixta entre Cuba Ron SA y el grupo francés Pernod Ricard que comercializa su producto en más de 120 países y ocupa el lugar 25 entre las bebidas alcohólicas más vendidas. La planta de 23 hectáreas y que le costó a la firma unos 70 millones de dólares fue inaugurada oficialmente en 2007, pero hasta ahora no había sido mostrado a periodistas. Beuve-Mery confirmó que en 2008 la compañía vendió 3,4 millones de cajas --cada caja corresponde a 9 litros según parámetros internacionales-- sin tener acceso al mercado más grande del mundo, Estados Unidos, donde las sanciones impiden la comercialización del productos cubanos (AP, 15/7/09).

Julio 15: Un año después de que el gobierno de Cuba autorizó la entrega de tierras agrícolas ociosas a quienes las solicitan, los resultados de la medida están siendo fuertemente cuestionados tanto por sus logros productivos como por la burocracia que involucra el proceso. Es un debate que, curiosamente, se está librando en los medios oficiales de prensa de Cuba y en las agencias noticiosas acreditadas en la isla. "Lo que existe es un proceso que lleva trámites e involucra a varios organismos", dijo el diario Trabajadores, al negar que la burocracia estatal afecte la entrega de tierras. "La entrega de tierras ociosas en usufructo parece convertirse en tema para otra campaña mediática contra Cuba. Algunas agencias han recurrido a personajes que piden el anonimato o a descontextualizar opiniones, citadas en reportajes de la prensa nacional, para desvirtuar la marcha de este proceso", se lamentó el órgano oficial de la Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (Marti Noticias, 15/7/09).

July 17: Workers at the “10 de Octubre” Thermoelectric Power plant, in the municipality of Nuevitas, Camaguey province, started key rehabilitation actions in order to increase power generation and the availability of energy for the National power distribution network. Juan Manuel Crespo Salas, told the local press that ongoing works also allow making operations more efficient, since they burn less fuel. He announced that in the upcoming weeks block five of that plant will be taken out of service for a 40-day general maintenance, thanks to the national energy program, known as Energy Revolution, which includes measures like the withdrawal of the role played by thermoelectric plants as main electricity suppliers for the country. Cuba is working on the repairs of other thermoelectric plants like the  “Antonio Guiteras”, in Western Matanzas province ; the “Antonio Maceo” (Renté), in eastern Santiago de Cuba, and the one in the Havana locality of  Santa Cruz del Norte, said  the deputy minister of Cuba´s
Basic Industry Manuel Presa (ACN, 17/7/09).

Julio 19: El presidente cubano Raúl Castro avanzó un paso más en el alivio del control centralizado sobre el gasto en divisas, al entregar su manejo a los ministerios a partir de julio; sin embargo, surgió al mismo tiempo un agujero negro de cientos de millones de dólares de cuentas sin pagar acumuladas en los últimos siete meses, que mantiene en estado de crispación a la mayoría de las empresas extranjeras que negocian con Cuba, de acuerdo con fuentes del circuito de negocios en La Habana. Un empresario extranjero radicado en La Habana y que pidió el anonimato dijo que, habrá más eficiencia en la contratación ahora que el gobierno controla su presupuesto de compras en moneda dura. Pero al mismo tiempo acaba de aparecer un agujero negro que no sabemos cómo vamos a resolver y además se está socavando la confianza en los bancos. Los medios empresariales consideran que la decisión de dispersar en el gabinete el manejo del presupuesto de importaciones es más política que económica o financiera. El conflicto ahora es que no queda claro cómo se puede restituir el valor de ese agujero negro, que según algunos cálculos puede valer unos mil millones de dólares, puesto que el nuevo sistema de pagos sólo se aplica a las operaciones que se contraten a partir de julio. Esta crisis en el sector bancario no la vivió Cuba siquiera en los peores momentos de la década pasada, tras la caída de la Unión Soviética. Sólo algunas empresas, excepcionalmente, han logrado la repatriación de sus fondos en forma total o parcial, pero la mayoría se mantiene en la incertidumbre, sin que haya, por ahora, ninguna explicación oficial (La Jornada, 19/7/09).

July 20: Los institutos Finlay de Cuba y Bio-Manguinhos de Brasil aumentarán este año hasta en 50 millones, las dosis de una vacuna contra la meningitis bacteriana que producen conjuntamente para que la emplee la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) en países de África y Oriente Medio. La vicepresidenta de Investigación del Finlay, Rosa Lydia Solís, explicó que ese incremento se debe a que en África subsahariana, especialmente, se vive la peor temporada de esa epidemia desde 2006, con más de 56,000 enfermos y cerca de 2,000 muertos, informó el semanario oficial cubano Trabajadores (EFE, 20/7/09).

Julio 20: El gobierno cubano, a través de su empresa Labiofam, compró la parte extranjera de la compañía mixta Bio Vietnam, productora y comercializadora de productos biológicos para el control de plagas. La Habana adquirió con esta operación todas las acciones de Bio Vietnam, que exporta el 85% de sus producciones a distintos continentes. Según informes difundidos por la radio oficial cubana, la empresa productora y comercializadora es ahora del gobierno cubano en su totalidad. La parte adquirida por La Habana estaba en poder de un socio británico y su obtención le permitirá ampliar su capacidad productiva y de servicios (Xinhua, 21/7/09).

July 21: International tourism rose 2.7 percent in Cuba during the first six months of the current year, announced the National Statistics Office (ONE) in a press release. The number of tourists that visited the Caribbean archipelago in this first semester was 1,375,907, the biggest figure in Cuban history and some 36,265 more than during the same period of the previous year, for a 2.7 percent growth, reported ONE in its website.  Over the last month of the semester, June, Cuba received 164,904 visitors, which translates into a 7.3 percent increase compared to June 2008, and 22.1 percent compared with the same month in 2007. These figures match the Ministry of Tourism’s expectations for this period, considering the world economic crisis. Cuba expects to receive nearly 2,350,000 tourists this year, practically the same amount of last year (ACN, 21/7/09).

July 21: The Angolan minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology, José Rocha, assured in Luanda that the Governments of Angola and Cuba are implementing an agreement providing for staff training, seeking to respond to the demands in the sector. Speaking to the press, on the fringes of the meeting between the presidents of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos, and Cuba’s, Raul Castro, the minister said the accord aims to develop technologies of information and communication. Angola and Cuba last February in Luanda signed four legal accords aimed at strengthening and widen bilateral cooperation. The cooperation accords focus on Geology and Mining, Industry, including  a Memorandum of Understanding on the state and perspective for cooperation between the two countries and  the Education Ministries of Angola and Cuba (Angop, 21/7/09).

July 21: Cuba is cutting estimates of imports by billions of dollars this year and projecting a decline in export revenues due to the international financial crisis, according to a government report. The Economy and Planning Ministry forecast was drawn up within two months of President Raul Castro's replacement in March of Cuba's entire economic leadership team after a dismal 2008 performance. The report outlines adjustments to the 2009 plans of the old cabinet, including projections of 2.5 percent economic growth compared with the original 6 percent. The report says imports will plummet 22.2 percent, or some $3.4 billion, compared with an increase of nearly $1 billion first projected. Exports will decline by $500 million, compared with an increase of $600 million the old cabinet forecast. "I think the figures are much more realistic and indicate they are trying to get the current account back in the black," a foreign businessman said, asking his name not be used. The current account is a broad gauge of the balance of foreign exchange flowing in and out of a country, in Cuba's case critical given the Caribbean island's dependence on imports. The report coincides with a video of a cabinet meeting, apparently in May, making the rounds of state managers. Economy and Planning Minister Marino Murillo Jorge announced at the meeting that the country was short 30 percent of the resources needed to meet the 6 percent growth figure, a source familiar with the video said (Reuters, 21/7/09).

July 22: The Cuban central bank has authorized the release of some funds in foreign business accounts that have been blocked by the government for months and caused a growing reluctance to trade with Cuba. Central bank Instruction #3 issued this month allows the transfer or payment of foreign exchange from the frozen accounts with the approval of a government ministry, business sources familiar with the resolution said. They said some 600 accounts, with frozen funds estimated at $600 million to $1 billion, would potentially be involved. Faced with a drying-up of liquidity as the global financial crisis increasingly hit home, Cuba's state banks in January began telling many businesses their funds were simply not available for the moment. While renewed access, even if only partial, to accounts is welcome, business sources said it is being offered with the proviso that they continue to do business with the island (Reuters, 22/7/09).

July 26: More belt-tightening may lie head for Cuba as President Raul Castro said the government will look at making its second "adjustment to expenditures" this year due to the effects of the global financial crisis. He said Cuba needs to press ahead with his program for getting more land into the hands of private farmers, calling the lone major reform of his administration a top national priority. Castro spoke to thousands of red-clad Cubans in the eastern city of Holguin to mark the anniversary of the July 26, 1953 rebel attack on the Moncada military barracks in Santiago de Cuba that is considered the start of the Cuban revolution. In particular, he said there has been a "significant reduction in export income and additional restrictions to access external financing sources." Cuba’s only major reform so far has been in agriculture, where Raul Castro launched a program to let private farmers cultivate unused state land. He said that of 110,000 applications for land, 82,000 have been granted. More needs to be done to advance the land plan so Cuba can increase food production and cut import costs, he said. The island, 90 miles (145 km) from the United States, imports about 60 percent of its food. "It is an issue of national security to produce the products in this country," Castro said. "We spend hundreds of billions of dollars, and I don't exaggerate, bringing them from other countries." "The land is here, the Cubans are here, let's see if we work or not, if we produce or not," he said, pounding the podium (Discurso de Raúl Castro; Reuters, 27/7/09).

Julio 26: El primer estudio en Cuba sobre peligros tecnológicos relacionados con sustancias que pueden ocasionar un impacto negativo en el medio ambiente se realiza en la capital de la isla desde el mes de junio, informó el semanario oficial Tribuna de La Habana. La investigación abarca a todas las empresas y almacenes que por las características de su trabajo usan o guardan productos tóxicos, inflamables, radioactivos, explosivos corrosivos y otros, indica la nota. La acción está coordinada por la Agencia de Medio Ambiente (AMA) y hasta el momento "solo hay estudios muy específicos" en entidades de La Habana (EFE, 26/7/09).

July 28: Cubana de Aviación will inaugurate a new route: London-Holguín-Havana, the official radio station Radio Rebelde announced. Holguín, on the island's eastern end, about 500 miles from Havana, is a major tourist destination. The airline will use Ilyushin-96 aircraft with capacity for 258 passengers. Flight frequency will be weekly (The Miami Herald, 28/7/09).

July 28: Cuban parliamentarians discussed the need of saving electricity, during a meeting of the Commission for Energy and the Environment, held as part of the 3rd ordinary period of sessions of the island’s National Assembly. Basic Industry Minister Yadira Garcia stressed the importance of preventing an excess of electric power consumption in the various territories. She highlighted that local governments and State Central Administration Entities must demand the implementation and fulfilment of the energy saving programs, by way of mechanisms that will continue to be improved, she said. During the session held at the Havana’s Convention Center, Garcia pointed out that several workplaces that are not implementing the saving mechanisms have been detected. She announced that, starting August 1st, the rigor of the measures implemented some two months ago will increase, some of which could lead to the temporary closing of production facilities (ACN, 29/7/09).

July 29: Russia granted Cuba a 150-million-dollar credit line for the financing of technical supplies to be acquired by the island in that European country. The agreement was signed in Havana by the director of International Financial Relations Department, State Debt and Financial Assets of the Russian Finances Ministry, Konstantín Vishkovski, and by the Cuban Minister for Foreign Trade and Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca. Vishkovski is part of a large delegation of Russian entrepreneurs visiting Cuba, headed by Vice President Igor Sechin, which closed other four deals with Cuban companies. Cuba’s CUPET and Russia’s Zarubzhnieft also signed four agreements for at-risk oil exploration, which lay the grounds for future works in the island’s exclusive economic area of the Gulf of Mexico. The two countries agreed to start collaboration projects in the fishing industry, after signing a document establishing working areas in this sector (ACN, 29/7/09).

Julio 29: El viceministro de Economía y Planificación de Cuba, Adel Izquierdo, reconoció la "grave situación económico-financiera" que atraviesa el país como consecuencia de los efectos de la crisis internacional. Según informa el diario oficial Granma, Izquierdo explicó durante la reunión de la Comisión de Asuntos Económicos de la Asamblea Nacional de Cuba que las principales causas de la crisis por la que pasa la isla son la "reducción significativa de los ingresos provenientes de las exportaciones" y las "restricciones adicionales para acceder a fuentes de financiación externa". El viceministro sustentó con "inobjetables cifras y hechos" la "grave situación económico-financiera que atraviesa el país, por lo que explicó que su departamento ya trabaja "en los lineamientos para elaborar el Proyecto de Plan Económico Social para 2010 y en la proyección de la Economía para el periodo 2009-2015" (Europa Press, 29/7/09).

July 30: Agriculture was at the center of intense debates by deputies during the Cuban Parliament’s 3rd Ordinary Session, which analyzed the report presented by the Agriculture Ministry (MINAGRI). The report originated discussions on the implementation in Cuban territories of six strategic programs designed by the major economic sector. Agriculture minister Ulises Rosales del Toro briefed deputies on the current performance of the sector and its prospects and he also called on the need to increase efforts, efficiency and discipline, since food production is a Must for the country (ACN, 30/7/09).

Julio 30: El gobierno de Venezuela anunció la creación de la empresa Puertos del Alba, encargada principalmente de la "modernización" de la infraestructura portuaria del país. La Habana tendrá una participación del 49% en el proyecto. La estatal Bolivariana de Puertos tendrá el 51% de las acciones de la empresa, cuyo capital inicial es de 3,200 millones de bolívares (1,488 millones de dólares), y el restante corresponderá al "grupo empresarial de la Industria Portuaria", adscrita al Ministerio cubano de Transporte. Además de la modernización portuaria, Puertos del Alba tendrá funciones de recuperación, equipamiento y "construcción de puertos tanto en la República Bolivariana de Venezuela como en la República de Cuba", dijo la Gaceta Oficial venezolana (AFP, 30/7/09).

July 31: Raul Castro is trying to squeeze more productivity out of Cuba's socialist economy while at the same time fighting to keep it afloat in the face of the global economic crisis. Official newspaper Granma said Economy and Planning Minister Marino Murillo Jorge told the central committee, on July 29, that the 2009 economic growth forecast had been lowered again, to 1.7 percent. That was down from 2.5 percent, which was a revision from the original forecast of 6 percent growth for the year. Raul Castro has tweaked the system and reshuffled his cabinet but his only major economic reform so far has been in agriculture, where he is putting more state land in the hands of private farmers (Reuters, 31/7/09).

July 31:  It's hard to find a spare tire in Cuba these days, or a cup of yoghurt. Air conditioners are shut off in the dead heat. Factories close at peak hours, and workers go without their government-subsidized lunches. Cuba has ordered austere energy savings this summer, and the secretive Council of Ministers and Communist Party Central Committee met to consider more cuts to cope with budget deficits and plummeting export profits. "The only thing I know is that we're screwed," said one 27-year-old who only gave the name Raul because he sells cement and housing materials on the black market. "I don't work. I find a way to survive." Workers at a tire factory in San Jose de las Lajas, a rugged farming town 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Havana, said production is down and the factory goes dark when demand for electricity is high — leaving gas stations and mechanics short on spare tires. In the central province of Cienfuegos, a large dairy that supplies ice cream and other products to much of the country and exports cheese has been ordered to cut production, according to the Communist Youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde. Yogurt is scarce in Havana — sold only in upscale grocery stores that cater to tourists and are too expensive for most Cubans. Some government office workers say their hours have been cut to between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., and others are being told to come in only twice a week. State companies also have stopped offering employees low-cost lunches in worker cafeterias to save power. Other government offices, businesses, banks and stores have ordered air conditioners turned off for much of the day, rather than close early. Customer service, never stellar in state-run institutions, has suffered even more. In the sweltering banks, barbershops and boutiques, listless employees are more interested in fanning themselves than serving sweating customers (AP, 31/7/09).

July 31: Air Italy began its direct flights to Havana with the arrival at the Jose Marti International Airport by a Boeing 767 with 200 passengers on board, including a delegation of Italian journalists. The initiative constitutes the first direct connection between Italy and Cuba through that air company. The director of the Cuban Tourism Office in Italy, Jose Antonio Serguera, told reporters that Air Italy previously flew to Havana through third countries, particularly in Eastern Europe, like Poland. From now on, the Italian air company will maintain weekly flights from Rome to Havana, every Friday, with a stopover in the city of Milan (ACN, 31/7/09).