Chronicle on Cuba - Diciembre 2009

Asuntos económicos

December 1: The possibility of implementing a solid commercial exchange between Cuba and Singapore was demonstrated in Havana, at the end of a business forum held between entrepreneurs from the two nations. On the occasion of the visit to Havana of Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Long, the Cuban Chamber of Commerce organized the meeting at the Cuban capital’s Hotel Nacional, in order to know more about potentialities for mutual exchange. The president of that institution, Pedro Alvarez, pointed out the possibilities offered by the Caribbean island in terms of products recognized at world level, like rum, tobacco, medicine and biotechnology, besides specialized goods and services and direct investment. Chong Lit Cheong, executive from International Enterprise Singapore, said that interest is increasing in his country for trading with Latin America and especially with Cuba, with which this type of bond already exists, mainly in the tourist sector (ACN, 2/12/09).

December 2: Cuba and South Africa subscribed in Havana several cooperation accords. South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, headed her country’s delegation to the signing of these documents, within the framework of the 6th Cuba-South Africa Intergovernmental Session, covering sectors like the environment, biotechnology, higher education, mining and health. During the meetings held prior to the signing of the accords, the two parties reviewed the development of previous agreements and analyzed the potentialities offered by the two parties for development in areas of interest (ACN, 3/12/09).

December 3: The first of 44 Cuban sugar mills scheduled to grind during the 2009-2010 harvest have opened, official media reported, with final output by May forecast at 1.3 million to 1.4 million tonnes of raw sugar. "The Mario Munez mill began production today (…) to reach full capacity and stability by December 5, the date the harvest will officially begin," the mid-day radio newscast said. Seven mills are scheduled to open this month and the remainder in January and February, with the harvest scheduled to end by May. Cuba has yet to release results from the last harvest, which Reuters estimated at around 1.33 million tonnes based on provincial reports and sources. The current crop has suffered from a lack of inputs or late delivery of what there was as Cuba grappled with a financial crisis that forced steep cuts in imports and disrupted deliveries this year (Reuters, 3/12/09).

December 4: Uganda, where commercially viable crude deposits have been found, will send oil workers to Cuba for training, New Vision reported, citing a statement from the president’s office. The plans were agreed during a four-day visit to the Caribbean island by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni earlier this week, the Kampala-based newspaper said, without giving further details (Bloomberg, 4/12/09).

Diciembre 4: El gobierno de Raúl Castro disolvió desde 2008 un total de 139 cooperativas trabajadas en tierras estatales por malos resultados, deudas y ‘‘corrupción'', como parte de una reforma agrícola en Cuba, informó el diario oficial Granma. "La decisión tuvo en cuenta resultados económicos adversos y deudas sin respaldo productivo, déficit de fuerza de trabajo, deterioro en los rendimientos y connotadas manifestaciones de corrupción'', señaló Granma. Tras la disolución de las 139 llamadas Unidades Básicas de Producción Cooperativa (UBPC) entre 2008 y 2009, quedan 1,463, que ocupan "el 42% de las tierras cultivables'' del país y "de las cuales 402 no obtienen ganancias''. Algunas de esas empresas se transformaron con el tiempo ‘‘en hospederos de la burocracia'' y "se apartaron de los principios esenciales'' que les dieron origen, entre ellos ‘‘rescatar tierras ociosas, incrementar la producción y el ingreso de los trabajadores'', añadió. "Buena parte de esas entidades fue víctima de una mala selección de los cuadros (dirigentes), descontrol, bajos rendimientos, improvisación y reiteradas pérdidas, que devinieron pesada carga para el Estado. Los gastos eran excesivos y la respuesta productiva extremadamente pobre'', apuntó, y aclaró que algunas tienen "excelentes resultados'' (AFP, 4/12/09).

December 4: Cuba and Libya reaffirmed in Havana their economic, commercial and diplomatic relations. An accord was signed between the Foreign Ministries from the two countries in order to renew agreements and devise strategies in other areas. The Libyan delegation, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmed S. Fituri, showed special interest in the contracts signed in sectors like trade, health, investment and construction, as well as in the renewal of other commercial, technical and scientific accords. The two parties also reviewed cooperation in sectors like biotechnology and tripartite cooperation “by express wish of the leaders of the two countries and of their economic and commercial institutions”, declared the Libyan diplomat. Cuba’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade and Investment, Ramon Ripoll, highlighted the importance of the revival of commercial ties with that North-African nation. Relations of cooperation between Havana and Tripoli date back to the 1970’s.  After the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1976, Cuba sent medical personnel to that country, as well as specialists in several technical sectors, who built roads and other industrial objectives (ACN, 3/12/09).

Diciembre 9: Más del 16 por ciento de las áreas destinadas al cultivo de la caña de azúcar permanecen ociosas, afirmó José Carlos Santos, viceministro del Azúcar, quien calificó esa situación como uno de los problemas más graves de ese sector. Las autoridades también están preocupadas por el descenso del rendimiento, que en la zafra 2008-2009 cayó a 35 toneladas por hectárea (IPS, 9/12/09).

December 12: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez signed 3.2 billion dollars' worth of cooperation agreements with Cuba and said former Cuban leader Fidel Castro was in great health, after visiting him at his home. Chavez arrived in Havana for a meeting of the regional ALBA group, and met shortly after landing with President Raul Castro, who took over from his now 83-year-old brother Fidel after the longtime Cuban leader underwent surgery in 2006. "Fidel is better than all of us (...) I told Raul that Fidel will bury us all," Chavez said after his meeting with the Cuban president. Chavez and Raul Castro, 77, signed some 285 cooperation agreements worth 3.2 billion dollars, which will go into effect in 2010. Close political partners Cuba and Venezuela have expanded their economic ties since 2000, reaching a cumulative exchange of 8.7 billion dollars, said Chavez' Oil and Energy Minister Rafael Rodriguez, who is also visiting Cuba. The agreements, he said, chiefly cover the health, education, farming and energy sectors. Raul Castro said the deals signed aimed to "ease the negative repercussions of the current global economic crisis," adding that the Cuba-Venezuela union was "the chief example of our integration dream for Latin America and the Caribbean" (AFP, 13/12/09).

December 12: Members of a leftist bloc of nine Latin American nations said they plan to use a new currency dubbed the "sucre" for trade among themselves starting in January. No sucres will be printed or coined, but the virtual currency will be used to manage debts between governments while reducing reliance on the US dollar and on Washington in general. Cuba already signed an agreement to pay for a shipment of Venezuelan rice in sucres, according to Rogelio Sierra, the island's deputy foreign minister. He declined to say what the shipment was worth. That agreement was made even as ever cash-strapped Cuba has fallen behind on its debt to nations and multinational corporations amid the global recession. The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas trade group is holding a two-day summit in the Cuban capital. The group was formed by Venezuela's self-described socialist president, Hugo Chavez, as an alternative to US-backed free-trade consortiums. Member nations are Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras, Ecuador, Bolivia, Antigua and Barbuda, San Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica (AP, 12/12/09).

December 17: Officials from Cuba and Peru met in Lima to exchange their points of view at the 2nd Meeting of the Commission for Consultation and Coordination, with the common interest of intensifying bilateral bonds, including those in the economic field. Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister Rogelio Sierra and his Peruvian counterpart, Nestor Popolizio, acknowledged that the Commission is the most important mechanism fore relations between the two countries, the Prensa Latina news agency reported.  The meeting was a significant step in the strengthening of political dialogue and the revitalizing of the bilateral agenda for mutual benefit, affirmed the Peruvian Deputy Foreign Minister. Sierra thanked Peru for its support of the Resolution presented by Cuba before the UN General Assembly, a text that condemns the blockade imposed by the US on Cuba for almost five decades now (ACN, 17/12/09).

December 17: The number of joint ventures and other investment projects in Cuba remained stable this year despite a liquidity and payments crisis, according to testimony before a parliamentary commission published. Foreign Trade and Investment Minister Rodrigo Malmierca reported there were 258 joint venture and other investment projects operating in the country and 46 abroad, according to the Communist Party newspaper Granma. In July 2008, the last time figures were released, the government said there were 246 joint ventures and other investment projects in the country, but gave no figures for Cuban projects outside its borders. Cuba has pharmaceutical ventures in Iran, India, China, Brazil and other countries, works construction in Angola and Vietnam, operates a hotel in China, and has numerous ventures in Venezuela (Reuters, 17/12/09).

December 18: Workers with the Drilling and Extraction Oil Enterprise (EPEP) of central Cuba celebrated the extraction of one million tons of the crude and 395 cubic meters of gas from its wells. EPEP’s staff including the executive board and local political leaders met in the company’s headquarters to celebrate the achievement. Hidobaldo Diaz, first secretary of Cardena’s Communist Party recognized the hard work of the oil workers and highlighted their efforts to improve the quality of life of the people of Cardenas by making important contributions for the remodeling of the municipality’s hospital and other social works. EPEP’s director David Daniel Winograd said the exploitation this year of the biggest oil well in the country, 5,904 meters of depth, yielded an important part of the production and noted that the company’s goal for this year is to extract 1,218 million tons of crude, for a 5 percent increase compare to last year’s output (ACN, 18/12/09).

December 20: Cuba's economy will grow 1.4 percent this year, the government said, falling short of official forecasts and marking the communist-run island's slowest growth rate for at least six years. The Cuban economy is suffering from financing problems that have been compounded by the global economic slowdown, which has sapped earnings from tourism and hit demand for key exports such as tobacco, nickel and petroleum derivatives. The government originally estimated 2009 growth at 6 percent but later slashed its outlook to 1.7 percent. "The Cuban economy will grow 1.4 percent, below the 6 percent that was initially planned on the basis of more favorable circumstances that didn't materialize," Economy Minister Marino Murillo said. Cuba's economy grew by 4.3 percent in 2008. In a speech to the year-end meeting of the country's National Assembly, Murillo also forecast a modest economic expansion of 1.9 percent in 2010 (Reuters, 20/12/09).

December 20: Cuba relies on imports for about two thirds of what it eats. Imports of goods and services are on track to tumble 37.4 percent this year, Economy Minister Marino Murillo said in a speech to the country's National Assembly, significantly faster than exports fell and suggesting some success in Castro's drive to reduce hard currency expenses. Exports are set to plunge by 22.9 percent, the economy chief said, hit by lower global metals prices, slacker demand for cigars and lobster and lower income from foreign visitors. "At the end of the last year, there was a marked slowdown in hard currency inflows ... and due to that there were difficulties in meeting foreign payment commitments," he said, adding that Cuba would soon start talks on restructuring its debts with some companies and other governments (Reuters, 20/12/09).

December 21: Cuba resumed payments to Mexican exporters after holding back on foreign currency transfers for months, signalling that a cash crunch in the communist island’s $49 billion economy may be easing. President Raul Castro’s government stopped paying some construction and electronics companies for imports this year after $10 billion in hurricane damage and the global recession stunted growth, Rogelio Granguillhome, head of economic relations at Mexico’s Foreign Ministry, said in an interview. Cuba restarted transfers to Mexican exporters last month after halting payments about eight months ago, he said. The resumption of payments may mean that a liquidity crisis has touched bottom, said Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado, a Latin American studies professor at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The cash crunch led the government to cut local budgets and urge Cubans to reduce their energy use. “They may have turned a corner,” Benjamin-Alvarado, who travels to Cuba and has written about the country’s energy needs, said in a phone interview. “This means they probably have sufficient cash flow to meet their debt obligations.” The Cuban government has expressed its willingness to honor the country’s obligations, said a Cuban official who declined to be identified because he’s not authorized to speak about the subject. Cuba’s Foreign Ministry did not a return phone call or e-mail (Bloomberg News, 21/12/09).

December 21: Cuba managed to stop the haemorrhaging of foreign exchange that left it unable to pay many bills the past year, officials said, but creditors who are owed an estimated $2 billion do not expect to be paid in full any time soon. Cuban officials told the National Assembly the country's economic crisis had stabilized, but government spending would be limited in 2010 as the island continues to deal with effects of devastating hurricanes in 2008 and the global financial meltdown. Cuba, which is heavily dependent on imports, stopped paying many suppliers last year and froze the Cuban bank accounts of most foreign companies operating on the island as the crisis drained its cash reserves. Economy Minister Marino Murillo told the assembly that the government had turned 2008's $2.3 billion trade deficit into a surplus of $400 million by cutting imports 37.4 percent, or $6 billion, this year. That, he said, helped offset a 22.9 percent drop in exports, or $3.1 billion, caused by plummeting prices for Cuba's key export products including nickel, tobacco, lobster and technical assistance to oil producing clients such as Venezuela and Angola.His words brought little cheer to creditors, who had hoped for a signal that the money they are owed would be forthcoming. "I see nothing in Sunday's report that indicates significant amounts of money will be generated or put aside to pay fresh debt racked up to suppliers and banks this year," a foreign businessman, who asked his name not be used, said. "Further, I see nothing indicating fresh money flows from current or new exports," he said (Reuters, 21/12/09).
 
December 24: Cuba says more than 2.4 million tourists will come to the sun-kissed island by the end of the year, up 3.3 per cent from 2008's record, though deep discounts and shorter stays mean vacation industry revenues are down overall. The country will break the previous year's mark of 2.34 million visitors by nearly 80,000, fuelled by 2,000 new hotel rooms in top tourist areas, including Havana and Varadero, a white-sand beach north of the capital, Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz said in the Communist party newspaper Granma. He did not say how much Cuban tourism took in and, unlike in previous years, no information on vacation industry revenue was made public during the year-end meeting of Cuba's National Assembly. Marrero said in November that his ministry's revenues would fall about 11.7 per cent, as Cuba has been forced to slash prices because of the global recession. A top Cuban government official, speaking on anonymity because he was not authorized to have his name appear in print, said 200,000 Cuban-Americans will visit in 2009, about double last year's tally. Marrero said Canada remains the top source of visitors, with more than 900,000 coming from that country this year, followed by the United Kingdom and Spain (AP, 25/12/09).

December 24: Cuban Vice President of the Council of State and Ministers Ramiro Valdes Menendez made a call to strengthen control of energy consumption plans in each province of the country. During a visit of a ministerial commission to Santiago de Cuba, Ramiro Valdes assured that energy efficiency rates in the country are gradually improving, while the rational use of national resources and the recovery of key economic sectors for the national economy are progressing, Granma reported. Ramiro Valdes said 2010 will be a difficult year for the island to maintain the development growth while keeping the import of hydrocarbons minimal. Ramiro Valdes slammed the increase of electric frauds in both the state-run and residence sectors. He called to maintain a permanent control of power consumption in the sugar industry, in particular during the sugar cane harvest (ACN, 24/12/09).

December 24: Cuban Minister for Basic Industry Yadira García with a ministerial commission headed by Vice President Ramiro Valdes visiting Santiago de Cuba province, said power consumption will have to be reduced in the residential sector as there was an increase by 3.5 percent this year compared to 2008. Raul Garcia, deputy director of the Electric Union enterprise, reported that the trend to over consumption stopped in 2009 meaning that 190,000 tons used for power generation were saved. However, during the past three months, inspection rounds yielded a great amount of infractions concerning the implementation of power saving measures (ACN, 24/12/09).

December 28: China will aid Cuba with a 1.1 million dollar irrigation project in the communist-run island's Guantanamo province, Prensa Latina agency reported. China is one of Cuba's main political allies and its second business partner after Venezuela. The latest project, including funding from a donation promised by China in 2007, aims to help restore drainage and irrigation systems in the east of the island to improve productivity, the Cuban agency said. The project, to be overseen by Chinese company Liaoning Zhongyi International Economic and Technical Cooperation, includes the supply of trucks, tractors, trailers and other equipment, the report said. Trade between Cuba and China represents more than 2.6 billion dollars per year, and China is a key source of credit for the impoverished island (AFP, 28/12/09).

Diciembre 28: Unos 50,000 cubanos tienen más de un empleo, una cifra "discreta" seis meses después de la entrada en vigor de una resolución que permite tener más de un trabajo para incrementar los ingresos de la población y hacer frente a la crisis global, dijo la televisión estatal. La medida entró en vigor en junio y forma parte de los esfuerzos del presidente Raúl Castro para mejorar las condiciones de vida de los cubanos. "A seis meses de aplicado ese instrumento, hoy algo más de 50,000 cubanos ejercen el pluriempleo en el país. Esa cifra resulta realmente discreta", dijo un noticiero de la televisión estatal. Unas 5 millones de personas están laboralmente activas en Cuba, según cifras oficiales. El viceministro de Trabajo y Seguridad Social, José Barreiro, dijo a la televisión que el 97 por ciento de las personas que se acogieron al pluriempleo están vinculadas a la docencia. El funcionario dijo que la cifra es aún baja debido a que hay un "exceso de fuerza laboral" en algunas esferas que impide ampliar las ofertas de trabajo. La tasa de desocupación del 2009 fue del 1,7 por ciento, según cifras oficiales (Reuters, 29/12/09).

December 28: About 70 percent of the equipment used by Cuba in its oil industry comes from Azerbaijan, and Havana is eager to obtain more of it, said Cuba's ambassador to that country. In an interview published in the Azeri newspaper Trend, Marcelo Caballero Torres said Cuba is also interested in food and agricultural products and in expanding trade in communications and medicine. Havana and Baku established diplomatic relations in April 1992, but no ambassadors were named until 2007. Since then, a joint commission on cooperation has met twice and the two countries have signed agreements on energy, health, communications, agriculture, tourism, and sports. A third meeting is scheduled for early March in Havana. Still, "the exchange of trade between our countries is small, so more needs to be done in that direction," Caballero told Trend, without providing any figures. "The most promising areas in our economic relations are tourism, oil and gas, communications, pharmacology, health care, education, sports and other areas," the ambassador said (The Miami Herald, 29/12/09).

Diciembre 28: Cuba iniciará en 2010 una estrategia quinquenal de desarrollo sostenido al turismo, ante la caída constante de sus ingresos en divisas tras cerrar este año con un aumento de viajeros de 3.3 por ciento, según fuentes del sector. El ministro de Turismo, Manuel Marrero, informó que al final de 2009 se espera un total de más de dos millones 425 mil visitantes, una cifra superior a la de 2008, cuando se contabilizaron dos millones 348 mil personas, aunque se calcula que los ingresos por ese concepto disminuyeron en un 12 por ciento. Marrero precisó que la prioridad para las estrategias de desarrollo en el quinquenio 2010-2015 serán las inversiones en la región oriental de la isla, aunque se mantendrá la inyección de capital en el centro del país y en los mayores polos de la playa de Varadero y de La Habana. El funcionario identificó a Canadá como el mayor mercado emisor de turistas hacia la isla, con 900 mil vacacionistas reportados hasta el momento, seguido de Gran Bretaña y España, que sostuvo un incremento notable en los últimos meses. Otros importantes emisores de excursionistas son Italia, Alemania, Francia, México, Argentina, Estados Unidos, Rusia, Holanda y Venezuela (Notimex, 28/12/09).

December 29: Las Salinas Brito, one of the largest natural reservoirs of Latin America, could disappear under the water in 20 years as a result of climate change and the increase of the sea level. The site is located in the Zapata Swamp, the largest wet land of Cuba located in the central province of Matanzas. It spans though an area of 360 square kilometres and shelters different floral and fauna species. It is also a natural corridor for migrating birds that fly away from the cold of the north. Frank Medina, forest engineer with the Zapata Swamp National Park, told the press that thorough studies have yielded that Las Salinas will be covered by water by 2030 as a result of the increase on the sea level. “This phenomenon is not irreversible,” the Cuban expert assured and added that it would require urgent actions and joined efforts to stop it (ACN, 29/12/09).

December 29: The technology used in Cuban blood banks will be updated with Chinese equipment as part of an agreement recently signed in Beijing between the two countries. The document was penned by Yan Jingyao, vice president of MEHECO Corporation, and Nancy Cruz, with EMED, the Cuban enterprise in charge of donations management. The delivery includes biologic security cabins, centrifuges, refrigeration equipment, and mobile blood bands, among others. Cuban ambassador to China, Carlos Miguel Pereira, said the project was very important for Cuba’s health system. He explained that most of the Chinese equipment will go to blood banks in the eastern provinces of the country. This agreement will allow completing the upgrading plan for the banks in the rest of the country that had been already started with a previous contract also with the Asian country, as well (ACN, 29/12/09).

December 30: Cuba's unrefined nickel plus cobalt production appears to have been between 60,000 and 65,000 tonnes this year, the lowest in a decade, according to scattered radio reports. Cuba produced 70,400 tonnes of unrefined nickel and cobalt in 2008, after averaging between 74,000 and 75,000 tonnes during much of the decade. While production at Canadian mining company Sherritt International's nickel venture in Cuba topped 37,000 tonnes, output at two plants owned by state-run Cubaniquel was well below capacity. Cuba has not announced this year's nickel output, with officials simply stating it was less than the 70,000 tonnes planned. "The Pedro Soto Alba plant met this year's plan, producing more than 37,000 tonnes of nickel, and remains open," Jorge Cuevas Ramos, the first secretary of the Communist Party in Holguin, was quoted by national state-run Radio Rebelde as stating. Radio stations based in Holguin, where the three plants are located, reported that production at the Cuba-owned Ernesto Che Guevara plant, with a capacity of 32,000 tonnes, did not meet it's 26,000-tonne plan. There was no mention of output at the country's third and oldest plant, the Rene Ramos Latourt at Nicaro Holguin, which has a capacity of 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes and is also operated by Cubaniquel (Reuters, 31/12/09).

Diciembre 31: Cuba produjo este año unos cuatro millones de toneladas de petróleo y gas, mientras sitúa como una prioridad la exploración de nuevos yacimientos con el fin de sustituir los que ya declinan por su larga explotación, informaron los medios oficiales.
Las 4 millones de toneladas de petróleo y gas natural producidos, incluyen alrededor de tres millones de toneladas de petróleo crudo y un millón de toneladas de gas equivalente, según explicó el jefe de exploraciones de la empresa estatal Cupet, Rafael Tenreyro, en un reportaje divulgado el jueves por la televisión oficial. El especialista señaló que este año la producción se ha mantenido al mismo nivel aproximadamente del 2008, en el que alcanzó poco más de 4 millones de toneladas de petróleo y el gas. Además indicó que hay campos de petróleo que llegan a su madurez y disminuye su producción, por lo cual la exploración ocupa un "papel preponderante'' en la búsqueda de sustitutos. El jefe de exploraciones de Cupet dijo que la exploración y evaluaciones de nuevos pozos abarca desde la Zona Económica Exclusiva (ZEE), en aguas del Golfo de México, y en tierra, a lo largo de la costa norte de la isla, particularmente en el denominado "cinturón de crudos pesados'', entre las provincias occidentales de La Habana y Matanzas (EFE, 31/12/09).