Cruise lines ready to pounce on Cuba

Cruise lines ready to pounce on Cuba

Cruise lines that cater to Americans could be calling on Cuba within
months of getting the go-ahead from U.S. lawmakers.

At least, that's the word from industry watchers such as Robin Farley of
UBS, who notes that major lines such as Carnival are ready to pounce
should the U.S. lift its embargo on the Caribbean nation.

TODAY IN THE CRUISE FORUM: Who wants to go to Cuba?

"Havana is a natural deep-water port, and we believe operators could
build dockside infrastructure on a much faster time line than it would
take to build U.S. branded hotel product," notes Farley. "Itineraries
could be sold with just several months advance notice."

Few industry watchers expect the USA to lift its embargo on Cuba anytime
soon. But Tuesday's resignation of longtime leader Fidel Castro has
raised the possibility that changes in the country -- and in the USA's
relationship with it -- could be coming.

"While reports of Castro having resigned as Cuba's president do not mean
that the US will end its economic embargo in the near future, new
leadership could be a positive event for the cruise industry if
diplomatic relations resulted in the opening of Cuba to American
tourism," says Farley.

Farley says the lack of extensive hotel infrastructure in Cuba would
give cruise lines a big advantage in the early years after the U.S.
lifts its embargo.

"Cuba would represent a new itinerary with significant pent-up demand
from American tourists," she adds. Only 230 miles from Miami, the
largest of Caribbean islands "has long been in the cross-hairs of the
American cruise lines."

So far the major cruise lines are staying mum on their plans. A
spokesperson for Royal Caribbean tells USA TODAY that while the line
hopes to have its ships visiting Cuba in the future, "it's premature to
judge how events will unfold there, and (we) don't have anything to say
at this time."

Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliken also deflected questions. "Until there
is fundamental change in that government that would lead to a change in
the U.S. government's policy, there's really nothing we can discuss at
this time," he tells us.

A spokeswoman for Norwegian Cruise Line, meanwhile, tells USA TODAY the
line's executives are unavailable to discuss the topic due to all-day
meetings.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruises/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=45887628.blog

Germans Attracted to Cuba's Investment Needs

Trade | 21.02.2008
Germans Attracted to Cuba's Investment Needs

Since Fidel Castro formally announced his retreat from power in Cuba,
foreign firms have begun to hope the island will soon open up to
business. There are already indications it may.

As the world's media reported Castro's retirement, on Tuesday, Feb. 19,
Germany's business community was analyzing the situation. The
Comandante's withdrawal was a "striking turning point," said commercial
lawyer Frank Seifert, head of the German-Cuba Business Union, but it
came as no surprise. "This step had been in preparation for a long
time," he said.

Indeed, nothing is feared as much in Cuba as radical change. The
transition from the Castro era to his likely successor, Raul Castro, was
intended to be a smooth one.

"The people are afraid that the little they have will be at risk if the
change comes too quickly," Seifert said.

That fear is understandable given the powerful groups of exile Cubans in
Florida waiting impatiently for the moment they can reclaim property of
which they were dispossessed.

"Politically, we don't expect a change, but we do expect an economic
opening," said Peter Roesler of Germany's Ibero-America Club.

Decaying industry

There are indications that change may be in store. Raul Castro has
called on Cubans to identify the weaknesses of the socialist system and
to submit suggestions for improvement. Media loyal to the government
have begun to report -- with unusual outspokenness -- about economic
grievances.

Seifert, who has advised companies on investing in Cuba since 1995, said
he foresees new opportunities for German and other foreign firms looking
to do business with the island state.

"Cuba is an investment country with massive pent-up demand," he said.
"Cuba is the gate to the Caribbean. It has a magnificently educated
population."

High hurdles

Whether generators, medical technology or diesel motors, an
ever-increasing stream of products is already making its way from
Germany to Cuba. Exports to Cuba amounted to 412 million euros ($606
million) in 2006, according to Germany's Foreign Ministry.

However, investing in Cuba involves fulfilling myriad regulations and
overcoming daunting bureaucratic hurdles. In addition, Cuban business
conduct takes some getting used to and companies can be fickle when it
comes to dealing with accounts payable.

Cuba's 1995 foreign investment legislation requires foreign companies to
work with a Cuban partner from the same sector and to get state
permission to do business on the island.

The German Foreign Ministry put the number of joint ventures and
international business associations with foreign firms in Cuba at 236,
with the investments from Venezuela and China increasing especially
strongly.

Contingent on US change?

Men walk past a billboard showing a cartoon of the Statue of Liberty at
the Malecon area in HavanaBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit
der Bildunterschrift: 100 US Congressman and women said their country's
policy toward Cuba had been a failure
The German engagement was "laughable," Seifert said. German firms were
involved in only six joint ventures, which included Daimler as well as
entrepreneur Stefan Messer, who produces industrial gases and is one of
the most important German investors on the island.

Many more companies would like to invest in Cuba, and socialism isn't
the only deterrence. They are put off by the United States' blockade on
trade with Cuba.

"Laws with ex-territorial effects" like the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which
allows US courts to penalize foreign firms that trade with Cuba, should
be shelved, Roesler said. Companies active in Cuba risk being barred
from the US market.

But the US won't be able to sustain its blockade much longer, according
to Seifert. The economic embargo, in effect since 1962, has been subject
to mounting criticism in the United States.

On Tuesday, over 100 members of Congress called on Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice to change the country's approach to Cuba. Politicians
from both the Democratic and Republican parties have declared the policy
of sanctions and isolation aimed at eliciting change in Cuba a failure.
The past 50 years of that approach had had no effect, they said.

Steffen Leidel (ncy)

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3140715,00.html

Economic change in Cuba likely to come slowly — and bypass South Florida

Economic change in Cuba likely to come slowly — and bypass South Florida
Fidel Castro's departure not likely to open Cuba-South Florida trade
By Doreen Hemlock | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
February 20, 2008

Fidel Castro has resigned, but don't expect Cuba to open up to business
from South Florida any time soon, analysts say.

A government permanently led by a Raúl Castro team is likely to loosen
the state's grip on Cuba's economy, but specialists expect change to be
slow and gradual.

As long as Raúl remains in charge, they also forecast the Bush
administration will maintain Washington's decades-old embargo on U.S.
business with the communist-led nation.

Bottom line: Both Havana and Washington will keep delaying plans by
South Florida to offer goods and services to the neighboring island.

"If you're interested in investing in Cuba, prepare now for something
that may happen in three to five years," Marifeli Perez-Stable, a Cuba
specialist at Florida International University, has said.

Raúl as permanent chief is expected to open Cuba's economy somewhat
short term.

Antonio Jorge, a professor of political economy at Florida International
University, said Raúl likely will give more land to private farmers, pay
them higher prices for food and increase the availability of machinery,
fertilizer and other inputs to those farmers to ease food supplies.

Raúl also may ease some restrictions on entrepreneurs, aiming to boost
buying power for cash-strapped Cubans and political support for his
team, Jorge said. Cubans today earn an average $15 to $20 a month, too
little to afford even frequent chicken meals at home.

Cuba liberally handed out licenses for the self-employed in the early
1990s after its economy crashed from the loss of Soviet subsidies. But
Fidel clamped down once Venezuelan oil subsidies started propping Cuba
up again.

Raúl's tinkering should ease some financial pressure but also carries
political risk. It could whet appetites among the island's 11.2 million
residents for greater change.

"Small reforms could lead to demands for more basic reforms, and things
could unravel," Jorge said Tuesday.

Today, South Florida hardly does business with Cuba because of the U.S.
embargo aimed at stifling the flow of cash to the communist regime.
Americans generally need licenses to travel to the island, too.

But Cuba buys hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. food and medicine
yearly under a U.S. embargo exemption, and some food is shipped from
Port Everglades in Broward County through Crowley Maritime Corp. Some
charter airlines also fly licensed travelers between Miami and Havana.

"Today, nothing changes for tourism," Nicki Grossman, president of the
Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Tuesday. "But
long term, when Cuba opens to American visitors, they become a
competitor. We're years away, however, from major changes in U.S
relations with Cuba."

For now, Raúl may try to buy more U.S. food to boost pressure by the
U.S. business community on Washington to end the U.S. embargo. But any
significant shift in U.S.-Cuban links will have to wait at least for a
new leader in the White House, analysts say.

Once the U.S. embargo is eased, Cuba likely will seek U.S. help to
rebuild basics, from roads to homes. The island has a shortage of at
least 500,000 housing units, and its highways are dismal, said Hans de
Salas, a researcher at the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and
Cuban-American Studies.

But Raúl's team may opt to bypass greater Miami in doing U.S. business
"to diminish the role of Cuban-Americans," long hostile to the Castro
government, de Salas said.

"Logistics firms and shipping companies in Jacksonville and Tampa will
probably benefit more," de Salas said, "than those businesses affiliated
with the Cuban-American community in South Florida."

Doreen Hemlock can be reached at dhemlock@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5009.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-flzcubabiz0220sbfeb20,0,2303259.story

Brazilian, Canadian companies may benefit from Castro move

Brazilian, Canadian companies may benefit from Castro move
Published on Thursday, February 21, 2008
By Hugo Miller

GENEVA, Switzerland (Bloomberg): Fidel Castro's gradual departure from
Cuban politics may help Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Sol Melia SA and
Sherritt International Corp. widen their advantage over US competitors
forced to await a more definitive change in the island nation's government.

Castro's decision to hand power to his brother Raul may accelerate
foreign investment in oil, gas, mining and tourism, said John Kirk, a
professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Petrobras, Spanish hotel operator Sol Melia and Canadian nickel-miner
Sherritt already operate in the country. The US bans companies from
dealing with Cuba, and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said
yesterday the US doesn't plan to end its trade embargo "anytime soon."

"The early bird gets the worm," said Jacobo Blanquer, who helps manage
the equivalent of $880 million at Nordkapp Inversiones SV in Madrid,
including Sol Melia. "Sol Melia will be one of the companies that will
benefit."

Raul Castro, 76, has opened the economy to more investment since he took
over as interim leader from his ailing brother in 2006, said Kirk, who
has written several books on Cuba.

"Foreign investment is being invited in, depending on the sectoral needs
of the Cuban economy," he said.

Raul Castro has made the economy his priority, telling Cuba's
legislature he is "tired of excuses," according to a 2007 report from
the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Virginia.

He settled the state's debts to farmers and tripled prices paid to milk
and beef producers. He ended abusive pricing at Cuba's airports, where
high landing fees and refueling charges were making Cuban tourism less
attractive, according to the report.

Fidel Castro's resignation lifted shares of companies tied to Cuba. Sol
Melia, the world's biggest resort operator, rose 65 cents, or 6.6
percent in Madrid yesterday and was little changed today at 10.40 euros.
Toronto-based Sherritt, also little changed today, rose 6.2 percent
yesterday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Rio de Janeiro-based Petrobras
rose for a second day, adding 1.8 percent on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund, which aims to profit from the
resumption of US trade with Cuba, rose 3.5 percent after surging 17
percent yesterday, the biggest gain in its 13- year history.

The decision by Castro, 81, is "a clear step towards the possibility of
the US resuming trade with Cuba," said Thomas J. Herzfeld, head of the
Miami-based fund.

Its largest holdings include Jacksonville, Florida-based holding company
Florida East Coast Industries Inc. and cruise lines Royal Caribbean
Cruises Ltd. and Carnival Corp.

More than half of Cuba's foreign investment comes from Europe, primarily
Spain, and almost a fifth is from Canada, according to 2005 Cuban
government figures. Foreign direct investment, which includes Cuban
investment abroad, probably rose to $630 million last year, from $200
million in 2004, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

US companies eager to deal with Cuba will need a shift in US policy,
said Kirby Jones, a Washington-based consultant to companies seeking to
do business in Cuba.

Until the embargo is lifted, "you're not going to see McDonald's or the
European version of Kentucky Fried Chicken," said Jones.

The tourism market for companies such as Sol Melia may soar if the US
trade embargo is dropped, as American visitors and former Cuba residents
flock to the island.

"Every cruise line has thought about Cuba"' said Tim Gallagher,
vice-president of public affairs for Miami-based Carnival, the world's
largest cruise operator. "It is one of the most beautiful islands in the
Caribbean and has a number of deep water ports."

Hotel operators Marriott International Inc. and Hyatt Corp. may also try
to compete with established companies led by Sol Melia, which controls
at least a quarter of the island's hotel rooms. A spokeswoman for Palma
de Majorca, Spain-based Sol Melia who wouldn't give her name declined to
comment.

Oil, gas and mining companies also see potential in Cuba. A 2005 report
by the US Geological Survey estimated the North Cuba Basin may hold as
much as 4.6 billion barrels of oil, rivaling Ecuador's current proven
reserves, the fourth biggest in Latin America.

Petrobras, Brazil's state-controlled oil company, said today it will go
ahead with studies for offshore oil exploration and the construction of
a lubricant plant with Cuba's state- owned oil company. Castro's
resignation won't alter plans, Petrobras Chief Executive Officer Jose
Sergio Gabrielli said.

Repsol YPF SA, Spain's largest oil company, is drilling for oil offshore
and Toronto-based Sherritt began oil exploration in the country in 1992.

US airlines may have to play catch-up with Canadian and Latin American
carriers that fly to the Caribbean nation. Air traffic to Cuba may grow
20 percent by 2011 to more than 2.6 million passengers a year, according
to the International Air Transport Association. Air Canada, Air Transat
and other Canadian carriers fly about 600,000 people to Cuba each year.

Lifting the trade embargo also would release pent-up demand for Cuban
cigars, helping Madrid-based Altadis, a unit of Imperial Tobacco Group
Plc, Lehman Brothers analyst David Hayes said in a note yesterday.
Altadis in 2000 bought 50 percent of Corporacion Habanos, a distributor
of premium Cohiba and Montecristo cigars.

Imperial Tobacco spokesman Simon Evans declined to comment.

Sherritt, which began mining for nickel in Cuba in 1994, is spending
$408 million in a 50-50 joint venture with government- owned General
Nickel Co. SA.

"The transition away from Fidel Castro running things day- to-day began
20 months ago," said Sherritt spokesman Michael Minnes.

http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-6201--14-14--.html

Ending ban on Cuban cigars would boost prices, maker says

Ending ban on Cuban cigars would boost prices, maker says
Published on Thursday, February 21, 2008
By Thomas Mulier

GENEVA, Switzerland (Bloomberg): Premium Cuban cigars would jump in
price if the US were to end an embargo on trade with the island nation
and permit their sale in its cigar market, the world's largest,
according to Swedish Match AB.

Demand for Cuban cigars might double overnight if the ban were lifted, a
step Swedish Match managers view as "inevitable," Chief Financial
Officer Lars Dahlgren said on Wednesday. The Stockholm-based owner of
the Macanudo brand has drawn up plans to prepare, he said in a telephone
interview.

Speculation about an end to the ban arose on Tuesday as Fidel Castro
resigned as Cuba's president after 49 years, though the US State
Department said no policy changes are imminent. American smokers buy
two-thirds of the world's premium cigars, according to Swedish Match,
the industry's second-largest member, which has contested ownership of
the Cohiba brand with Cuba's government.

"There's no way you can serve Europe and the US if Cuban cigars became
big in the US," said Dahlgren, who declined to say when the ban might be
lifted. "If consumers would demand the same quality of cigars, prices
would skyrocket."

The entire industry eventually would benefit from an end to the embargo,
which would create more interest in smoking cigars, according to Dahlgren.

The ban, which was imposed in 1962 by John F. Kennedy and tightened by
later US presidents, has sparked a dispute between Swedish Match and
Cuba's government over the rights to the Cohiba brand. It also was the
cause of a legal battle between Bacardi Ltd. and Pernod Ricard SA for
the Havana Club rum trademark.

Cigars sold now under the Cohiba name in the US are made in the
Dominican Republic. Cuban-made Cohibas are sold outside the US by
Corporacion Habanos, a partnership between the Caribbean nation's
government and Madrid-based Altadis SA.

Handmade Cohiba Corona Especial cigars from the Dominican Republic cost
about $7 each on the website of Burlington, North Carolina-based
JRCigars.com, which bills itself as the world's biggest cigar store. A
Cuban Cohiba costs 23.40 Swiss francs ($21) at the Davidoff cigar shop
in Geneva.

Altadis has been taken over by Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, the Bristol,
England-based maker of John Player Special cigarettes. Imperial might
get a boost of as much as 2 percent to earnings before interest, tax,
depreciation and amortization if the US were to end the embargo, said
Jonathan Fell, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG in London.

"We are prepared for this to happen sometime," Dahlgren said of a
lifting of the ban. "The US is our most important premium cigar market.
If the US consumer wants Cuban cigars, we will seek to share that
segment of the market."

Swedish Match may lose market share initially if the ban were ended and
Cuba kept its monopoly on production, he said. In addition to its own
brands such as Garcia y Vega, the company owns Cuban heritage trademarks
including Partagas and Hoyo de Monterrey that were bought from exiles.

"The first few weeks we wouldn't sell a single cigar because everyone
would be buying the forbidden fruit," the CFO said.

Swedish Match, the world's second-biggest maker of smokeless tobacco
products, reported a 31 percent gain in fourth-quarter profit today
after tax increases in Sweden prompted it to boost snuff prices.

http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-6198--14-14--.html

Tough Challenges Ahead for Raul Castro

February 21, 2008
CUBA'S ECONOMIC CRISIS
Tough Challenges Ahead for Raul Castro

By Knut Henkel

Fidel Castro was the face of the revolution, now he leaves behind a
difficult legacy. Despite its successes in education, Cuba is plagued by
a serious economic crisis.

As Fidel Castro retires Cuba is left with an uncertain economic future.
It's hard to miss the giant billboard with the call to "Save Energy."
Displayed on the road connecting Havana and Matanzas, the colors of the
poster may have faded but the campaign is more relevant than ever. New
buses for Cuba's city and regional public transport system and new
Chinese-made trains are intended to improve the energy efficiency on the
island. And the government has declared war on ancient energy-guzzling
household appliances.

It's all part of what Fidel Castro has dubbed the "energy revolution."
The aim: to drastically reduce energy costs on the island. The aged
revolutionary leader announced back in 2004 that the investment in the
energy savings program would soon pay for itself in the savings made.

Whether that sum adds up is disputed in Cuba. It is certain that the
"Revolución energetíca" was the last great economic vision from the
Comandante en Jefe -- a vision that has at least paid off for a number
of German firms that are involved in the modernization of Cuba's power
stations and generators.

It looks like these economic contacts are set to become even closer in
the future, with more cooperation in the areas of medical technology,
biotechnology and sewage disposal on the agenda. Cuba provides an
interesting opportunity for companies around the world -- thanks to an
important legacy of the revolutionary leader: education.

Revolutionary Education

It was Fidel Castro who personally began the impressive crusade for
education in Cuba following the 1959 revolution. The drive for literacy
across the island was to provide the basis for a knowledge society. The
former president is still proud of this today. In his resignation letter
published in the party paper Granma on Tuesday, he couldn't help but
point out that every Cuban has completed an average of 12 years of basic
education. The Comandante had made the Cubans a nation of high-school
graduates, and the island a location for science and research.

This has paid off in the past, and it could still count in the future.
For example, Cuba is one of the leading countries in the world when it
comes to biotech-pharmaceutical research. Scientists in Havana are
working on vaccinations against AIDS, Leprosy and Cholera and have
developed some of the first vaccinations against cancer, which are
almost ready to go on the market.

One of these vaccinations, Osag101, is intended to stop the spread of
cancerous cells in the brain, throat and neck. A German company,
Oncoscience, based in Wendel near Hamburg, has the license for selling
the drug in 46 countries. Osag101 is currently undergoing clinical tests
in Germany and Oncoscience chairman Ferdinand Bach is confident that it
will soon be approved.

The drug is just one example of Cuba's success in the biotech sector.
According to industry magazines and conferences, the country's
scientists are working on a number of different medicines. But their
weak point is when it comes to marketing them.

Cuba's Brain Drain

Another problem is the fact that many of Cuba's researchers have been
unable to resist the temptations of the West. The brain drain of
scientists is a constant topic in the well-equipped laboratories of
Havana. Highly qualified Cubans are simply paid better in San Francisco,
Paris or London. In response, Cuba has given its researchers many
privileges, including foreign currency bonuses, nice apartments and
further training abroad. However, the standard of living is not high on
the island, and there are always shortages of even the most everyday items.

The primary problem, though, is that in Cuba things may be tightly
controlled but little is produced. Fidel Castro has not succeeded in
transforming his unquestionable success in educational policy into
economic dynamism. The "biotech Revolution" that was introduced in 1981
makes no more than half a billion dollars a year. That is just pocket
change compared to the profits of biotech companies in the US.

Things look just as unimpressive in many other parts of the Cuban
economy. The best example is agriculture. According to the Granma
newspaper, Cuba had to sink $1.7 billion into food imports in the last
year alone. In 2002, at the Commandante's behest, the country had to cut
back on sugar production in order to put more into manufacturing foodstuffs.

Even Cuban agricultural experts admit that the results have been
devastating. Most often to blame are the centralized,
over-bureaucratized decision-making and planning processes. At the same
time, salaries can't keep pace with the cost of living. Carmelo
Mesa-Lago, Cuba expert at the University of Pittsburgh, estimates that
the Cuban peso has lost 76 percent of its purchasing power since 1989.

But Fidel Castro has paid little attention to Cubans' suffering and the
economy's poor productivity and been all too happy to ascribe it to the
trade embargo of the evil USA.

State Bureaucrats Strangle the Economy

Particularly atrocious are the effects that the "bear with it" policy
has had on the agricultural sector, where reforms address all but the
central problem -- that of land ownership. Armado Nova of the Center for
the Study of the Cuban Economy (CEEC) in Havana puts it clearly: "Why
should I invest in the land, if it doesn't belong to me?"

Fidel Castro can hardly offer Cuban youth many prospects. The economy is
being strangled by state bureaucrats. Following the collapse of the
sugar economy, the country wanted to build up new sectors of production
-- but the project has failed miserably. Now it's up to Castro's younger
brother Raul to clean up the mess.

He, unlike the ex-president, will not hesitate to talk about home-grown
problems. One of these is the dependency on Venezuela, which is
providing the island with oil. At the moment, roughly 30,000 Cuban
experts -- from doctors to engineers -- are in Venezuela. Their work is
being well rewarded and according to experts at the CEEC, their pay
constitutes Cuba's most significant source of revenue.

Dependency on Venezuela

In colonial times, Cuba was slave to Spain, then to the US and, after
the revolution, to the Soviet Union. Now it is dependent on Venezuela
and its President Hugo Chavez -- but that's only discussed behind closed
doors in Cuba. A legacy of the Commandante, from which the country is
already suffering.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,536842,00.html

Thorny property rights dispute looms over Cuba

Thorny property rights dispute looms over Cuba
Thu 21 Feb 2008, 15:24 GMT
By Tom Brown

MIAMI (Reuters) - A multibillion-dollar battle over property confiscated
after Cuba's 1959 revolution edged closer this week with the retirement
of veteran leader Fidel Castro, a leading lawyer for Cuban exiles believes.

"Historically, it's a milestone," Miami lawyer Nicolas Gutierrez told
Reuters.

He is handling nearly 400 claims against Cuba's government, mostly on
behalf of exiles who left their homeland in a hurry and had their
property seized after Castro's guerrillas entered Havana and took power
nearly half a century ago.

Castro's retirement this week raises hopes that the property claims will
finally be settled, Gutierrez said in an interview Wednesday. "We may
still be years away but we're closer to the end."

He says U.S. citizens and companies lost roughly $8 billion at today's
prices in confiscated property in Cuba and have 5,911 claims pending
with the U.S. government's Foreign Claims Settlement Commission.

The nationalized property of Cubans far exceeds that, however, and
Gutierrez said it could total as much as $200 billion. "You're talking
about some serious, serious value."

Around a quarter of his clients hired him after Castro temporarily
handed over power to his brother, Raul Castro, when he underwent
intestinal surgery in July 2006. And Gutierrez expects his business to
boom when there are finally clear signs of a democratic opening in Cuba.

"I'm basically a corporate, government relations lawyer, but I'm doing
more and more of this and some day it will explode and become a huge
practice," Gutierrez said.

He said only about six new clients had trickled into his office since
Tuesday, when the 81-year-old Castro announced that he would not return
as head of state, indicating that few expect rapid changes under his
likely successor, Raul Castro.

THREAT OF EVICTION

The threat of exiles returning to Cuba to claim confiscated property has
long helped bolster support for Castro's government among Cubans who
worry they could be forced out of homes they have occupied for decades.

But Gutierrez said many exiles who have remade their lives in Miami, or
elsewhere, were looking for compensation rather than repossession, and
that solutions could be reached after communism ends, the same way they
were in Eastern Europe.

"No one can be evicted from homes even if they're not theirs. The right
of possession has to be respected," he said.

Gutierrez, the 43-year-old son of Cuban exiles, was born in Costa Rica.
He has never been in his parent's homeland but says his family had about
100,000 acres of land there, including two sugar mills based near
Cienfuegos in the country's southeast, before it was expropriated by the
revolutionary government.

"The communists have kept meticulous records of the properties they
stole from the Cuban people," he said.

"You would think that they would have destroyed everything, burned
everything, just to sort of erase the past ... They're almost sort of
giving us more legal rope to hang them with eventually." (Editing by
Michael Christie and Kieran Murray)

http://africa.reuters.com/commodities/news/usnN21252187.html

What Does Castro's Resignation Mean?

What Does Castro's Resignation Mean?
Compiled by the DiversityInc staff. Date Posted: February 19, 2008

His iron-fisted Communist rule lasted 49 years, outlasting the Berlin
Wall and the Soviet Union, but today, 81-year-old Cuban leader Fidel
Castro announced his resignation

Now the inevitable questions will arise--what does it mean for Cuba?

For the moment, it's uncertain that much, if anything, will change. When
Castro became ill in 2006, he transferred much of his power to his
76-year-old brother, Raul, the country's defense minister. Castro
himself has said he still plans to be a powerful voice in Cuban politics.

With news that Castro's brother is expected to officially be named
president in the coming days, several Cuban groups said they expect
little change to occur in the country.

The Spanish-Cuban Foundation, a Madrid-based organization that assists
Cuban exiles, has adopted a wait-and-see attitude. "All scenarios are
open. Anything can happen. But as of today, nothing substantial has
changed in Cuba," spokesperson Orlando Fondevila told The Associated Press.

CNN.com reports that many Cuban Americans were shocked that the Castro
regime lasted as long as it did. "We came here with a roundtrip ticket …
because we thought the revolution was going to last days," Rep. lleana
Ros-Lehtinen, the first Cuban American elected to Congress, told
CNN.com. Ros-Lehtinen fled Cuba as a child for Florida. "And the days
turned into weeks, and the weeks to months, and the months to years."

For stories of immigrants achieving success in the United States,
including Rene Rodriguez of Babbalu.com who left Cuba as a child, read
the September issue of DiversityInc magazine.

Ros-Lehtinen has been one of the Castro's regime's most ardent critics,
going as far as appearing in the documentary "638 Ways to Kill Castro,"
advocating for his assassination.

President Bush commented that Castro's resignation could lead to the
start of a democratic transition occurring in the country. "The
international community should work with the Cuban people to begin to
build institutions that are necessary for democracy and eventually this
transition ought to lead to free and fair elections," CNN.com reports
Bush as saying upon hearing the news.

Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida added, "Today is not the ultimate day of
change; it's the beginning of a process hopefully that will lead to
change, to real change," reports CNN.com. "The initial change has to
come from the Cuban government."

The United States and Cuba have had no official diplomatic relationship
since the start of the Castro regime. Sens. Hillary Clinton, Barack
Obama and John McCain have not commented publicly about Castro's
resignation as of yet. But last August, Obama wrote an op-ed to the
Miami Herald that was critical of the Bush administration policy to
further tighten restrictions on relatives of Cubans who visit the island
or send money back home.

"Unfortunately, the Bush administration has made grand gestures to that
end while strategically blundering when it comes to actually advancing
the cause of freedom and democracy in Cuba," Obama said.

http://www.diversityinc.com/public/3089.cfm

Experts: Expect reforms in Cuban agriculture

Experts: Expect reforms in Cuban agriculture
Posted on Thu, Feb. 21, 2008
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
jdorschner@MiamiHerald.com

Raúl Castro may move slowly to make minor reforms, but even small
changes in agriculture could have ''combustible . . . unintended
consequences,'' according to a veteran Cuba expert.

Marifeli Pérez Stable, a vice president of the Inter-American Dialogue
in Washington and a professor at Florida International University, made
the observation Wednesday night during a panel discussion that served as
the opening for the seventh annual conference held by the Cuban Research
Institute.

Pérez Stable was speaking of much-discussed agricultural reforms
allowing smaller farmers incentives to boost Cuba's dismal production
rates. With Fidel Castro stepping down as president and many citizens
complaining about living on 15 or 20 pesos a month, the demand for
change is huge, she said.

Florida cattle rancher John Parke Wright, who travels to Cuba monthly,
told The Miami Herald later that ''agriculture is priority No. 1'' for
the Cuban government and reform is already under way.

Wright said he spent last week with Ramon Castro, the older brother of
Fidel and Raúl. It was the leadership's idea to give small- and
medium-size farmers incentives, but he disagreed with Pérez Stable's
''combustible'' possibility.

''Put it another way. The Cubans that are in the leadership are in the
cocina [kitchen] and they know what they're good at. They're solid men
and women. The one thing Cubans want is more pesos in their pockets and
a better quality of life,'' Wright said.

''Bueno trabajo, bueno dinero,'' Wright said. ``Good work, good money.
That's pretty straightforward stuff.''

Wright said the reform efforts were starting with farmers raising pigs
and chickens, because these were the places to make the quickest changes.

Many efforts are already under way in which Texas and Florida ranchers
are helping Cuba boost production. Wright said he has arranged for Texas
ranchers to produce 2,000 ''straws'' of Brahman bull semen to be shipped
to Cuba. Some Florida ranchers have also been shipping prize bulls to Cuba.

During the panel discussion Wednesday, Damián Fernandez, director of
FIU's Cuban Research Institute, said Raúl must walk a fine line in
making changes. Cuba has ''not fully entered into a post-Fidel period,''
Fernandez said. He views Raúl as having ``much more pragmatic, rational
basis for his leadership.''

But ''he needs hard-liners to be rather happy,'' while also looking to
the general citizens' complaints of shortage of goods, Fernandez said.
``He needs to deliver. He needs to govern differently.''

Pérez Stable noted that after almost a half-century of rule, ``how
exhausted Cubans are and how spent the leadership is.

''Fidel has been sold on the issue of agricultural reforms. The
government thinks it can control these reforms, but no matter what, they
are going to be radical in their context,'' because the country has gone
so long without reforms.

``The consequences are going to be unexpected and unknowable. The
government won't be able to control them.''

Katrin Hansing, an anthropologist at the Cuban Research Institute, noted
that even a Cuban neurosurgeon has become an illegal cab driver to make
ends meet. ''Breaking the law has become the standard practice'' as
Cubans put on the ``double-face.''

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/427609.html

Many view Raúl Castro as a reformer

CUBA
Many view Raúl Castro as a reformer
In a post-Fidel Castro world, brother Raúl may steer Cuba in a new but
cautious direction aimed at satisfying hopes for change.
Posted on Thu, Feb. 21, 2008
BY ALFONSO CHARDY AND FRANCES ROBLES

A Cuba where its people can travel abroad and sell their cars and homes
without government controls. A Cuba with more private farmers, more
market forces and perhaps even a radically overhauled top leadership.

That's a Cuba far from its current version, marked by a soul-killing
bureaucracy and a Communist command economy.

But that's the Cuba that some experts are predicting if Raúl Castro, as
expected, is elected to replace Fidel Castro, his older brother and
orthodox communist, as the island's president when the legislative
National Assembly meets Sunday.

The man who commanded the firing-squad executions of hundreds in 1959,
who controls the repressive Interior Ministry and who was nearly
indicted in Miami on drug charges is now seen as the possible reformer
who will lead Cuba into something of a China-styled market communism.

None of these changes are expected overnight -- and no one is predicting
a turn to democracy -- but experts say Raúl Castro is likely to tackle
some of the nation's many and profound ills in the coming months.

The average monthly salary stands at about $15, and food prices are
high. Farm production is low because the government pays low prices.
Government permits are needed but hard to get for everything from
selling a car to leaving the country to opening a maximum 12-chair
restaurant.

MUCH WORK AHEAD

So Castro faces a monumental task.

''He has to start improving economic performance and reducing the misery
that the population suffers,'' said Brian Latell, a former CIA analyst
on Cuba. ``He has to improve the economy, especially for the youth, who
are the most unhappy.''

While a wholesale reversal of command economy controls is not expected,
''I think he will allow [more] small private farms and market incentives
in agriculture,'' added Latell, now with the University of Miami's
Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies.

Castro gradually may replace top government officials, perhaps
appointing a new defense minister -- a post he has held for nearly five
decades -- as well as other aides and younger generals, Latell added.

Similar assessments came from Francisco Aruca, a Miami Cuban-American
radio commentator and travel agent who frequently travels to Cuba and
defends accomplishments of the revolution but also criticizes its
shortcomings.

NEW TRAVEL RULES?

Among restrictions Aruca said may be lifted are the exit permits
required for travel abroad -- even when Cubans have obtained foreign
visas -- and the permits required to sell cars and homes in Cuba.

Observers also expect a change in leadership style. While Fidel was
bombastic and verbose and a disorganized manager, Raúl is the opposite
-- subdued and to the point, at times shy of the public spotlight but
always a masterful organizer.

And he steered Cuba successfully through the potentially risky
interregnum after Fidel Castro ceded power to him following intestinal
surgery in mid-2006. The ailing Castro has made no public appearances
since then, turning up only in photos and videos issued by the government.

''Things are changing in Cuba, but in silence, out of view,'' said
Lissette Bustamante, a former Cuban government television reporter who
covered Raúl Castro before fleeing abroad in the early 1990s and now
lives in Miami.

After the triumph of the Castro revolution in 1959, Raúl used Soviet aid
to build Cuba's armed forces into a powerful unit that fought well in
Angola, Ethiopia and several other foreign wars. And when the end of
Soviet subsidies dramatically weakened the military in the early 1990s,
he turned it into an economic powerhouse, running tourist hotels,
managing imports and exports that now control an estimated 60 percent of
the economy.

`THE PRUSSIAN'

One interesting take on Raúl Castro's personality came from Markus Wolf,
the legendary spy chief of East Germany, in his 1997 autobiography, Man
Without a Face.

''Unlike his more emotional colleagues, he took a cool, strategic view
of Cuba's situation,'' Wolf wrote. 'He was the only one there who turned
up for appointments on time, a trait highly unusual for Cubans. His
friends teased him for his punctuality and called him `The Prussian.' ''

He also can be cold-hearted -- and murderous.

Within days of Fulgencio Batista's ouster from power in January of 1959,
while Fidel enjoyed the adoration of crowds, troops under Raúl's command
in eastern Oriente province summarily executed about 100 Batista followers.

Armando Lago, a Cuban exile economist who has made it his life's work to
compile a list of every person killed in the name of the Castro
revolution, says that as governor of Oriente province, Raúl was
personally responsible for 550 executions in 1959 alone -- about 100 of
them without a trial.

It was also Raúl who ordered the arrest of Gen. Arnaldo Ochoa, one of
Cuba's most decorated and popular military officers -- apparently on
orders from Fidel, who suspected him of disloyalty. Ochoa was executed
in 1989 after he was convicted of drug smuggling in a nationally
televised trial.

Raúl Castro himself also has been linked to drug smuggling. In 1993, The
Miami Herald reported that federal prosecutors in Miami had prepared a
draft indictment charging him and 14 other top Cuban officials in a
conspiracy to smuggle Colombian cocaine through Cuba to the United
States. The indictment was never submitted to a grand jury.

Raúl likes to party and enjoys telling and hearing jokes, is friendly to
employees and aides and is far better than Fidel at taking care of
family matters, Bustamante said. While Fidel missed their mother's
funeral, Raúl was the one who consoled the rest of the relatives. He
seldom forgets a birthday.

HEALTH ISSUES

As an adult, Raúl acquired the reputation of being a heavy drinker who
would go on binges when he had disagreements with Fidel. But a former
top aide who defected in the early 1990s said he only knew Raúl to
suffer from diverticulitis, the same disease believed to have sparked
the health crisis that forced Fidel to surrender power in 2006.

Raúl was married since early 1959 to Vilma Espín, a former guerrilla,
longtime head of the Federation of Cuban Women and often Cuba's acting
first lady at Fidel's side in official functions. She died in June 2007.

They have four children -- Deborah, Mariela, Nilsa and Alejandro -- and
several grandchildren. Mariela is a well-known gay rights activist who
at times seemed to assume the role of family spokeswoman during Castro's
convalescence.

Castro first anointed Raúl as his successor in 1959, but the choice was
not widely known until a 1985 interview with Playboy magazine.

''Since the very first year, and particularly when we started realizing
that the CIA had plans to shorten my life,'' Fidel told Playboy, ``we
suggested . . . Raúl Castro . . . would immediately assume leadership.
In my opinion, the comrade chosen is the most capable, not exactly
because he's my brother, but due to his experience and revolutionary
merits.''

Immediately after Castro ceded power to him in 2006, Raúl began making
some tentative changes: He replaced four Cabinet ministers; called for
talks with Washington; settled government arrears with farmers; called
for open debates on the country's problems; and pushed the government
news media into some hard-nosed reporting.

But now the pressure is squarely upon his shoulders to make the kinds of
economic changes that will keep the socialist revolution going -- or
watch it fall apart.

''What kept Fidel in power was his charisma,'' said Bernardo Benes, a
Cuban exile who met Raúl in the early 1950s when both played on the
University of Havana's soccer team. ``Definitely, Raúl does not have the
charisma his brother had. He has a different personality.''

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/427008.html

Cuba expected to turn over new leaf in farming

Cuba expected to turn over new leaf in farming
Classic Cuba
Email Picture
Javier Galeano / Associated Press
The chrome shines on one of the vehicles on a Havana avenue the day
after Fidel Castro announced his intention to retire. For Castro's
"legacy to survive, they need to have a working economy in Cuba," one
observer says.
Reforms are also seen as likely in the oil industry and monetary system
in the post-Castro era.
By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
February 21, 2008

MIAMI -- Without Fidel Castro as president, Cuba is more likely to
launch reforms to boost food production, create oil industry jobs and
put more pesos in citizens' pockets, analysts said Wednesday.

Some changes, probably starting with efforts to help farmers, are likely
to occur during the next year, some analysts said.

Raul Castro, the president's 76-year-old brother and potential
successor, and other Cuban leaders for months have indicated that
farmers may receive legal rights to their land and guaranteed market
prices for their produce.

Those changes and other economic improvements could happen more quickly
following Fidel Castro's announcement Tuesday that he would step down as
head of state after nearly half a century running the island nation,
analysts said.

"I don't know that Cubans would be expecting something in the next two
weeks. But I do think Raul has raised expectations to a degree that
they're expecting something in the course of this year," said Phil
Peters, Cuba analyst for the Lexington Institute think tank near Washington.

With food production pitifully low for a country with fertile land and a
year-round growing climate, farmers need more land and more autonomy in
tilling it to boost output. Cuba imports at least 70% of its food,
including a record $437-million worth from the United States last year.

Many Cuban farms have antiquated cultivation equipment. Donkeys and oxen
are as visible in rural areas as tractors and combines.

Especially in the fields of agriculture and foreign investment, reform
can and should be embraced swiftly, said Antonio Zamora, a Cuban-born
lawyer and Bay of Pigs veteran who has spent the last 15 years working
to repair relations between Cubans in the U.S. and those in Cuba.

"They haven't talked as much about it, but I think they may also reverse
the elimination of self-employment and allow more paladares [private
restaurants] and other small business," Zamora said.

Fidel Castro, 81, has long opposed anything that smacks of private
enterprise or disproportionately enriches one group of Cubans. But his
brother and lifelong No. 2, who began leading the country when Fidel
fell ill and temporarily ceded power to him 19 months ago, has been
speaking openly about the need to stimulate agricultural output by
turning land back to those who want to work it and boost their living
standards by the sweat of their brows.

The elder Castro has been disparaging much of the talk of open produce
markets and ethanol production from sugar cane. But in one of his
periodic "reflections" on life, he vowed to be careful and conciliatory
in expressing his opinions, leading analysts to conclude that he will
try not to micromanage his successors.

Cuba's leaders are considered protective of Castro's legacy, which
includes providing free healthcare and education, even as critics point
to constraints on political dissent and personal freedoms.

"But for that legacy to survive, they need to have a working economy in
Cuba -- not for the sake of the global economy, but for the people of
Cuba," said Zamora, who travels to the island nation every few months to
analyze investment opportunities for clients across Latin America.

Jorge Piñon, an energy analyst with the University of Miami's Center for
Hemispheric Policy and a retired oil industry executive, agreed that
agriculture is the most likely first reform target. The country must
also address its monetary system, which has created a class divide
between those Cubans with access to U.S. dollars and those without, he said.

Opportunities to draw more investment in oil exploration and nickel
mining have also emerged, Piñon said. Those industries, he said, could
provide more lucrative employment to Cubans than the state-run factories
and enterprises currently paying workers less than $20 a month.

Castro vacillated over the decades in his insistence that capitalism be
fully exorcised from his country, says Luis Martinez-Fernandez, a
Cuban-born University of Central Florida history professor writing a
book about Castro's revolution.

Necessity forced him to allow some private shops and services to emerge
in the early 1990s, as well as to allow Cubans abroad to send dollar
remittances to family on the island, Martinez-Fernandez said.

"If we want to maintain the gains of the revolution, the best way is to
have a gradual transition, one that is peaceful and one that is
controlled from the top and controlled by Cubans," he said.

An opportunity now exists for Cuba's leaders to step back and rethink
their development course and how best to protect the gains of the
revolution, added Martinez-Fernandez.

"We have two very stubborn world leaders who have been intransigent with
each other for a long time: George W. Bush and Fidel Castro. But in a
few months neither of them will be in power," said the professor. "The
moment is very auspicious."

Peters said the new Cuban president is likely to roll out the changes
step by step, to avoid the destabilizing swings in the economy that
radical change brought in Eastern Europe. A successor to Fidel Castro is
expected to be named Sunday when the National Assembly convenes to
propose a new executive body, the 31-member Council of State.

Castro's potential successors seem more comfortable with the prospect of
some Cubans being able to increase their incomes through self-employment
than he was, Peters said.

Vice President Carlos Lage and Raul Castro, both considered in line for
the presidency, teamed up in the 1990s with foreign investors to develop
hotels, airlines and tour companies that now cater to more than 2
million visitors a year.

Others see Fidel Castro's resignation as the removal of an impediment to
the kind of economic transformation necessary to address the basic needs
of Cuba's more than 11 million people.

"It's not a radical change in the leadership of the country, nor in the
policies of the country. But it's an important crack in the door," said
Alan Becker, a lawyer who deals with property rights, trade and
international business. "The successors to Fidel will want to make it
their own, just as shifts occurred in China which took some time to
morph into an almost state capitalism."

carol.williams@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cubareform21feb21,0,6219347.story

Castro's exit builds Cuban expectations

Thursday, February 21, 2008
Castro's exit builds Cuban expectations
Many are hoping for free-market opportunities
By The Associated Press
line.com/flash/spotlight.gif" WIDTH="300" HEIGHT="250" BORDER="0"></A>

HAVANA (AP) -- Fidel Castro spent nearly five decades railing against
even the tiniest of capitalist reforms in the Western Hemisphere's only
communist country.

Some Cubans are hoping his brother, Raul, would embrace free markets and
more if he becomes president Sunday -- perhaps moving Cuba to something
more like Vietnam or China, which also have communist leaders, but let
markets largely rule their economies.

"China is a communist country but the people are free to earn a lot and
buy cars, cell phones," said Alberto, who rolls cigars in a government
factory for $15 a month. "Why can't Cuban communism be like that?"

The answer could start to emerge Sunday when Cuba's parliament meets to
choose new leaders. While Raul Castro is likely to be named president,
the choices for 30 other lawmakers on the Council of State, including
his No. 2, could indicate how far the island's supreme governing body is
willing to go toward opening the economy.

Fidel, 81 and ailing, took himself out of the running Tuesday for the
top spot but may continue to wield enough power
Advertisement
Click to learn more...
as Communist Party chief to stifle any major changes.

Raul, 76, already has tantalized many reform-seekers while serving as
acting president for 19 months. He has urged unspecified "structural
changes" in Cuba's communist system, acknowledged that state salaries
don't meet basic needs, and called on Cubans to complain openly when
government control of the economy flounders -- although, so far, there
have been few changes beyond better pay for farmers and increased food
production.

And as defense minister, Raul put Cuba's military at the forefront of
the economy, as he and other top military officers assumed control of
such key sectors as electronics imports, cigar exports and tourism.

"There could be a new perspective with Raul, new freedoms that are
exciting to some," said Sergio, a 47-year-old government factory worker.

Like others interviewed, he was afraid that having his full name appear
in the foreign press could lead to harassment by supervisors at work, or
even political repercussions.

The Cuban government provides free housing, education and health care,
and ration cards help cover the costs of basic food. Few Cubans want to
part with those benefits and fully embrace U.S.-style capitalism,
although many are hoping the new government could accept tweaks to the
system and enough small economic opportunities to allow for improvements.

"No one dies of hunger in Cuba, but the system of everyone equal,
prisoners the same as students, the same as doctors -- it doesn't work,"
said Evelyn, a 24-year-old student. "People who work hard deserve to be
paid well."

This month, student leaders grilled parliament president Ricardo Alarcon
about low state salaries, restrictions on Internet access and rules that
prevent most Cubans from traveling abroad or staying in hotels designed
for tourists -- many of the most-infuriating features of daily Cuban life.

There was no mention of the closed event in official Cuban media, but
pirated video of it has circulated widely and one student who asked
tough questions later appeared on state television, in an apparent
government effort to prove that his criticisms did not land him in prison.

Even state-run newspapers have produced unusually critical articles
lately, accusing officials of drastically underestimating unemployment
rates and failing to provide sufficient supply to meet demand,
especially for food.

Nearly 80 percent of Cubans work for the government and the average
monthly state salary is about $19.50. Government economists estimate at
least 60 percent of Cubans have access to dollars, euros and other
foreign currency because of jobs in tourism, with foreign companies, or
through funds sent by relatives in the United States.

Still, the government's campaign for egalitarianism limits access to
luxuries such as cell phones and private vehicles. While the government
provides credits for major appliances such as refrigerators, washing
machines and televisions, buying or selling homes to anyone but the
government is forbidden.

Clothing, electronics and grocery stores that cater to foreigners are
often well-stocked with products unavailable anywhere else, from toilet
paper and disposable diapers to items not fully covered by the
subsidized food rations, such as beef, milk and cooking oil.

Even basics such as underwear, shoes and personal care items like
shampoo and shaving supplies can only be found in stores whose prices
are too high for most Cubans.

A pair of Nike Air Force I sneakers costs the equivalent of $140, while
a bottle of soft contact lens solution from Bausch & Lomb sells for the
equivalent of $16.75.

Many Cubans were upset by a recent law requiring people who work for
foreign companies to pay taxes on foreign currency income they get in
addition to their tiny salaries paid in Cuban pesos. Yet the measure
could one day give rise to a true middle class, since it legalizes what
was long a potentially illegal practice of earning foreign currency --
and acknowledges that Cubans working with international companies make
far more money than compatriots in government jobs.

For the first time under communist rule, Cuba may be ready to allow a
large percentage of its population accumulate wealth -- as long as they
pay taxes.

Vladimir, a 27-year-old who studied economics at the University of
Havana, said he supports Raul Castro's small steps so far, but recently
quit his job at a state agricultural cooperative and sees working with a
foreign company as his only hope.

"I think, 'What can I have in 10 years?' and it's very sad," Vladimir
said. "I can work very hard, but with a state salary, I can't buy a
house, an apartment. I can't plan a life other than living with my parents."

http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=191562

Americans: Castro was bad for Cuba

The number: 66% — Americans: Castro was bad for Cuba
Published: Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008 12:18 a.m. MST

Americans have an overwhelmingly negative view of Fidel Castro, who
resigned as president of Cuba this week, with two-thirds (66%) saying he
has been bad for Cuba and just 15% saying he has been good; but opinions
in some of the other nine countries surveyed in the hemisphere are more
mixed with pluralities in Canada, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil and Peru
saying Castro had a positive effect on Cuba.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,5143,695254874,00.html

Cubans hope for shift toward capitalism

Cubans hope for shift toward capitalism
By Wili Weissert
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
02/21/2008

HAVANA — Fidel Castro spent nearly five decades railing against even the
tiniest of capitalist reforms in the Western Hemisphere's only communist
country.

Now that he is stepping down, some Cubans are hoping his brother, Raul,
will embrace free markets and more if he becomes president on Sunday —
perhaps moving Cuba to something more like Vietnam or China, where
communist leaders let markets largely rule their economies.

"China is a communist country, but the people are free to earn a lot and
buy cars, cell phones," said Alberto, who rolls cigars in a government
factory for $15 a month. "Why can't Cuban communism be like that?"

The answer could start to emerge Sunday when Cuba's parliament meets to
choose new leaders. While Raul Castro is likely to be named president,
the choices for 30 other lawmakers on the Council of State, including
his No. 2, could indicate how far the island's supreme governing body is
willing to go toward opening the economy.

Fidel, 81 and ailing, took himself out of the running Tuesday for the
top spot but may continue to wield enough power as Communist Party chief
to stifle any major changes.

Raul, 76, has already tantalized many reform seekers while serving as
acting president for 19 months. He has urged unspecified "structural
changes" in Cuba's communist system, acknowledged that state salaries
don't meet basic needs and called on Cubans to complain openly when
government control of the economy flounders — although, so far, there
have been few changes beyond better pay for farmers and increased food
production.

And as defense minister, Raul Castro put Cuba's military at the
forefront of the economy, as he and other top military officers assumed
control of such key sectors as electronics imports, cigar exports and
tourism.

"There could be a new perspective with Raul, new freedoms that are
exciting to some," said Sergio, a 47-year-old government factory worker.

Like others interviewed, he was afraid that having his full name appear
in the foreign press could lead to harassment by supervisors at work, or
even political repercussions. Raul Castro has called for an increased
tolerance of public criticism, but many are still afraid to openly speak
their minds.

The Cuban government provides free housing, education and health care
for citizens, and ration cards help cover the costs of basic food.

Few Cubans want to part with those benefits and fully embrace U.S.-style
capitalism, although many are hoping the new government could accept
tweaks to the system and enough small economic opportunities to allow
for small quality-of-life improvements.

"No one dies of hunger in Cuba, but the system of everyone equal,
prisoners the same as students, the same as doctors — it doesn't work,"
said Evelyn, a 24-year-old student. "People who work hard deserve to be
paid well."

This month, student leaders grilled parliament President Ricardo Alarcon
about low state salaries, restrictions on Internet access and rules that
prevent most Cubans from traveling abroad or staying in hotels designed
for tourists — many of the most-infuriating features of daily Cuban life.

Official Cuban media made no mention of the closed event, but pirated
video of it has circulated widely and one student who asked tough
questions later appeared on state television, in an apparent government
effort to prove that his criticisms did not land him in prison.

Even state-run newspapers have produced unusually critical articles
lately, accusing officials of drastically underestimating unemployment
rates and failing to provide sufficient supply to meet demand,
especially for food.

Nearly 80 percent of Cubans work for the government; the average monthly
state salary is about $19.50. Government economists estimate that at
least 60 percent of Cubans have access to dollars, euros and other
foreign currency because of jobs in tourism, with foreign companies or
through funds sent by relatives in the United States.

Still, the government's campaign for egalitarianism limits access to
luxuries such as cell phones and private vehicles.

Even basics such as underwear, shoes and personal care items such as
shampoo and shaving supplies can only be found in stores where the
prices are too high for most Cubans.
spacer

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/world/story/6FBAB9098B133CCD862573F60012E593?OpenDocument

La cadena hotelera Iberostar abrirá un hotel en Cuba antes de fin de año

Cuba.- La cadena hotelera Iberostar abrirá un hotel en Cuba antes de fin
de año
Fecha: 20/2/2008 Fuente : Europa Press
PALMA DE MALLORCA, 20 (EUROPA PRESS)

La cadena hotelera Iberostar abrirá un nuevo hotel en Cuba a finales de
2008, reforzando así su presencia en la isla, donde ya cuenta con cinco
establecimientos, según informó la directora general del Grupo
Iberostar, Cristina Molina, en declaraciones a IB3 Radio recogidas por
Europa Press.

Durante la entrevista, al ser preguntada sobre de qué manera la retirada
del mandatario Fidel Castro de la presidencia de Cuba puede afectar a
los intereses de la empresa mallorquina en el país, Molina aseguró haber
recibido la noticia con "calma", porque se trata de un hecho que "ya se
preveía". Así, tras resaltar que Iberostar es una compañía
"perfectamente integrada", señaló que con la retirada de Fidel
"seguiremos aportando mucho a Cuba".

Así, tras reconocer que los cambios políticos en algunos casos sí
interfieren en la política empresarial, dijo que "no se esperan grandes
cambios". "Seguiremos con nuestra operación normal y con total
regularidad", insistió. Después de Son Meliá, Iberostar es la segunda
cadena con más presencia en la Cuba.
En este sentido, según explicó que la gestión de los hoteles que
realizan en suelo cubano es "muy similar" a cómo se actúa en otros
países. "Llega una operadora y se hace cargo de la gestión porque tiene
los recursos y el knowhow. Iberostar tiene unos niveles de ocupación muy
altos y Cuba no es una excepción", remarcó.

"Funcionamos con los recursos del Gobierno de Cuba; al final el turismo
tiene que ser de calidad para ser competitivos", señaló Molina, que
explicó que el personal que trabaja en los hoteles Iberostar es de
nacionalidad cubana y española. "Una de las grandes riquezas del turismo
en Hispanoamérica es que nos lleguen a considerar el número uno", concluyó.

http://www.invertia.com/noticias/noticia.asp?subclasid=&clasid=&idNoticia=1905223

Bacardi Spends $560,000 on Lobbying

AP
Bacardi Spends $560,000 on Lobbying
Friday February 15, 10:35 am ET
Bacardi Spends in $560,000 in 2007 to Lobby the Government on
Trademarks, Trade With Cuba

NEW YORK (AP) -- Spirits company Bacardi USA Inc. spent $560,000 in 2007
to lobby on issues including trade with Cuba and trade name protections,
among others.

The company spent $280,000 in the second half of 2007 to lobby the
federal government, according to a disclosure form posted online Tuesday
by the Senate's public records office. Bacardi also spent $280,000 in
the first part of the year to lobby on largely the same issues.

Bacardi USA Inc. introduced a Puerto Rico-made "Havana Club" rum in
August 2006. It has since been in a trademark battle with rival Pernod
Ricard SA, which claims Bacardi does not have the right to use the
Havana Club trademark in the U.S. Pernod has co-produced "Havana Club"
rum with the Cuban government since 1993, but the beverage is not sold
in the U.S., which has a trade embargo with Cuba.

The company also lobbied throughout the year for legislation to help
reduce underage drinking and decrease taxes on alcohol to their pre-1985
level.

Besides Congress, Bacardi lobbied U.S. Trade Representatives, the
Department of State and the Department of Commerce.

Lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence
members of the executive and legislative branches, under a federal law
enacted in 1995.

(This version CORRECTS name of company at beginning of third graf,
Bacardi USA Inc. sted Bacardi Ltd.)

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080215/bacardi_lobbying.html?.v=3

Mexico to Refinance $400 Million Owed by Cuba, Bancomext Says

Mexico to Refinance $400 Million Owed by Cuba, Bancomext Says

By Guillermo Parra-Bernal

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Mexico agreed to refinance $400 million in
defaulted Cuban debt as the countries take steps to increase trade.

The accord, reached yesterday in Havana by diplomats, comes after six
years of decreasing financial ties between the countries, the Mexican
Trade and Export Bank said yesterday in a release. State-owned Banco
Nacional de Cuba and the island nation's central bank will be
responsible for the debt, according to the statement. Terms weren't
disclosed.

The money being refinanced will be used to fund Mexican exports to the
Communist-ruled island. According to data from the Mexican bank, known
as Bancomext, trade between the nations fell to about $200 million last
year from an average $435 million a year during the 1990s.

Under acting President Raul Castro, Cuba's government has been
renegotiating terms of its defaulted debt to attract new investment and
blunt the effect of a 46-year U.S.-led economic embargo. Since Raul
Castro replaced his ailing brother Fidel in July 2006, Cuba has
restructured $166 million in defaulted loans with Russia and stretched
out payments with Venezuela for billions of dollars in annual oil purchases.

Fidel Castro, who had ruled Cuba since ousting U.S.-backed President
Fulgencio Batista in 1959, suspended payments on about $11 billion of
debt during the late 1980s as financial aid from the Soviet Union began
to phase out.

In May 2006, Bancomext recovered $35 million of defaulted Cuban debt
after an Italian court ordered payments should be made to Mexico from a
Cuban escrow account in Italy. Banco Nacional de Cuba had stopped debt
payments to Mexico on behalf of Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba in
2002.

To contact the reporter on this story: Guillermo Parra-Bernal in Caracas
at gparra@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 18, 2008 15:03 EST

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=arJ0Lf2y.EDk&refer=latin_america

Cuba lures local farmers

Cuba lures local farmers
Trade mission attempts to bridge gaps
By Danny Bernardini/Staff Writer
Article Launched: 02/18/2008 07:09:48 AM PST

Mariani employees, Santa Rodriguez (left) and Maricela del Toro do a
final inspection of English walnuts on a conveyer belt Tuesday. (Rick
Roach/The Reporter)
Thanks to the efforts of two Winters farmers, and a little help from the
U.S.

Government, folks in Cuba now can snack on Northern California's treats.

As part of a agriculture trade mission last month, representatives from
Sierra Orchards and Mariani Nut Co. went to Cuba to deliver goods and
take notes on how the country maintains sustainable agriculture.

Craig McNamara, who owns Sierra Orchards, said he was intrigued to see
how the Cubans have regrouped since the early '90s when their
relationship with the

Soviet Union was severed.

"One of my main interests is in sustainable agriculture. The Cubans are
doing a tremendous amount of work with that," McNamara said. "Once the
Soviet Union collapsed, they no longer had access to fertilizers and
pesticides."

He said the biggest surprise was to see gardens in the middle of urban
areas that fed thousands of people.

"These aren't just little backyard gardens; some are up to 22 acres," he
said.

A.G. Kawamura, California's food and agriculture secretary, set up the
trip with the help of U.S. Department of Treasury. He said it was
painfully obvious that California agriculture was just a fraction of the
goods being sent to Cuba. Around $600 million worth of goods were sent
to Cuba last year, and only $735,000 of it came from the Golden State,
he noted.

"The many products they are importing are California-type products like
dairy, wine and dried fruits," Kawamura said. "We were finally able to
put together this mission. We wanted to go a lot earlier."

Kawamura said he, too, was surprised to see how the Cubans had rebounded
since the fall of the Soviet Union. Some of the locals remembered
California products from before a trade embargo was put in place, he said.

"They have a very dynamic system evolving," he said. "It was pretty
interesting to see how far they've come in that short time. They had to
start all over again and build themselves into something different than
they were."

The hopes are to create some communication in case the relationships
with Cuba evolve and trading resumes, Kawamura said.

"It's a very competitive market and we definitely have the quality," he
said. "The hope would be that in the coming months and years that
companies will help them facilitate trade."

Also on the trip was Jack Mariani. He said the Cuban people are fond of
American products, but not so much with the trading practices.

"They love American people, but they aren't very happy with the
administration," Mariani said. "We're doing next to nothing, but here we
are one of the biggest agriculture areas in the country."

Mariani said if Fidel Castro no longer is in charge, things may be
different for Cubans in the future.

"The quality of life is so-so. You make 600 bucks a month, whether you
are a doctor or a street sweeper," he said. "It's tough to fathom.
Changes are coming."

According to McNamara, the Cubans would welcome the variety of goods
with open arms.

"The Cubans are extremely generous, hospitable and curious and very much
want a relationship with the U.S.," he said. "Cuba is a strong existing
market that we can strengthen. The shelves are quite bare and the
diversity of fruits and vegetables does not exist. We have such a wealth
of offerings."

Danny Bernardini can be reached at county@thereporter.com.

http://www.thereporter.com/ci_8295081?source=most_emailed

Italia, Alemania y España, mayores mercados externos ron cubano Havana Club

CUBA-RON
Italia, Alemania y España, mayores mercados externos ron cubano Havana Club

Fecha: 15/2/2008 Fuente : EFE

La Habana, 15 feb (EFECOM).- Italia, Alemania y España son los tres
mayores mercados exteriores del ron cubano Havana Club, que tuvo un
crecimiento del 15% y vendió 3 millones de cajas en 2007, anunciaron hoy
ejecutivos de esa empresa mixta.

El director general de la firma cubano-francesa, Marc-Beauve Méry,
afirmó en rueda de prensa en La Habana que ha sido "un crecimiento
excepcional", con el que Havana Club entrará seguramente "en el top 30"
de los espirituosos con más impacto mundial.

Agregó que "recientemente" Havana Club se ha expandido también en
Latinoamérica, principalmente en Chile, Canadá y México.

La marca, promovida por la corporación estatal Cuba-Ron y la firma
francesa Pernod Ricard, había logrado en 2006 ventas de 2,6 millones de
cajas, tras alcanzar su primer millón en 1998.

De las ventas de 2007, un tercio se quedó en el mercado cubano y dos
tercios son exportaciones a 124 países. EFECOM

arj/am/cpy

http://www.invertia.com/noticias/noticia.asp?subclasid=&clasid=&idNoticia=1902690

Los comunistas más ricos de Cuba (1959-2006)

Los comunistas más ricos de Cuba (1959-2006)

...Seguidamente se relacionan aquellos "comunistas" que de una forma u
otra han logrado construir su propia fortuna. Considerando, que en buena
técnica todas estas fortunas tienen un oscuro origen y son resultados de
una continuada malversación, precisar su monto, así como el lugar exacto
donde se atesoran es en extremo difícil. El origen de estas fortunas
están dadas fundamentalmente por la venta de recursos pertenecientes al
Estado, desde armas, marcas, patentes, fábricas, terrenos, petróleo,
comisiones, lavado de dinero, drogas, etc.

A través de un sofisticado sistema bancario diseñado por el Banco
Financiero Internacional (BFI) y en otros por los mismos extranjeros
beneficiados se han ido enmascarando todas estas cuentas bancarias. Se
conoce que Panamá, Brasil, México, Canadá, Inglaterra y España han sido
los lugares más utilizados por los nuevos ricos comunistas para ocultar
el fruto de las malversaciones.

La identificación de estos nuevos señores del comunismo, se ha efectuado
con bastante rigor y en ellas han participado fuentes independientes
radicadas en Cuba, funcionarios en activo del sistema empresarial y
financiero del gobierno cubano, ex funcionarios y ex dirigentes
radicados tanto en el exilio como en Cuba, información sobre volúmenes
financieros operados y nivel de comisiones y pagos recibidos por los
funcionarios relacionados, así como estimaciones resultantes de todo
este conjunto de elementos...

Más de US$ 1,000 millones: Fidel Castro Ruz Según estimados de la
revista Forbes y fuentes que han estado trabajando en la ubicación de la
fortuna de Castro se calcula que la misma asciende a unos US$ 1,400
millones.

Más de US$ 100 millones: Raúl Castro Ruz Ministro de Defensa. Su
principal fuente de ingreso: Ventas de armas y petróleo, participación
en empresas turísticas y cadenas de tiendas comercializadoras en
dólares. Se estima que posee unos US$ 400 millones.

Ramiro Valdés Menéndez Presidente del sistema empresarial Copextel.
Controla toda la producción e importación de equipos electrónicos y su
comercialización dentro y fuera de Cuba. Fortuna estimada en US$ 150
millones.

Más de US$ 50 millones: Herederos de Vilma Espín (+ 18-6-2007) Ocupó la
presidencia de la Federación de Mujeres Cubanas. Durante muchos años fué
depositaria de la fortuna de Fidel y Raúl Castro. Después de su divorcio
con Raúl Castro su participación se limitó a depósitos a nombre de ella
en Suiza.

Orlando Rodríguez Romay Ex Ministro de la Pesca. Recientemente
sustituido. De conjunto con sus dos hermanos que operaban desde
posiciones claves en el Ministerio de la Pesca y Marina Mercante, ha
logrado por la vía de venta de mariscos, venta de barcos y compra de
barcos, construir una sólida fortuna. Fue el autor junto con el actual
Ministro del Banco Nacional de Cuba, Soberón, de la desaparición de la
Flota Mercante Cubana, más de 100 buques que han sido vendidos a
empresas "fantasmas".

Osmany Cienfuegos Gorriarán Ex Ministro de Turismo y ex de varios
cargos, desde Vicepresidente del Consejo de Ministros hasta Ministro de
Obras Públicas. Es depositario de acciones al portador de todas las
cadenas turísticas, las cuales están depositadas en España, además ha
obtenido jugosas comisiones en el desarrollo de toda la infraestructura
turística en Cuba, y papel activo en el lavado de dinero de todo el
capital de origen dudoso que ha sido invertido en Cuba.

Más de US$ 20 millones: Herederos de José Abrahantes ( ex Ministro del
Interior). Se conoce que al morir en prisión Abrahantes tenía cuentas
personales en Panamá por más de US$ 20 millones.

Abraham Maciques Fundador de la Empresa mixta Cubanacan S.A. Presidente
del Palacio de las Convenciones y de CUBALSE(Cuba al Servicio del
Extranjero). En 1996 le fue practicada una auditoria y faltaban en cash,
más de US$ 27 millones. No fue sancionado y está limitado solamente al
Palacio de las Convenciones. Hombre de extrema confianza de los Castro.

Alejandro Roca Iglesias Ministro de la Industria Alimenticia. Ha
obtenido jugosas comisiones en las operaciones vinculadas a la venta del
ron Habana Club y su comercialización con la firma Pernaud-Ricard,
además ha obtenido múltiples beneficios en la compra de cereales y en la
adquisición de molinos de trigo y plantas elaboradoras de alimentos.

José Luis Padrón Ex Coronel ayudante del ex Ministro del Interior José
Abrahantes, Presidente de la Corporación CIMEX, Banco Financiero
Internacional y del Instituto Nacional de la Industria Turística(INTUR).
Entre comisiones, lavado de dinero, etc, su fortuna asciende a más de
US$ 30 millones. Actualmente radicado en Cuba, como consultor de varias
corporaciones extranjeras.

Marcos Portal Ministro de Industria Básica, casado con Tania Fraga, una
sobrina de Fidel Castro. Ex jefe del grupo de Coordinación y Apoyo de
Fidel. Hombre clave en todas las operaciones de prospección y extracción
de petróleo, contrapartida de la multinacional Sherritt, en Cuba.
Fortuna en ascenso. Prácticamente el monto de su capital está depositado
en bancos canadienses.

Julio Casas Regueiro Vice Ministro Primero del Ministerio de las Fuerzas
Armadas. Controla prácticamente todos los negocios de las fuerzas
armadas. Es el hombre de confianza de Raúl Castro y el contacto con el
gran capital en el exterior.

Eusebio Leal Spengler Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana y director
de la empresa turística HABAGUANEX, que abarca todo el casco histórico
de la capital. La empresa que dirige por instrucciones de Fidel Castro
en su creación, está exenta de controles de ningún tipo por parte de los
organismos de la economía nacional.

Guillermo García Frías Comandante de la Revolución. Responsable de la
flora y la fauna en Cuba. Durante muchos años ha manejado de forma
unipersonal y privada la exportación de animales y en especial la de
gallos de pelea. Además posee embarcaciones y tiendas especializadas en
artículos de western. Tiene también la renta de cotos de caza, para
turismo internacional.

Abelardo Colomé Ibarra Ministro del Interior. Conjunto de actividades
legales e ilegales realizadas por empresas subordinadas a su mando.

Más de US$ 10 millones: Eduardo Bencomo Zurdo Presidente del Banco
Financiero Internacional y principal ejecutivo para las operaciones
comerciales no convencionales desarrolladas por los funcionarios del
gobierno cubano. Ex miembro del Grupo de Coordinación y Apoyo de Fidel
Castro.

Emilio Aragonés Navarro Ex Ministro del gobierno, ex embajador y ex
presidente del Banco Financiero Internacional. Participó en grandes
negocios en la Argentina y en España en la compra de equipos.

Roberto Robaina y Marilena García Ex Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores y
la esposa ex Directora de Relaciones Internacionales de la Corporación
Rumbos. Conjunto de negocios con Raúl Villanueva, ex gobernador de
Quintana Roo en México.

Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz Ex Ministro de Comercio Exterior y actual Ministro
del Gobierno. Participación en Comisiones en un conjunto muy grande de
operaciones de importación.

Herederos de Manuel Piñeiro Fallecido. Ex jefe de los Servicios de
Inteligencia y del Departamento América del Comité Central del Partido.
Participación muy activa en el comercio de armas y drogas.

Aldo Santamaría Cuadrado Ex Jefe de la Marina de Guerra. Tráfico de Drogas.

Ramón Díaz Vallina Vice Ministro de Salud Pública. Principal negociador
del gobierno cubano para los equipos médicos, medicamentos, materias
primas farmacéuticas y suministros médicos.

Orlando Pérez Rodríguez Ex Presidente del Banco Nacional y principal
financiero de la corporación CIMEX. Se especializa como corredor de Bolsas.

Héctor Rodríguez Llompart Ex presidente del Banco Nacional y actualmente
se desempeña en Cuba como representante de financistas de la Comunidad
Económica Europea.

Alicia Alonso Directora del Ballet Nacional de Cuba. Ha operado el
Ballet como una institución privada en beneficio propio, con
autorización del gobierno.

Miguel Brugueras del Valle Ex embajador de Cuba en Panamá. Venta de
visas a Panamá de conjunto con Noriega, lavado de dinero y operaciones
de contrabando.

Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez Cantautor

Armando Hart Dávalos Ex ministro de Cultura y ex de varios cargos, desde
Vicepresidente del Consejo de Ministros hasta Ministro de Educación.
Comisiones en el sector artístico y ventas de obras culturales del
patrimonio nacional.

Alfredo Guevara Valdés Participación en negocios vinculados a la
Industria Cinematográfica , venta de obras de arte y depositario de
cuantiosas donaciones de organismos internacionales a Cuba.

Lucindo del Rosal Yerno de Ramiro Valdés. Participación en distintos
negocios relacionados con la venta de armas.

Rogelio Acevedo Presidente de Cubana de Aviación. Comisiones
relacionadas con el sector áéreo.

Diocles Torralba Durante su gestión como Ministro de Transporte y del
Azúcar fue receptor de grandes comisiones por la compra de equipos.

Juan Almeida Bosque Capital limitado a unos US$ 10 millones de US
dólares, por una donación expresa de Fidel Castro en 1990.

Jesús Pérez Otón Ministro de la Industria Ligera. Comisiones en la
compra de materias primas para la industria ligera.

Ulises Rosales del Toro Ministro del Azúcar y ex jefe del Estado Mayor
de las Fuerzas Armadas. Operaciones comerciales vinculadas a la
industria azucarera que han sido efectuadas en su beneficio propio.

Más de US$ 5 millones: Panchito Portela Actual director de Cuba Tabacos.
Comisiones en la venta de las marcas de tabaco de Cuba y en la
comercialización del mismo.

Javier Ardizones Ex embajador de Cuba en Italia y ex presidente de la
Cadena turística Gran Caribe. Se apropió de donaciones del gobierno
italiano a Cuba, y mantiene relaciones comerciales con el Alcalde de
Marbella, Jesús Martínez Gil.

Ramón Cuenca Coronel de la Inteligencia. Representante en Cuba de la
firma suiza Andre que efectúa prestamos a corto plazo al gobierno cubano.

Ramón Martínez Noa (Cuco) Principal negociador para la compra de equipos
y materiales para el sector de las construcciones

Jorge Lezcano Pérez Embajador de Cuba en Brasil, ex miembro del Grupo de
Coordinación y Apoyo. Tiene una participación muy activa en el control
de los negocios de Fidel Castro con Nelson Mandela . Actualmente
comercializa medicamentos elaborados en Cuba.

Carlos Pérez Ex Ministro de la Agricultura y actualmente Director del
Grupo Nacional de Cítricos. Representa a Cuba ante los capitales de
Israel y Chile que explotan las plantaciones de cítricos.

Tomás Benítez Martínez General de Brigada. Ex director de la empresa
turística militar Gaviota y actualmente Presidente de la Corporación
mixta cubano-panameña Cupet para la comercialización de la gasolina en
dólares. Durante su permanencia como Presidente de Gaviota se conoce que
recibió solamente en dos operaciones comerciales 4 millones de UD
dolares y que fue sancionado por Julio Casas por ocultamiento de
información.

Fernando Fernández Cossio Ex embajador de Cuba en México y presidente
del Grupo Hotelero Horizontes. Ha recibido grandes comisiones por
permitir la participación de capital mexicano de dudoso origen en la
industria hotelera cubana.

Enrique Luzón Battle General de Brigada. Ex Ministro de Transporte y ex
Director de corporaciones cubano angolanas para la comercialización de
madera, petróleo, piedras preciosas, etc.

Gumersindo González Ex ministro de Transporte y Director de FINTUR
(Banco para el Financiamiento del Turismo).

Alejandro Jorge Teniente Coronel de la Inteligencia Cubana.
Representante en Cuba de un conjunto de empresas europeas teniendo
prioridad como suministrador para las empresas cubanas vinculadas al
turismo.

Silvino Colas Sánchez General de Brigada, ex ministro de Comunicaciones,
Director de Comunicaciones de las Fuerzas Armadas. A través de la firma
internacional ETECSA, monopolio de las comunicaciones en Cuba, ha
recibido grandes comisiones.

Eduardo Delgado Izquierdo General, Jefe de los Servicios de
Inteligencia. Es depositario de sumas importantes de dinero (no
controlado) en Panamá, México y España.

General Santiago Fue el depositario de todos los recursos incautados en
la causa No, 1 y la causa No. 2 por narcotráfico. Posteriormente fue
acusado de haberse apropiado de grandes cantidades de dinero.
Actualmente se encuentra en semi-retiro.

Orlando Romero Durante muchos años Director de la empresa
importadora-exportadora Medicuba, teniendo participación personal en
todas las operaciones comerciales vinculadas a la exportación e
importación de medicamentos, materias primas farmacéuticas, equipos y
suministros médicos.

Juan José Vega Como Presidente del Grupo Cubanacan ha recibido
comisiones de los inversionistas en el sector hotelero.

Conrado Martínez Corona Presidente del Poder Popular de Ciudad Habana y
ex Presidente del Instituto de Deportes y Educación Física(INDER)
.Apropiación de distintos premios otorgados a los atletas cubanos y
comisiones de los suministradores de artículos deportivos a Cuba.

Pablo Milanés Cantautor

Raúl Fraga Director del Instituto de Medicina Veterinaria, sobrino de
Fidel Castro. Comisiones en la venta de productos veterinarios, ganado y
de animales de laboratorio.

Manuel Vila Sosa Presidente de la Cadena turística Rumbos S.A. Ex
ministro de Comercio Interior. Durante muchos años, estuvo percibiendo
comisiones fundamentales de suministradores de México y de Argentina.

Leo Brouwer Concertista de guitarra. Director de Orquesta, Compositor.

Alberto Cárdenas Ex vicepresidente de Cubanacan, socio del panameño
Víctor Arraz, negocios varios en Panamá.

José Ramón Fernández ( el gallego) Vicepresidente del Consejo de
Ministros, ex de varios cargos. Ha comprado varias propiedades en España
y mantiene relaciones directas con el grupo de Monterrey en México.

Francisco J. Soberón Presidente del Banco Central de Cuba. De conjunto
con Orlando Rodríguez Romay efectuaron operaciones fraudulentas de
compraventa de la flota mercante cubana, en la cual obtuvo grandes
beneficios económicos de orden personal.

Tirso Luis Joanicot Oficial de los Servicios de Inteligencia que ha
estado operando con la cobertura de empresa de comercio exterior.

Raúl de la Nuez Ministro de Comercio Exterior. Hombre de confianza de
Marcos Portal y operaba desde Canadá las cuentas personales del mismo.

Alberto Ríos Manzano Sub-director comercial de la empresa importadora de
alimentos (Alimport).

Daniel Solana Ex Director de Cubatabaco. Durante muchos años efectuó
exportaciones clandestinas de tabaco a España.

Eduardo Hernández Presidente de la empresa Corporación Alimenticia S.A.
(Coral) empresa fantasma para la comercialización internacional de
alimentos producidos por la industria alimenticia.

Eugenio George Entrenador del equipo de voley-ball femenino

Javier Sotomayor Deportista. Ganador de varios premios internacionales

Jorge Perogurria Artista de cine

Jorge Luis Prats Concertista pianista

Adolfo Díaz Suárez Ex vicepresidente del Consejo de Ministros.
Responsable máximo de las importaciones de alimentos durante muchos años

Alfredo Hondal Ex miembro del Buró Político y Director de la Industria
azucarera en Ciego de Ávila.

Manuel de Jesús Limonta Ex Director del Centro de Ingeniería Genética y
Biotecnología. Comisiones en la compra de equipos para los centros de
investigación.

Arístides Ruiz Vinajeras Fundador de la empresa para la comercialización
de joyas y prendas en el mundo entero.

Alfredo Oliveros Ex coronel del Ministerio del Interior. Representante
en Cuba de la firma mexicana La Costena

Jorge Díaz Argüelles Representante en Cuba del Grupo inversionista de
México, Monterrey y representante de la cerveza Tecate.

Alfredo López Ministro de la Industria Pesquera y ex Director de la
Empresa Nacional de Electricidad. Ha percibido grandes comisiones en la
compra de equipos de generación de electricidad.

Juan Formell Director de la Orquesta de música popular Los Van Van.

Adalberto Álvarez Director de la Orquesta que lleva su nombre

Fuentes: Fuentes independientes radicadas en Cuba.

Funcionarios en activo del sistema empresarial y financiero del gobierno
cubano.

Ex funcionarios y ex dirigentes radicados tanto en el exilio como en Cuba.

Informaciones sobre volúmenes financieros operados y nivel de comisiones
y pagos recibidos por los funcionarios relacionados.

Banco Financiero Internacional( BFI) y en otros por los mismos extranjeros.

http://bellaciao.org/es/spip.php?article4831

México acuerda con Cuba reestructurar la deuda por 400 millones de dólares

MEXICO-CUBA
México acuerda con Cuba reestructurar la deuda por 400 millones de dólares

Hora: 15:24 Fuente : EFE

México, 18 feb (EFECOM).- México y Cuba firmaron un acuerdo para
reestructurar la deuda del primer país con el segundo, por unos 400
millones de dólares, lo que permitirá normalizar las relaciones
financieras y comerciales entre ambos, informó hoy el Banco de Comercio
Exterior de México (Bancomext).

La institución financiera mexicana indicó en un comunicado que este
acuerdo de reestructuración firmado ayer en La Habana se alcanzó tras
seis años de interrupción de relaciones financieras con el Banco
Nacional de Cuba, en el que participa el Banco Central de Cuba.

Precisó que estas negociaciones fueron impulsadas por el presidente
mexicano, Felipe Calderón, y que en todo momento se buscó una solución
apegada al marco normativo vigente en cada país y "mutuamente
satisfactorio para ambas partes".

Bancomext subrayó la importancia que reviste el acuerdo para recuperar
el nivel histórico de la colaboración económica entre México y Cuba, y
que permitirá destinar mayor financiación para impulsar las
exportaciones mexicanas a la isla.

En 2007 el comercio entre ambas naciones ascendió a unos 200 millones de
dólares, aunque en la década de los años noventa el comercio llegó a
alcanzar los 435 millones de dólares, recordó Bancomext.

Las relaciones entre ambos países llegaron a su nivel más bajo durante
el Gobierno de Vicente Fox pero desde la llegada de Calderón al poder el
1 de diciembre de 2006 han mejorado paulatinamente.

En marzo está prevista una visita oficial a Cuba de la canciller
mexicana, Patricia Espinosa, para participar en la III Reunión del
Mecanismo de Información Consulta Políticas entre ambos países.

Además en agosto legisladores de ambos países tienen previsto celebrar
una cumbre interparlamentaria. EFECOM

jrm/act/jma

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