Vol. 16, No. 4 April 2008

www.cubanews.com

In the News Cellphones, computers, DVDs and hotels

Brussels and Rome no longer off-limits to Cubans with cash Cuba seeks better ties with both the Euro- BY LARRY LUXNER al computers, DVD players and other forbidden products. Resolution 43/08 of the Interior Com- pean Union and the Vatican...... Page 3 his was no April Fool’s Day joke. Effective at midnight Apr. 1, ordinary Cubans could merce Ministry permits the sale of computers, video-playing equipment, electric pressure Cuba 2010 T for the first time in years stay at tourist hotels formerly reserved for foreigners and cookers, rice cookers and even car alarms to the Former diplomat Vicki Huddleston pres- even rent cars — as long as they pay with hard- general public for the first time since the 1990s. “The country has had an improvement in the ents a ‘worst-case scenario’ ...... Page 4 to-get CUCs and not nearly worthless pesos. And starting Apr. 14, mobile phone service generation and distribution of electric power,” will be available for the Cuban population, fol- explains to a government document circulated Banking on reform lowing an announcement as we went to press among foreign journalists. The document says Financial institutions take a ‘wait-and-see’ that the new government of Raúl Castro would the availability of these new electronic devices will be “gradual” in order to ensure that they attitude with regard to Raúl ...... Page 6 lift all restrictions on cellphone usage. In fact, Cuba has introduced more reforms in meet state energy-saving standards. the last five weeks than in the past five years. Meanwhile, says Reuters, agriculture is being Tehran-Havana axis “In the next few weeks, we shall start remov- decentralized, farmers can decide for them- Miami meeting focuses on Cuba’s warm- ing the most simple excessive regulations and selves what supplies they need and the prices prohibitions,” Raúl, 76, said in his first speech as paid to them are rising to boost food production. ing relationship with Iran ...... Page 7 president after officially taking over Feb. 24 What’s going on here? from his ailing older brother Fidel. “The situation is very different from the crisis Newsmakers True to his word, on Mar. 13, the government of the 1990s,” said a Havana-based economist Col. Larry Wilkerson, chief aide to former lifted a long-standing ban on the sale of person- See Reforms, page 15 Secretary of State Colin Powell, thinks U.S. policy on Cuba stinks ...... Page 8 Experts ponder Cuba tourism potential CUNY conference as Raúl cautiously opens up economy Canada, Mexico issues take center stage at Cuba seminar in New York ...... Page 9 BY LARRY LUXNER me, ‘Where’s your Che T-shirts?’ I tell them I long crowded, quirky Duval Street in can’t sell that here.” Port of Nuevitas downtown Key West, Fla., the karaoke Not yet, anyway. A bars, burger joints, art galleries and tacky Che Guevara, the global symbol of revolution, Shipping port in Camagüey province owes T-shirt vendors all sing the praises of Jimmy is anathema to the one million or so Cuban its former glory to sugar ...... Page 10 Buffett’s “Margaritaville” and the Florida Keys. exiles who call South Florida home. But one shop is oriented a little further south Even so, U.S. multinationals ranging from Business briefs — about 90 miles south, to be exact. Marriott to McDonald’s have gazed longingly at The Cuba! Cuba! Store at 814 Duval St. lures Cuba since the early 1960s, waiting for Fidel Cas- Regime yanks licenses of 14 foreign firms; in customers with decorative cigar boxes, coffee tro to quit or die so they could once again flood Turkey to explore for Gulf oil ....Page 12 mugs, music CDs, baseball caps, Cohiba ash- the island with their products and services. trays and keychains glorifying all things Cuban. Banks, hotel chains, cruise-ship companies Mysterious Machado? Yet because of the U.S. trade embargo, noth- and travel agencies all see Cuba as a virgin mar- ing in this boutique — except for back copies of ket, waiting to be exploited — and Key West, A look at Cuba’s new No. 2 man and his Cigar Aficionado, a few choice paintings and lit- far from being hurt by the competition, could new subordinates ...... Page 14 tle figurines which qualify as art — actually cash in big-time, thanks to its status as the clos- comes from the forbidden island (the baseball est point in the United States to Cuba itself. CubaNews (ISSN 1073-7715) is published monthly caps are assembled in Haiti and Nicaragua). Says Winters: “If they put the ferry boat back by Luxner News Inc. © 2008. All rights reserved. “We’re so close to Cuba that I thought this into service, I think there could be a steady Subscriptions: $429 for one year, $800 for two years. store would be a good idea for Key West,” shop- stream of people driving to Key West, just like in For editorial inquires, please call (301) 452-1105 the old days.” or send an e-mail to: [email protected]. owner Larry Winters tells us in between assist- ing customers. “A lot of European tourists ask See Tourism, page 2

& E 1 $ LO IL O GI      $0 2 CubaNews ❖ April 2008 new rooms will be in Havana, which along Vancouver-based LCI currently has three Tourism — FROM PAGE 1 with Varadero accounts for 70% of Cuba’s projects in the pipeline. The first is Monte But with 81-year-old Fidel now writing tourism revenues. Barreto, an all-suite hotel that’ll be built in essays from his sickbed and younger brother Plans for developing tourism through 2010 three phases on a site in the Miramar suburb Raúl, 76, officially running Cuba, it looks as if call for building new facilities, promoting the of Havana. The $33 million project envisions a the waiting game will go on a little longer. new Hoteles E chain and investing in activi- 737-room tower of seven or eight stories. “The critical factor here is what the process ties like scuba diving, boating and golf. At the The second project consists of a 400-unit, the Cuban government will use to open up the end of 2007, according to government statis- high-end resort on the island of Cayo Largo, economy,” says Carlos Saladrigas, vice-chair- tics, Cuba had 46,000 hotel rooms in 307 prop- and the third will be a sprawling resort at man of Miami-based Premier American Bank erties, 23% of them in Havana. Jibacoa — halfway between Havana and and founder of the Cuba Study Group. Spanish hotel group Sol Meliá is the lead- Varadero — that’ll eventually have two golf “The next few months are going to be ing hotel brand in Cuba, with 24 four- and five- courses and several hotels and luxury villas. So far, LCI has spent $23 million in Cuba, even before a single shovel is sunk into the ground, and Jennex said total investment could reach $500 million.

LARRY LUXNER CRUISE-SHIP INDUSTRY SUFFERING “What the Cubans have done is built their industry around the package tours, which are all-inclusive,” he said. “That kind of clientele is not loyal. They open up the paper and look for the cheapest deal. Cuba now realizes that if they want to augment the amount of dollars per visitor, they’ve got to create an industry that caters to high-end travelers.” Dubai’s Profile Investments Group, which has substantial interests in the United Arab Emirates, India, Cape Verde and North Africa, last month finalized a deal to acquire 49% of LCI. This follows a much larger deal announced by Dubai Ports World to invest $250 million in rebuilding and modernizing the Port of Mariel, just west of Havana. Sign above Key West. Fla., souvenir shop drives home the fact that Havana is a lot closer than Miami. Although unrelated, both investments are

incredibly telling. Rumors are abundant that star Meliá, Tryp, Sol and significant economic reforms are about to be Paradisus properties across undertaken,” said Saladrigas, who fled the the island. Other large island in 1961. “What I don’t understand is chains managing hotel why Raúl is purposely raising the expectations properties in Cuba include of the people for change. If he doesn’t intend two Jamaican companies, to deliver, he’s either a fool or he’s crazy.” Sandals and Superclubs, Economically, Cuba hasn’t been doing and Spain’s Iberostar. badly. Growth last year came to around 10%, Cuba’s state-run chain, boosted by record-high prices for nickel, the Gran Caribe, has more than island’s chief export commodity. Tourism 12,300 rooms in 50 hotels brought the island revenues of about $2 bil- including some of the capi- lion in 2007 — compared to $2.2 billion for tal’s most famous proper- nickel — and accounted for some 300,000 ties: the Hotel Sevilla, jobs, according to Cuban officials. which marks its 100th anni- versary this year; Hotels CUBA TRIES TO REVERSE SLIDE IN ARRIVALS Victoria and Presidente, Yet the island’s tourism advantages have both in Havana’s Vedado been offset in recent years by a lack of invest- district, and both of which LCI’s planned 737-room Monte Barreto hotel in Havana’s Miramar district. ment in hotel maintenance, Washington’s mark their 80th anniver- sary in 2008; the Habana Libre Tryp, which clearly banking on an end to the U.S. travel punishing embargo and an unfavorable for- ban and a resumption in trade sometime in eign-exchange policy toward the U.S. dollar turns 50, and the oceanfront Hotel Deauville, which also turns 50 this year. the next few years. that hurts Canadian visitor arrivals. “Cuba is without a doubt one of the most Ariel Terrero, a commentator on the TV LCI HAS BIG, AMBITIOUS PLANS FOR CUBA exciting new markets in the world,” said LCI’s program “Buenos Días,” recently complained executive chairman, Walter Berukoff. “With that local tourism authorities have been slow J.J. Jennex, investor relations director at Leisure Canada Inc., said the island received the backing of a vertically integrated global to act compared to Cuba’s chief rivals in the real-estate developer such as Profile, we are Caribbean tourism market: Jamaica, Cancún more than 600,000 Canadian tourists in 2007, ready to accelerate development of our world- and the Dominican Republic. making Canada the top source of visitors in class asset base in Cuba and become that To try to boost the numbers, Cuba plans to Cuba — ahead of Spain, Italy, Germany, Great build 30 hotels starting this year; this will add Britain and of course the United States. nation’s premier hospitality and resort devel- over 10,000 hotel rooms to the island’s “People go to Varadero and it’s a beautiful opment company.” tourism infrastructure. beach, but I don’t think they really experience Yet for Cuba’s tourism industry to really Ramón Zamora, an official of the Cuban Cuba,” Jennex told CubaNews. “They might take off, Americans must be allowed by the Ministry of Tourism, said almost 1,000 of the as well be in the Dominican Republic.” See Tourism, page 4

& E 1 $ LO IL O GI      $0 April 2008 ❖ CubaNews 3 POLITICS RELIGION BRIEFS U.S. PROTESTANTS NOT OPTIMISTIC ON CUBA Cuba improves ties with EU, Vatican Despite Raúl Castro’s recent meeting with the Vatican’s No. 2 official, Tarcisio Bertone, BY DOMINGO AMUCHASTEGUI mal ties with Havana, a move that must be de- U.S. Christian groups that have worked for y late 2005, not even three years after cided unanimously by the European Council. years in Cuba don’t expect significant changes the Castro regime’s March 2003 crack- But “to get to that point,” he said, “it is obvi- in the government’s restrictions on religion. Bdown on dissent, Spain was already urg- ously necessary to remove one obstacle, Donald Hepburn of the Florida Baptist ing the European Union to return to a policy which is the EU sanctions that have only been Convention, which has worked for more than of “constructive engagement” with Cuba. suspended.” a decade with Baptist churches in western Italy followed suit, while Great Britain, Around the same time as the Michel visit, a Cuba, told AP the convention’s U.S. staff per- Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands resis- Dutch trade delegation representing 20 major son just returned from a visit to the island and ted that approach, and the EU’s newest mem- banks, shipping lines and other entities came heard little optimism there. bers — led by Poland and the Czech Republic to Cuba for the first time in years. This was “From talking to our Baptist leadership, — advocated a more confrontational position perceived as part of a growing rapproche- they don’t believe there’s going to be any that included stronger sanctions, in close ment — even among EU members that are appreciable change in how the government alliance with the Bush administration. more inclined to maintain sanctions. deals with religious groups,” Hepburn said. But Fidel Castro’s resignation, the Feb. 24 After such visits, ex-communist nations like The Rev. Larry Rankin, director of mission appointment of Raúl Castro as president and Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic — and justice ministries for the United Metho- Cuba’s formal adoption of major UN resolu- actively supported by the Bush administra- dist Church’s Florida Conference, said, “the tions on human rights has changed the dy- tion — find themselves increasingly isolated. expectation of any great change is very low.” namics. These factors have created better cir- There’s been an easing of hostility towards cumstances for Spain and Italy to press their religion in the early 1990s, yet the Castro EU partners for a more flexible dialogue regime has kept limits on religious life. while bringing Germany, France and the “I don’t envision very much change in the

Netherlands closer to Spain’s approach. LARRY LUXNER near term,” said Antonios Kireopoulos of the U.S. National Council of Churches, who had EU ATTEMPTS TO PATCH UP CUBA RELATIONS handled international affairs for the council, In early March, Louis Michel, the EU’s top which represents Protestant, Anglican and development aid official, visited Cuba, mov- Orthodox groups. “We don’t know how the ing the process of normalization of EU-Cuba new leadership will play out.” ties further along. The meeting resulted in an GERMAN ORDER INVITED TO BUILD MONASTERY 18-point declaration signed by both sides, European Union’s diplomatic mission in Havana. identifying the many areas for joint coopera- Cuba has invited the Catholic Church to tion, the areas in which differences still exist, Michel’s visit to Havana was preceded by open a new monastery on the island and a and obstacles to overcome in the near future. that of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican German Benedictine order said it would send The Cuban side did not insist on the elimi- secretary of state. The Cuban government four monks to establish a “spiritual center.” nation of “la posición común” but rather upon gave Bertone red-carpet treatment, including The church has been officially banned in the the formal elimination of the 2003 sanctions. a huge open Mass at Old Havana’s Plaza de la past from building new churches in Cuba. “The main obstacle for normal relations are Catedral which was carried on prime-time TV The four monks will be provided by the of course the sanctions of the EU even if these and attended by Ricardo Alarcón, Esteban Missionary Benedictines, also known as the sanctions are suspended,” Michel said Mar. 8 Lazo, Carlos Lage, Felipe Pérez Roque, Pedro Ottilien Congregation, an order of monks with at a news conference at the Foreign Ministry. Saéz Montejo and other top Cuban officials. its world headquarters at Landsberg am Lech, The EU official told Reuters he’d do all he Bertone’s long meeting with Raúl Castro, west of Munich. The new site will be in the can to convince European governments at a coming on the 10th anniversary of Pope John archdiocese of Havana and will open this year. council meeting in June that things are chang- Paul II’s historic trip to Cuba, was Raúl’s first The foundation had been requested by the ing in Havana, and that the time has come to since being named president days earlier. archbishop, Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y do away with the sanctions in order to Bertone criticized the “bloqueo” — this is Alamino, and had been expressly approved by relaunch full diplomatic relations. the word he used, not “embargo” — as being Fidel Castro before his Feb. 19 retirement. “I’ve noticed a lot of changes in Cuba,” morally unacceptable. He also demanded the Michel said. “The spirit, the open-mindedness liberation of the so-called Cuban Five, who JEWISH COMMUNITY MOURNS LEADER’S DEATH and atmosphere of the talks encourage me to are being held in U.S. prisons for spying on Isaac Rousso, president of the only B’nai believe that there is a improvement in the dia- the U.S., in exchange for the release of some B’rith lodge in Cuba, died Mar. 9 after a long logue process between the EU and Cuba.” of the remaining dissidents jailed since 2003. battle with cancer. Bertone repeatedly acknowledged a pre- Rousso, 70, had led Maimonides Lodge BERTONE VISIT INCURS WRATH OF MIAMI EXILES vailing atmosphere of change and reform #1516 in Havana for nearly eight years, turn- The Castro government insists there can within the leadership while praising Cuba’s ing it into one of Cuba’s strongest NGOs, said be no deepening of ties while EU sanctions public health and social justice programs. Stanley Cohen, chairman of the B’nai B’rith hang over its head. These include a freeze on In Miami, however, well-known “fire-eaters” Cuban Jewish Relief Project. high-level visits to Cuba and inviting dissi- in the local media criticized and cursed Ber- “It was a huge loss to everyone who knew dents to national day celebrations. tone, accusing the Vatican official of open him,” Cohen told CubaNews by phone from Brussels froze relations with Havana in complicity with the Castro regime. Pittsburgh. “The organization went from prac- 2003 after Cuba jailed 75 dissidents in a polit- They all insisted on the fact that Bertone tically no members to 78 members in the time ical crackdown and executed three men who “repitió punto por punto el discurso oficial” — Isaac was active in B’nai B’rith.” hijacked a ferry to flee to Florida. Fidel then repeated word for word the official line — of The lodge publishes a monthly community told the EU that Cuba didn’t need its aid. Cuba’s communist leadership. Dissidents in newspaper, Fragmentos, at its new office on Cuba’s foreign minister, Felipe Pérez Havana followed suit, expressing similar con- the fifth floor of Havana’s Centro Sefaradi. It Roque, says a growing number of the EU’s 27 demnations, especially after Bertone’s deci- also organizes Hebrew classes, holiday par- member states are in favor of restoring nor- sion not to meet with them. ❑ ties and occasional weekend retreats.

& E 1 $ LO IL O GI      $0 4 CubaNews ❖ April 2008 POLITICS Cuba 2010: Worst-case scenario could become reality Last month, we published a column by Maury tration that might have threatened the ment in tourism, ports and telecoms. Silverman presenting a fictional speech in 2009, regime. Faced with protests from both stu- Cuba’s relations with the world are good. in which the new U.S. president announces an dents and dissidents, the police acted quickly The Colome regime is considered no worse end to the embargo. This month, Vicki Huddle- but with limited violence by jailing the insti- than Raúl Castro’s. Given the age of the lead- ston shares with us her view of Cuba in 2010 if gators for several weeks. Support for the dis- ership, the international community and most things don’t go the way Washington wants. sident movement has declined as there is lit- Cubans expect younger — and possibly civil- tle benefit in taking the risk of joining. ian — leaders within a few years. But the is- BY VICKI HUDDLESTON At the same time, church attendance is at a land’s hawkish foreign minister, Felipe Roque aúl Castro died on Jan. 2, 2009, after record high since the visit of Pope Benedict Pérez, appears to be the heir-apparent, rather serving less than a year as president of XVI in December 2008. The burgeoning role than Carlos Lage who seems to lack the RCuba. José Ramón Machado Ventura, of both Catholic and Protestant churches toughness and perhaps the ambition. 79, stepped up briefly, but because of his poor stems from their provision of health services, The new U.S. administration — like those health the National Assembly selected Gen. meals for the elderly and activities such as before it — continues to isolate Cuba. There Abelardo Colome Ibarra, 70, and Gen. Julio sports, libraries, videos and other diversions, is little or no expectation that sanctions will Casas Regueiro, 74, as president and first vice especially for the youth. bring about regime collapse. Cuba remains a president. Subsequently, they were given the Cubans seemed to be in a “wait and see” domestic policy issue. Less than 50% of exiles top positions in the Communist Party. mode, and those who are especially unhappy in Miami support the embargo but pressure Fidel, who hasn’t been seen in live video have put their energies into illegal migration. for ending sanctions diminished after the footage for over three years, wrote an opinion It is not that Cubans are happy — but they administration eased travel restrictions on are a bit less unhappy. piece praising the new leadership. President Cuban-Americans and began licensing more Raúl Castro gained in respect and credibili- cultural, religious and educational travel. Colome promised early provincial and region- ty. Never a risk-taker, he avoided political re- al elections in 2011. Another transition — or Although these measures provided some forms but improved his international image relief and hope to Cubans on the island, it will succession — has taken place without inter- by releasing most of the political prisoners to be a long time before Cubans are ready to nal upheaval, indeed, hardly a murmur. Spain and Mexico. An agreement signed with effectively organize a challenge to the one- Colome has continued the economic re- Brazil in late 2008 — after Fidel wrote that party system. form program initiated by Raúl Castro. So far, rising energy prices caused by America’s If the past is prologue, then this is Cuba’s the regime has been successful in improving avarice forced Cuba into the ethanol market story past, present and future. The only con- the quality of the lives of average Cubans. — will open an initial revenue stream of $1 bil- stant is the enmity between Washington and Incomes have increased and there is great- lion a year by late 2010. Havana. Is this a coincidence or a symbiotic er access to information and the Internet. Re- Offshore oil exploitation, now that a test well relationship in which the Cuban revolution forms in the agricultural sector have reduced has proved positive, will make Cuba energy survives because of American policy? ❑ discontent in rural Cuba by improving prices self-sufficient by 2012. Cuba’s economy keeps and market access. growing at about 5% annually as revenues from Vicki Huddleston is formerly chief of the U.S. A return to more liberal family investment nickel, tourism and remittances remain rela- Interests Section in Havana, and former ambas- measures similar to those in place during the tively strong, and relaxation of some require- sador to Mali. Now a senior fellow at the Brook- “Special Period” has undercut pent-up frus- ments on foreign firms has increased invest- ings Institution, she wrote this for CubaNews.

Tourism — FROM PAGE 2 cruises sail around Cuba, but they’re penalized if they visit,” he com- plained. “Even the ones most interested in visiting Cuba don’t dare.” U.S. government to travel there freely. And that won’t happen until According to López, Cuba’s cruise trade peaked in 2005 with the Castro regime enacts significant economic and political reforms 102,440 passengers visiting the island on vessels that put in 122 calls to encourage private enterprise as well as foreign investment. at Cuban ports. Only two years later, those numbers had shrunk to “Cuba’s foreign investment law now allows joint-venture type 11,000 visitors from just 23 dockings. Most of those were sailing on arrangements,” said Michael Roberts of the Washington law firm of the “Holiday Dream” owned by Spanish operator Pullmantour. Venable LLP. “They’ve been somewhat successful with foreign But Pullmantour stopped sailing to Cuba in October 2006 after it hotel chains, but they haven’t been very successful in replicating was bought by Miami-based Royal Caribbean, the world’s second- foreign investment in other sectors.” largest cruise ship company. Even so, López said Cuba has the Roberts noted that the Miramar Trade Center, a sprawling new capacity to handle one million cruise-ship passengers a year and up office complex on the western outskirts of Havana, was financed “in to 600 port calls of vessels weighing up to 70,000 tons. large part by foreign investment funds that were secured off the It could be a long time before those dreams are realized, though cash flow of some foreign travel agents.” Simon Calder, travel editor of London’s Independent, can’t wait. In the meantime, the embargo has especially hurt Cuba’s strug- gling cruise business — especially in Old Havana, where the cigar “The big U.S. airlines have their draft schedules ready; I expect and rum shop at the city’s recently renovated $10 million passenger Miami-Havana to swiftly become the busiest international air route terminal is closed, and ship visits are few and far between. in the world,” he wrote Feb. 20, the day after Fidel’s resignation. “The reason is the U.S. blockade, which does not allow ships to “Canada, Italy, Spain and Britain have proved invaluable as in- visit Cuban ports,” said José Antonio López, general manager of the vestors prepare to drag Cuba’s decrepit tourism infrastructure into state company that runs Cuba’s four cruise terminals. López, in an the 21st century, by providing a supply of sun-starved holidaymak- interview with Reuters, blamed the 1992 Torricelli Act, under ers,” said Calder, warning that “U.S. hotel groups and tour operators which vessels sailing to Cuba are barred from entering U.S. ports will seek to outbid Europeans and Canadians for the best properties.” for six months; this effectively rules out most of the Caribbean And once the boycott ends, he said, “300 million Americans will cruise industry, which is headquartered in Miami. be able to explore Cuba, rather than just fly over it. That could mean “All cruise operators want to come to Havana and thousands of other Caribbean islands are likely to see a sharp fall in bookings.” ❑

& E 1 $ LO IL O GI      $0 April 2008 ❖ CubaNews 5 POLITICAL BRIEFS WHITE HOUSE RESTRICTS PRO-DEMOCRACY FUNDS In their own words … The Bush administration is undertaking a major revamping of its controversial Cuba democracy “President Bush’s words yesterday show that he is just a furious and impo- grants, restricting the funds available for anti-Cas- tent spectator. I enjoyed listening to the frustration in his words ... He can nei- tro groups in Miami and sending more resources ther stop, interfere with or influence what happens in Cuba.” to non-U.S. international advocacy organizations, — Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque, commenting Mar. 8 on a speech in the Miami Herald reported Mar. 31. which Bush said the Castro regime had merely replaced one dictator for another. The new orientation, first revealed by CubaNews (see our March 2008 issue, page 1), has sent trem- “We immediately alerted USAID. We’re ready to help get to the bottom of it.” ors of uncertainty among many grant recipients in — Frank Calzón, director of the Center for a Free Cuba, replying Mar 29 to allega- South Florida. It comes as the State Department tions that an ex-staffer diverted grant money aimed at helping Cuban dissidents. and the U.S. Agency for International Develop- ment prepare to award a record $45.7 million in “The majority of us [in Wyoming] feel very different than the politicians in Cuba democracy grants this year — more than Miami. I go with the common-sense approach than the angry approach.” triple the 2007 levels. — Manuel López, a hotel owner in Jackson, Wyo., quoted by the High Country At the same time, federal investigators are prob- News. Last year, López and other Cuban exiles living in Wyoming convinced Sen. ing allegations that an ex-White House aide mis- Mike Enzi (R-WY) to introduce a bipartisan bill to open up U.S. travel to Cuba. used funds meant to help dissidents in Cuba. Felipe Sixto, who came to the White House in July and was recently promoted to special assis- “Mr. Ziegler has drawn criticism for his unyielding support of many of the tant to President Bush, resigned Mar. 20 while world’s most vicious dictators. He expressed ‘total support for the Cuban revo- disclosing he was suspected of a “conflict of inter- lution’ and its leader, Fidel Castro, whose repressive regime has left hundreds est” involving pro-democracy funds while previ- of political dissidents to languish in jail.” ously working for the Center for a Free Cuba. — Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), blasting the mid-March appointment of Swiss Neither Frank Calzón, director of the Washing- sociologist Jean Ziegler as one of 18 advisers to the UN Human Rights Council. ton-based group, nor the investigators would say ow much money may have been diverted and “If we can change the Sunni chieftains in Iraq, some of which were helping what Sixto allegedly did with it. The Justice the insurgents against us, maybe talking to someone who seems to be a hard- Department has taken the matter under advise- core enemy doesn’t hurt anything and it might help.” ment while deciding whether to prosecute. — Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), responding to a question by ABC-TV’s George Stephanopoulous on whether the U.S. should begin talks with Raúl Castro. DISSIDENT DETENTIONS RISING, SAYS MIAMI GROUP Political detentions are on the rise in Cuba, with “He was only interested in talking about himself. He had a big ego.” 200 people being arrested in January, the Cuban — Fernando Barral, a private restaurant owner in Havana and retired psycholo- Democratic Directorate reported Mar. 12. gist, recalling U.S. pilot John McCain. Barral interviewed McCain in 1970, while Last year, 350 dissidents were imprisoned in the future presidential candidate was still a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. Cuba for their political views, according to the Miami-based directorate’s latest report. “Cuban intelligence is still very active in South Florida. The United States is Janisset Rivero told UPI she expected little still very much the enemy of the [Castro] regime.” would change under new Cuban leader Raúl Frank Mora Castro. During February, 50 more people were — , professor of national security strategy at the National War College. arrested and detained in Cuba for holding views contrary to the communist regime there. “For far too long, American isolation has cemented a Cuban dictatorship. Today, that dictatorship may finally be starting to crack; how we seize this VT. RESIDENTS SUE OFAC OVER FAMILY TRAVEL BAN opportunity will determine whether it crumbles.” Four Vermonters are suing the U.S. government — Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), former Democratic presidential candidate and stauch claiming restrictions on family travel to Cuba vio- critic of the embargo, writing in a Mar. 5 opinion piece for the Miami Herald. late their civil rights, reported the Rutland Herald. The lawsuit, filed Mar. 5 in U.S. District Court in “Obama, his skin is like mine, black. A woman can’t win. There’s sexism in Burlington, seeks to declare the travel restrictions the United States. And Obama can’t win because he is black.” on Cuban-Americans unconstitutional under the — Havana resident who refused to divulge even his first name, telling the Wash- due process clause of the Fifth Amendment. ington Post why Sen. John McCain will win the U.S. presidential election. The four plaintiffs are Armando Vilaseca of Westford; Yurisleidis Leyva Mora of Montpelier; “This is a unique time in American history and just sitting on the sidelines her husband, Jared Kingsbury Carter, and Maricel and cheering isn’t enough. People of good conscience have to provide leader- Lucero Keniston of Perkinsville. ship, and that’s something we’re sorely lacking in South Florida.” The plaintiffs have family members in Cuba, — Joe García, former chairman of the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party, including Carter and Mora, who applied for a announcing Feb. 5 his intention to challenge Cuban-American lawmaker and Treasury Department license in December to visit key embargo supporter Rep. Marío Díaz-Balart (R-FL) for his seat in Congress. “immediate family members in Cuba in order to celebrate and consecrate their marriage.” The family members included Leyva Mora’s “Elections are a wonderful part of the democratic process. As always, I will aging and infirm grandparents. base my campaign on my extensive record of cutting taxes for our families “We want to be able to celebrate our marriage and small businesses while delivering hundreds of millions of dollars in with them before they’re too sick to attend or God federal funds for our community’s needs — such as transportation, forbid pass away,” said Carter, a law student. “Pri- healthcare and education.” soners in jail who committed mass murder have — Rep. Mario Díaz Balarat (R-FL), responding to García’s challenge. more access to their family members than we do.”

& E 1 $ LO IL O GI      $0 6 CubaNews ❖ April 2008 BANKING & FINANCE Investors keeping a close eye on Raúl’s latest reforms BY LARRY LUXNER 13 decree that allows the unrestricted sale of On the other hand, on Feb. 17, just four Despite an upswing in Cuban asset prices computers, DVD players and video players, days before Fidel announced he would following Fidel Castro’s Feb. 19 resignation followed by other rules that let ordinary Cu- resign, Mexico agreed to restructure $400 and his replacement as president by younger bans, for the first time, have mobile phones million in Cuban debt and reopen credit lines brother Raúl, no one really knows where the and stay in hotels that until now were only for with Havana after a six-year hiatus. market is headed in the short term. foreigners. Such luxuries, however, are avail- Officials of Bancomext, who signed the ac- “Raúl says he wants more foreign invest- able only to those paying in convertible pesos. cord in Havana, said the deal would lift trade “There will be modest changes in agricul- ment, but he hasn’t said whether that means flows that fell to a historic low of $200 million ture and [the lifting of] some social restric- they’ll try to market Cuba harder or change in 2007, less than half the levels of the 1990s. tions,” said one Havana-based foreign banker, “With the signing of this agreement, a the rules,” noted Phil Peters of the Lexington warning against over-optimism. Institute in Arlington, Va. “They could keep great step has been made to normalize finan- the rules the same, or they could push min- cial and commercial ties between both coun- istries like Agriculture and Sugar that have tries,” Bancomext said in a statement, without been traditionally close to foreign investment giving details of the restructuring plan. to liberalize so that more companies will be DUAL-CURRENCY SYSTEM A TARGET OF SCORN attracted to invest in Cuba.” Observers hoping for some sign Raúl Raúl has promised to eventually do away would enact far-reaching economic or political with the dual-currency system, under which reforms were disheartened by the National Cubans are paid state salaries in the weak Assembly’s unanimous decision Feb. 24 to national peso, while the much stronger “peso elevate 77-year-old hardliner José Ramón Convertible peso: could it be on its way out soon? convertible” circulates in the tourist sector Machado Ventura — rather than the reform- and hard-currency shops. minded economic czar Carlos Lage, who is 56 “We have neither seen nor do we expect But even if he does, said Muse, little will — to Raúl’s old job as first vice-president. any substantial change over the next 12 change for the banking sector, since all trans- “We’ve been getting a lot of calls from months,” said the banker, who asked not to actions by foreign banks in Cuba are done in potential investors looking to buy some paper, be identified. “Generally, the expectations cir- foreign currency anyway. culating outside of this island are way ahead but because it’s very tightly held, it’s been dif- “Apart from some trade financing and some of anything that’s happening on this island.” lending to state enterprises, I am unsure what ficult to secure it,” says Stuart Culverhouse, At present, a dozen foreign banks operate chief economist at Exotix Ltd., which special- the mid-term future is for banks in Cuba, in Cuba, including Bancomext, BNP Paribas, because I don’t see any indication the Cuban izes in emerging-market illiquid and dis- BBVA, Banco Santander, ING Bank, Nether- tressed bonds, loans and equity.” government is actively looking for foreign lands Caribbean Bank BV and National Bank investment from the private sector,” he said. BE OPTIMISTIC, BUT DON’T GET CARRIED AWAY of Canada, though there used to be more. “Its orientation is clearly on sovereign-to-sov- “Several European banks have pulled out of ereign arrangements, whether it’s with Brazil “Obviously, we’re still in the early stages of Cuba. They’ve come under a lot of pressure or Venezuela or Russia.” the transition. As a result, prices have not real- from the U.S. government, which has tried to Once the U.S. embargo is gone, however, ly moved that much over the last few weeks,” interfere with their operations,” noted Robert the picture will change entirely. Culverhouse said in a phone interview from Muse, a Washington lawyer with extensive “I’m not really thinking about Raúl. I’m London. “The market is very thin because it’s experience in laws relating to Cuba. thinking post-embargo,” said closed-end fund distressed paper. Although there’s buying in- In November 2005, after Zurich-based UBS guru Thomas J. Herzfeld, whose Miami- terest, we think that maybe holders of the pa- and Credit Suisse vowed not to do business based Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund is pers are looking to see if the price will get bid with Havana, officials of Cuba’s Central Bank worth about $28 million (see chart below). up a little more before they’re willing to sell.” said the decision was “nothing more than an Cuba-watchers were encouraged by a Mar. act of submission to the United States.” See Banks, page 13

& E 1 $ LO IL O GI      $0 April 2008 ❖ CubaNews 7 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Analysts ponder Iranian-Venezuelan-Cuban connection BY SANTIAGO FITTIPALDI author of two books on Iran’s political struc- ence an encore of what happened in 1990 even years ago, during a well-publicized ture and nuclear aspirations, says although when they were suddenly left without assis- speech to students at the University of Iran’s Islamic government generally rejects tance and supplies from the Soviet Union,” S Tehran, Fidel Castro warned that “Iran Marxist principles, the country has a deep- says Suchlicki, crediting Raúl for not depend- and Cuba, in cooperation with each other, can rooted acceptance of communist ideologies ing on a single supplier. bring America to its knees.” that help foster ties with Cuba. Meanwhile, Cuban-Iranian economic ties Since then, the stakes have gotten much He noted that in 1953, when a coup d’etat are also on the rise. higher, with Iranian President Mahmoud brought the Shah to power, the Communist In December 2007, CubaNews reported that Ahmadinejad threatening to develop nuclear Party was Iran’s largest political party and its Tehran and Havana had agreed to establish a weapons and one day wipe Israel off the map. joint shipping line to boost Iranian-Latin Those fears were evident at a Mar. 17 con- American trade. Massoud Mir Kazemi, Iran’s ference in Miami co-sponsored by the Univer- finance minister, said his country may use its vast experience to help Cuba explore for oil in sity of Miami’s Institute for Cuban and Cuban- its Gulf of Mexico waters; he didn’t rule out American Studies and the Anti-Defamation LARRY LUXNER Iran’s future entry into the Cuban oil sector. League, a Jewish organization. Last June, the two countries signed several Participants at the event, entitled “The In- memos of understanding as well as a 200 mil- fluence of Iran in Latin America: The lion-euro loan from Tehran. The money will Venezuela-Cuba Connection,” say the three finance Iranian equipment for the transport countries are building an axis to spread anti- sector, mainly in railroad materials and vehi- American and anti-Israel rhetoric throughout cles; hydraulic machinery, and materials for Latin America. the energy sector. “Castro is always interested in partnering “Cuba needs train wagons and other Iran- with anyone who is against the U.S., but in ian products, and we are interested in Hav- this case I think his ties to Ahmadinejad have ana’s well-developed biology projects,” said been part of the conditions set by [Venezue- Mir Kazemi. lan President Hugo] Chávez in exchange for $5 billion in annual subsidies to Cuba,” one TEHRAN, HAVANA COOPERATE ON BIOTECH attendee at the conference told CubaNews. Iranian cargo vessel docks at the Port of Djibouti. Cuba transferred proprietary biotechnolo- Chávez, who refers to Ahmadinejad as a In 2007, Cuba and Iran agreed to form a shipping gy to Iran following the signing of a biotech “brother,” has expressed unconditional sup- line to boost Iranian trade with Latin America. cooperation pact in 1993, after which the two port for Iran’s nuclear program and last year leaders would go on to shape much of Iran’s countries established a biotech center in joined Tehran in creating a $2 billion fund to Tehran in 2001 as a joint venture. To boost finance projects to “thwart U.S. domination.” political future. bilateral trade, Iran has also provided Cuba A $700 million joint-venture petrochemical “Both in Havana and Tehran there’s a com- with trade finance facilities. plant is now under construction in Iran, with mon revolutionary ideology in which anti- “Let’s hope that these technological agree- other possible ventures in the works, includ- Americanism plays an extraordinarily impor- ments are limited to biotech,” said one event ing a plastics mold factory, a binational bank, tant part,” said Clawson, another speaker, in a attendee. “If Ahmadinejad continues to push a deal to train 200 Iranians as petroleum tech- subsequent conversation with CubaNews. for expanding Iran’s nuclear capabilities, I nicians and another to produce a remotely “That’s really what the Islamic revolution in wouldn’t be surprised if he decides to support piloted patrol aircraft. Iran is about. It’s not primarily religious or Cuba to do the same. That would not only Weekly direct Iran Air flights between Islamic, and has little to do with the grand tra- help Cuba deal with its energy crunch and Caracas and Tehran already shuttle govern- ditions of Islam and much to do with anti- could help Iran use Cuba as a testing ground ment officials and business executives imperialism, class consciousness and all those for nuclear technology, but would add more between the two capitals. kinds of things that were so important for pressure to the United States.” “Some people call that route Al-Qaeda Iran’s very large communist movement.” Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart, the oldest son of Airlines,” joked a Cuban-born industrialist NEED FOR OIL PUSHES CUBA INTO IRAN’S ARMS Fidel Castro and former head of Cuba’s who’s lived in Venezuela since 1977 and is a nuclear agency, has visited Iran in the past, Chávez critic. “Culturally, we don’t share one Ahmadinejad’s outspoken anti-Zionism also along with other Cuban nuclear physicists. drop of religion or revolution with Iran.” appeals to Havana, says Jaime Suchlicki, “With embassies in Cuba, Venezuela, Mex- director of ICCAS. ISLAM NOT A BIG FACTOR IN IRAN-CUBA TIES ico, Brazil and Argentina; plans to reopen em- “I believe that Cuba’s policies are clearly set bassies or strengthen its diplomatic presence Carlos Alberto Montaner, a Cuban-born in favor of Arab countries and against Israel,” in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and author and academic who spoke at the UM said Suchlicki, noting that Fidel Castro broke Uruguay; and the founding of a new embassy event, said there’s an effort underway to esta- diplomatic relations with Israel in 1973 at the in Bolivia, Iran is expanding its stronghold on blish a political circuit that in some way mir- urging of the Arab League. Clawson agrees the continent,” warns a briefing paper by rors the one that existed during the Cold War. with that view, predicting that Ahmadinejad Amanda Farfel, senior research and program “Whereas the center of the anti-U.S. circuit will encourage Raúl Castro to take a more associate at the American Jewish Committee’s during the Cold War was Moscow, now what public anti-Israel stance. Latino and Latin American Institute. ❑ we’re seeing is the creation of an axis that But for Suchlicki, Havana’s growing links includes Havana, Caracas and Tehran,” with Tehran will be driven more by Cuba’s Santiago Fittipaldi, a Miami-based freelance Montaner told CubaNews. “The three feel need to diversify its sources of petroleum. journalist and former editor-in-chief of Latin they have inherited the vision and strategies “Raúl has begun looking to such other Trade magazine, has been covering the Carib- of the Soviet Union.” countries as Angola, Iran and Russia in the bean and Latin America for 20 years. In 1992, Patrick Clawson, deputy director of the event there’s a problem with oil supplies from the Economist Intelligence Unit published his re- Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Venezuela, so that they don’t have to experi- port, “Developing Business Strategies for Cuba.”

& E 1 $ LO IL O GI      $0 8 CubaNews ❖ April 2008 NEWSMAKERS Col. Larry Wilkerson: U.S. must seize momentum now BY LARRY LUXNER tures undergraduate students on national might look down the road a few years and see n 1958, when he was 13 years old, Col. security decision-making since World War II. a collective leadership in power, a stable, Larry Wilkerson visited Cuba with his He also teaches a graduate course at William functioning government kind of like what Igrandmother for the first time. & Mary College on case studies in power. Deng Xioping began in China.” “She was one of the most influential people Wilkerson left the State Department on How the United States responds depends a in my life,” recalled the ex-soldier. “She said Jan. 19, 2005, and became a private citizen. lot on who will be occupying the White House to me as I was getting off the boat in Havana, But he didn’t go quietly into the ‘You’ll see a lot of gambling houses, and hous- night. The turning point for him es of ill repute. Don’t go into any of them.” came when Foggy Bottom Half a century later, following an illustrious learned in advance that potential- career closely linked with that of former ly damaging photos of U.S. pris- Secretary of State Colin Powell, Wilkerson oner abuse of Iraqi inmates at LARRY LUXNER recently made it back to Cuba for a two-week Abu Ghraib were about to be released to the media. fact-finding mission. “The tradition for a soldier is As with his previous trip, Wilkerson was that you don’t speak out. But accompanied by influential people — and when I encountered the detainee came away more convinced than ever that his abuse issue and some of the truth old boss was right. that was beginning to come out, I “I can’t tell you how many times Colin Pow- couldn’t hold my peace any ell and I talked about Cuba,” Wilkerson, 63, longer,” he said. “The abuse issue recalled in a recent interview with CubaNews. weighed heavily on me. My wife “He might disavow everything I say now, kept telling me that my obligation but his exact words were: ‘This is the dumb- to my country was stronger than est policy on the face of the Earth.’ We talked to anyone I worked with.” about it when he was joint chiefs of staff, Wilkerson became vocal in his when I worked for him in a private capacity, opposition to the war in Iraq, pub- and when he became secretary of state.” licly accusing Cheney and Rums- CUBA ‘NOT WORTH THE POLITICAL CAPITAL’ feld of forming a “cabal” to hijack American foreign policy. But the Why, then, did Colin Powell end up chair- former soldier also started pay- ing the White House Committee for Assis- ing more attention to another tance to a Free Cuba — which was crafted by region of the world where he hardliners Otto Reich and Roger Noriega, thinks the United States has and whose final report urged not an end to stumbled badly: Latin America. the embargo but an even stronger crackdown “We’re not using our power Larry Wilkerson, former aide to Secretary of State Colin Powell. against travel and remittances to Cuba? very well in general, and certain- “Well, he had North Korea, Iran, Iraq, ly not vis-a-vis Latin America. The last time we this time next year. Virtually no one expects China, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney [to had an effective foreign policy regarding an improvement in bilateral relations as long deal with], and Cuba was at the bottom of the Latin America was on Sept. 11, 2001, the day as Bush remains in office. list,” Wilkerson explained. “He knew that Flo- Colin Powell was in Lima, Peru, attending an “I hope the new president, whoever he or rida had 27 electoral votes, and that President OAS meeting on regional security. she is, will recognize the potential for a rela- Bush owed debts to people who had exploited “We occasionally send a hospital ship there, tionship with Cuba,” Wilkerson told us. “We the Cuban-American lobby in order to get or we put National Guard reserves in Hondu- should conduct a policy review on how to into the White House. These people — Ros- ras to build this school or that school, but the open that relationship, recognizing each Lehtinen, Díaz-Balart, Martínez, Menendez fact is we pay very little attention to Latin other’s sovereignty and be willing to accept — have a lock on U.S.-Cuba policy and it’s America and I think that’s a grievous mistake. shortcomings on the Cuban side. time we broke that lock. But Colin Powell was Latin Americans today are writing us off.” “Both [Sens. Barack] Obama and Hillary not going to forfeit the capital he had. [Clinton] have the intellectual power to con- “They wanted to use Taiwan and stick it in McCAIN VICTORY WOULD BE ‘DANGEROUS’ duct a review and begin to amend our policy. the face of Beijing. We might have had a war And nowhere is Washington more off-base They are also more able to think in new because of that,” he continued. “But Bush than with regard to Cuba, where in mid-Feb- terms, Obama more so than Hillary.” had good economic instincts with regard to ruary, 81-year-old Fidel Castro resigned after And if Sen. John McCain wins? China. The answer is you can only do so nearly half a century as president. He was “I don’t want him to win, because I think much, and Cuba is not high enough to rate quickly replaced by younger brother Raúl, 76. it’ll be a step back. It would be dangerous for the political capital. But if it affects foreign “Unlike what happened most of the time this country,” said Wilkerson. “I don’t think policy and you use it as a tool, you can elevate under his brother, I believe Raúl will empow- he’s capable of thinking in 21st century it to the point where it is worth the expendi- er the ministries in Cuba’s bureaucracy to terms. He’s a Cold War warrior, but he does- ture of political capital. The Cuban-American begin examining ways to make the average n’t bring intellectual power to the Oval Office lobby is losing its hold on these voters, and I person’s life in Cuba better,” said Wilkerson. that we need right now in order to reshape think the time is propitious to make these “Since he’ll only be there for a very short our approach to the world.” kinds of changes.” time, it’s very important who he grooms — He added: “Cuba is something the next While his former boss earns big bucks whether it’s individually or collectively — to president could turn around in six months. making speeches, Wilkerson has become an take over the reins of leadership. At the same We’re not talking about Iran, Iraq or Afghan- academic. He’s now with George Washington time, there could be a scramble for power. istan here. We’re talking about a small coun- University’s Honors Program, where he lec- “If it’s orchestrated smartly and wisely, we try of 11 million people with whom we’ve had

& E 1 $ LO IL O GI      $0 April 2008 ❖ CubaNews 9 the most absurd policy for the last 50 years. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Díaz-Balart and U.S. Interests Section in Havana tells me the “These travel restrictions are onerous. In his brother Mario Díaz-Balart — approved best partner we have in counternarcotics is fact, they’re downright inhuman,” he pointed some of the toughest laws ever aimed at Cuba. They’re even a better partner than out. “It’s unconstitutional to prohibit you and depriving the Castro regime of dollars. Mexico. I think the swiftest way to take the and me from traveling to Cuba. I can travel to These included sharply limiting the num- wind out of the sails of Hugo Chávez is a rap- Pyongyang, but not to Havana. That’s absurd. ber and type of Americans who could visit proachment with Cuba.” I think 50 years is enough time to understand Cuba, and reducing the frequency of family that our Cuba policy has failed.” visits to the island from once every year to GET RID OF GITMO PRISON AT ONCE Even more troubling, said Wilkerson, is the once every three years. In the meantime, Powell’s old friend and idea that U.S. national security is being hurt That outraged some elements of the South confidante argues that the continued deten- by what he calls “our idiotic Cuba policy.” Florida exile community which traditionally tion of terrorist suspects at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo is an enduring source of embarrassment throughout the region. Wilkerson said the U.S. “as long as a year “I can’t tell you how many times Colin Powell and I talked about ago exhausted the real intelligence potential” of the 300 or so detainees still being held at Cuba. He might disavow everything I say now, but his exact this tropical prison in eastern Cuba. words were: ‘This is the dumbest policy on the face of the Earth.’” Furthermore, he’s convinced “we had peo- ple there we knew were innocent, and were — COL. LAWRENCE WILKERSON working furiously to try and repatriate them so there wouldn’t be any lingering evidence.” Many of them, he concluded, had no con- nection to terrorism but were simply swept up “The amount of time counter-terrorist enti- backed a tough line against Havana. in Pakistan or Afghanistan, and incarcerated ties are spending just on enforcing the new “I have been fishing and hunting with some based on false assumptions and innuendos — restrictive Cuba laws is distracting from their very powerful people in the Republican Party, without any kind of status review process on ability to focus on more serious issues. It who laugh at the idea of Cuba being a threat the ground. takes time away from finding people who are to the United States,” said Wilkerson. “What “What are you going to do with these peo- here for more nefarious purposes,” he said. Bush did in 2004 was for political purposes, ple once you divorce them from the rule of “I am also not happy with the fact that we but they don’t know how to get out of it. This is a case of a policy being dictated by a few law? Are you prepared to keep them in Gitmo may have the prospect of China drilling for oil until they’re 70, 80, 90 years old? The answer on Cuba’s continental shelf, which is very people in Florida.” So what does Wilkerson recommend? that came back from Donald Rumsfeld was, close to Florida. Currents are such that if we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” there were a medium-sized oil spill, or God “A very carefully orchestrated lifting of the embargo, in accordance with a strategy of ulti- Wilkerson added: “They do have some forbid a really big one, most of that would mate rapproachment,” he told CubaNews. “It hard-core, front-line terrorists down there. wind up on Florida’s eastern seaboard.” might take 3-5 years to implement, but right But if the government takes a blanket approach to this, they’re gonna lose them. So WILKERSON URGES GRADUAL END TO EMBARGO away, I would eliminate travel restrictions. And I would lift the embargo at least for agri- they’re clearly willing to punish innocent peo- Yet 10 successive presidents have treated cultural goods and petroleum exploration. ple to keep the bad guys under lock and key. Cuba as a threat to this country. “I’d give Cubans visas to visit this country, “I think we should make a good-faith effort In 2004, the Bush administration — backed and I’d start a more robust program of shar- to determine who’s less than hard-core, and by the trio of powerful GOP Cuban-American ing anti-drug and counter-terrorism policies either release them or repatriate them. Let that lawmakers from South Florida that includes and information,” he said, adding that “the country deal with whoever they may be.” ❑ Canada, Mexico issues grab attention at CUNY seminar on Cuba BY VITO ECHEVARRÍA subsidiaries of U.S. chains. Thus, because of U.S. sanctions, there’s anada’s policy of “constructive engagement” may not be doing no Canadian tourism investment.” all that much for the Canadian economy, said Cuba expert Spadoni also noted that as a result of U.S. competition in Cuba's CPaolo Spadoni, noting that the number of Canadian joint ven- food import market, Canada is focusing on those food and non-food tures in Cuba dropped from 75 in 2004 to only 40 in 2006. products that are proven Canadian sellers to the Cubans. “This is in line with the overall trend in Cuba. The Spaniards, “Sales of electric machinery, wheat, peas, motor vehicle parts — Italians and French are also seeing their joint ventures going down,” these are the kinds of products that Canada is selling to Cuba,” he said Spadoni, a professor at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla. said. “Canadian wheat is No. 1 in Cuba and the rest of Latin America, “It is also due to the new policy of the Cuban government, which along with fertilizer products, motor-vehicle parts and copper wire. focuses on investment that involves a significant amount of capital, Motor parts are competitive everywhere. If Canadian firms are able while getting rid of small and medium-size businesses that were not to compete with U.S. companies in other countries, there’s a good perceived to bring much to the development of the [Cuban] econo- chance that they can compete in a post-embargo scenario in Cuba.” my. So the case of Canada is not an isolated one.” Spadoni also said Ottawa’s financing policy toward Cuba must be Spadoni was one of many experts who spoke at a three-day sym- adjusted to deal with future international competition for business posium by the City University of New York’s Graduate Center. He with Havana. Canada must have “an aggressive export credit policy,” also dispelled the notion that the influx of winter-weary Canadian he says, noting that “Cuba has received new credit lines from Iran, tourists to Cuban beaches and balmy weather has generated any Russia, China, and Venezuela.” financial gain for Canadian tourism companies. Another speaker, Emily Morris, a senior economist and analyst “We have more that 600,000 Canadian tourists [visiting Cuba each with the Economist Intelligence Unit in London, urged attendees to year],” Spadoni said, “and there is not a single management contract compare Cuba’s economic performance, from 1990 onward, to that with a Canadian tourist company in Cuba. Most Canadian firms are See CUNY, page 11

& E 1 $ LO IL O GI      $0 10 CubaNews ❖ April 2008 INFRASTRUCTURE Camagüey’s Nuevitas port thrived when sugar was king BY OUR HAVANA CORRESPONDENT This is the fourth in a series of articles on specialized port of Guayabal on the southern nce the world’s busiest sugar port, Cuba’s major ports. The first installment (Jan- shore of Las Tunas province (16%), and Carú- Nuevitas today is suffering a deep and uary 2008) analyzed Mariel; the second looked at pano, in Puerto Padre (9%). Oprolonged slump. Considering its loca- Cienfuegos, and the third studied Matanzas. As with other Cuban ports, operations at tion and infrastructure, however, it will defi- sels are allowed to enter the bay only during Nuevitas sharply declined after the collapse of nitely become one of Cuba’s main ports in any periods of slack water, preferably in daylight. the Soviet bloc in the early 1990s, and with future economic recovery. Nuevitas has consistently seen its share of the downsizing of the sugar industry, which Nuevitas is the only large harbor and indus- Cuban port traffic cut over the last 40 years, virtually paralyzed sugar exports after 2002. trial hub along Cuba’s northern coast between first during the 1970s — in spite of its own ex- Only three out of six sugar mills regularly the bays of Matanzas and Nipe. As such, Nue- plosive industrial development — as result of shipping its production through Nuevitas in vitas would serve as an excellent port for trad- the growing trade in other Cuban ports, and the 1980s remain active with a limited output: ing with the United States — as it was before again after the economic slump of the 1990s Primero de Enero in Ciego de Avila, and 1961 — once the embargo is lifted. Its loca- that nearly paralyzed the local economy. Brasil and Sierra de Cubitas, in Camagüey. tion makes it ideal for handling the shipping During the mid to late ‘80s, at the height of needs of 2.2 million people living in central NUEVITAS SUFFERS LONG DECLINE trade with the Soviet bloc, Nuevitas ranked Cuba, from Sancti Spíritus to Las Tunas. By the mid-20th century, 14% of all sugar 4th in Cuba in total cargo volume (6-7% of the Situated along the northern coast of Cama- and sugar byproducts produced in Cuba, or national total). In 1986 alone, Nuevitas han- güey province, Nuevitas lies astride a small between 750,000 and one million tons, was dled 458 vessels containing a total of 2.52 mil- peninsula inside an ample harbor covering 57 shipped abroad through the terminals of lion tons of cargo; 18% of this was exports, square nautical miles. Deep and landlocked, Tarafa and Pastelillo, which at that time nearly all of it sugar, another 50% was imports,

served 18 sugar mills (including some of the and the rest was local traffic. largest in the country). Together the two ter- Besides sugar, the port handled oil, citrus, minals had a combined warehouse capacity of bulk cement and bulk fertilizer operations for 2.2 million bags of sugar, 18 million gallons of local factories. the harbor faces the Old Bahamas Channel, a molasses and 400,000 barrels of oil. narrow corridor connecting north-central During the 1980s, Nuevitas ranked fifth in TARAFA AND PASTELILLO Cuba with the Atlantic Ocean, the Strait of Cuban sugar exports, with an average 400,000 With most of the sugar mills it served now Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. tons (nearly all as raw sugar and a fraction as dismantled, and the movement of oil products The entrance channel is narrow, deep and alcohols and dextrin) dispatched through the and fertilizers limited, Nuevitas is only a sha- twisted, about five nautical miles long, with Tarafa and Pastelillo terminals from six sugar dow of its former self. The port has two main depths ranging from 50 to 100 feet. The max- mills in northern Camagüey and Ciego de shipping terminals: Tarafa, located to the imum draft for vessels operations inside the Avila provinces annually. north of the city, and Pastelillo, to the east. bay is 39 feet. That represented about 6% of Cuba’s sugar Built in the 1920s for the export of sugar, Because of the bay’s shape, tidal currents output, leaving Nuevitas well behind the ports Tarafa has the largest roofed warehouses on are usually very intense at the narrow and of Cienfuegos (then accounting for 30% of all the island, with enough storage room for curved access channel. As a result, large ves- sugar exports), Matanzas (16%), the highly See Nuevitas, page 11

& E 1 $ LO IL O GI      $0 April 2008 ❖ CubaNews 11 in the socialist system. While in 1995 the state Fox, who unlike previous Mexican heads of CUNY — FROM PAGE 9 employed 79.5% of all Cubans, by 2002 that state displayed an open hostility towards of other parts of the world, such as the former number had dropped to 76.5%. Fidel Castro and Cuba’s socialist system. COMECON countries in Eastern Europe, “Behind all this dissatisfaction, especially “The Mexican government, from the very Asia, the rest of Latin America, and neighbor- as the economy is showing some improve- early 1960s through the early 1990s, includ- ing Caribbean islands. ment, that’s the time when people get most ing the Chiapas rebellion in 1994, ensured “Asia is way ahead, way off the charts, and excited and agitated, and raise their own that Cuba would not arm, train or encourage is pulled up by China and Vietnam,” she said. demands, and a lot of it is based on anger at armed movements in Mexico against the “Clearly, there is something about market lib- inequality — the working poor versus those Mexican state,” said Castañeda. eralization to discuss there.” who work in mixed enterprises and its privi- “For practical purposes, Mexico was the Morris compared Cuba to the Dominican leges, cars, and bonuses that are not neces- only Latin country during the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s Republic, which for years had Latin America’s sarily cash, such as a week’s vacation in and ‘90s where Cuba never did this. And that highest growth rates. Between 1996 and 2000, Varadero,” said Linger. was the quid pro quo — Cuba doesn’t meddle the D.R. averaged 7.7% GDP growth per year. “There’s great inequality in consumption, with Mexico, and Mexico looks the other way. Tourism is a crucial source of foreign ex- and that anger underlies this demand for a We were active with the Human Rights change for the Dominicans, and while both single currency,” she explained. “Part of it is Commission in Geneva and the UN General countries have succeeded in luring budget the idea that if we all get paid the same, it Assembly, accepting exiles from all over Latin tourists who frequent all-inclusive resorts like would be very shameful to see that we’re only America, but not from Cuba.” Cuba’s Varadero and the Dominican Repub- getting $10 or $15 a month.” Castañeda later got into trouble when, dur- lic’s Playa Bavaro, only the Dominicans have ing the 2002 opening of the Mexican Cultural attracted luxury tourism and real-estate ven- CASTAÑEDA: MEXICO LOOKED THE OTHER WAY Institute in Miami, he declared: “The doors of tures such as Casa de Campo and Cap Cana. The main speaker at CUNY’s conference the Mexican Embassy in Havana are open to Of particular interest was a presentation by was Mexico’s former foreign minister, Jorge all Cuban citizens, as is Mexico.” Eloise Linger, assistant professor of politics at Castañeda Gutman, now a professor at NYU. That statement was broadcast by Radio SUNY in Old Westbury, N.Y., titled “The The son of a previous Mexican foreign min- Martí, and blamed by the Castro regime for Social Demand for One Single Currency.” ister who served during the López Portillo inciting young Cuban dissidents to storm the Linger noted that a change in Cuba’s administration in 1979-82, Castañeda was can- Mexican Embassy in Havana. Castañeda later source of employment has fueled inequalities ciller from 2000 to 2003. His boss was Vicente said his statement was taken out of context. ❑

Nuevitas — FROM PAGE 10 By sea, the port of Nuevitas is 355 55,000 tons and additional space outside to nautical miles from store 75,000 tons. It is served mainly by Havana, 373 nnm trucks and railroads. It reportedly handled from Mariel, 305 400,000 tons of cargo in 2004 and 250,000 tons nm from Matanzas, through June 2005, says recent figures. 293 nm from Santi- Four loading cranes operate along Pier B. ago de Cuba and Lack of dredging has reduced its 26-foot draft 608 nm from Cien- by one-third, limiting access to larger vessels. fuegos. It currently handles general cargo, sugar, cit- There is fair rus and bulk dry cargo. The terminal needs access by road and refurbishment of its outdated technology. rail to the rest of Served by railroad and trucks, the Cuba. The city of Pastelillo terminal is mostly used for fuels, Camagüey and its but it’s also capable of dealing with general international airport cargo and sugar. It handled 265,000 tons in is 48 miles to the 2007 according to official statistics. As for the southeast. ❑ Tarafa terminal, lack of dredging has reduced the size of vessels Pastelillo can handle. Several key industrial facilities built in Nue- vitas during the late ‘60s and 1970s are served by the port. The 10 de Octubre thermal power plant was a Czech project finished in the late 1960s, north of the city, at Punta Santo Domingo. It currently has four units with a combined capacity of 425 MW. Between 1998 and 2005, the government invested $28.8 mil- lion to upgrade these four units. Cement is produced at the 26 of July facto- ry built between 1968 and 1973 — reaching a peak of 553,000 tons in 1989. Production tum- bled with the economic crisis of the 1990s but has made a gradual comeback thanks to a venture with foreign investors. It now pro- duces 165,000 tons a year, mainly for export. Cuba and Venezuela agreed to refurbish the semi-idle fertilizer plant, finished in 1975 with Soviet technology. It is capable of pro- ducing 200,000 tons of nitrogen-based fertiliz- ers and herbicides per year.

& E 1 $ LO IL O GI      $0 12 CubaNews ❖ April 2008 trade is made up of Mexican exports, while pants at the 8th Term Meeting of Turkish- BUSINESS BRIEFS 13% is of Cuban products. Ardila told Cuban Joint Economic Committee in Ankara. Notimex that for the moment, Cuba is more Cicek welcomed the rise in trade volume VENEZUELAN BANK TO OPEN HAVANA BRANCH focused on meeting local needs than selling to between Turkey and Cuba to $34 million in On Apr. 9, a branch of the Bank of the markets abroad, similar to the economy 2007, and said there are many cooperation Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas Mexico had before the opening in the 1970s. opportunities between the two countries. (ALBA) will be opened in Havana, said gov- In 1990, trade turnover was $158 million and “However, we have to speed up bureaucratic ernment finance official Rafael Isea. the most prominent year was 1995, when procedures and diversify projects,” he said. The official told Venezuelan TV that the exchange reached $400 million. Since then, it Marta Lomas Morales, Cuba’s minister for financial institution will be a tool for the devel- has been consistently falling. foreign investments and economic coopera- opment of the countries that are part of this Simoneen said Mexico ships to Cuba spare tion, said Turkey’s 10 million-euro Eximbank mechanism: Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, parts for transport vehicles, aluminium and loan to Cuba was used to renovate dams, sup- Dominica and Bolivia. finished products, paints and varnishes, clean- ply irrigation and build power plants. The bank’s charter was signed Jan. 26; a 60- ing implements as detergent, compressors for She said she believes there is political will day period to finalize the agreement was freezing chambers and plastic materials. The in both countries to sign a contract for anoth- established at that time. The minister said all island, in exchange, sells Mexico tobacco, er tranche of loans worth 15 million euros. five ALBA signatory countries have agreed to iron junk, ethylic alcohol and rum. She also said Turkey has a developed ener- the constituent document. The executive denied that U.S. restrictions gy system and that both countries agreed to The bank will begin operations with $2 bil- like the Helms-Burton law had anything to do carry out joint oil and natural gas exploration lion of authorized capital and $1 billion of sub- with falling trade between Mexico and Cuba. together with other energy projects. scribed capital. He did recognize, however, that firms with On Mar. 25, Hilmi Guler, the country’s min- U.S. capital operating in Mexico may have ister of energy and natural resources, said GOVERNMENT REPORTS ON INFORMAL SECTOR reduced or ceased to do business with Cuba. Turkish Petroleum Corp. (TPAO) would A new report by Cuba’s National Office of explore for oil and natural gas as it already Statistics estimated that the cost of goods and TURKEY TO EXPLORE FOR OFFSHORE OIL IN CUBA does in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Libya. services purchased from private sources rose Cemil Cicek, Turkey’s deputy prime minis- “TPAO is eager to join natural gas and oil 4% in the last year. The report, titled “Survey ter, said he may send a team of contractors to exploration tenders in Venezuela, Colombia, of Prices in the Informal Sector,” represents Cuba this year, reports The New Anatolian. Mexico and Ecuador,” Guler told reporters. an unusual admission by the state of the role “Turkey attaches particular importance to “Turkey will set up a technical team to deal played by a private sector that occupies about Cuba as a part of its strategy to open to Latin with joint energy projects with Cuba and it 3% of the Cuban labor force. America and Caribbean,” Cicek told partici- will visit Cuba in coming days.” According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the report defines the informal market as the sale of goods and services from sources out- side the state, including sales at farmers mar- Cuba yanks licenses of 14 corrupt firms kets and by licensed entrepreneurs. he Cuban government has suspended government-controlled retailers. It also includes the thriving black market the business licenses of 14 foreign The commercial representative for Bella trade and the sale of goods such as food and Tfirms for alleged illegal activities tied SRL is Italian entrepreneur Humberto Bella, medicine stolen or legally obtained from the to state agencies controlled by GAESA, the known to have broad relations among the state and then resold. powerful commercial consortium of the commercial and financial sectors of Cuba. This vast informal economy is greased by Cuban Armed Forces. Besides revoking the business licenses of remittances from abroad, which are estimated Miami’s El Nuevo Herald, quoting sources foreign commercial companies, several at between $500 million and $1 billion a year. within the Ministry for Foreign Commerce employees and administrators of Tecnotex The government report said the goods and and the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, said and TRD Caribe have been sanctioned, services most frequently obtained from the the foreign representatives were notified of apparently on charges of corruption and private sector were rice, pizzas, eggs, pork, the cancellation of their business licenses trafficking in stolen merchandise. manicures, cooking oil, lard, and the Mar. 17 and 18, following an internal investi- Tecnotex is the main import-export com- exchange of Cuban pesos earned by state pany of the Cuban Armed Forces commer- workers for convertible pesos needed to shop gation that questioned alleged irregularities cial sector and is led by Col. René Rojas in hard currency stores. in the agreements established between the Rodríguez. It has offices in China, where In 2006, a report on the informal sector by Tecnotex entity and retail chain TRD Caribe, the Lexington Institute called the labor force a both under the administration of GAESA. most of its business is conducted in the significant alternative to state employment. “There was an ‘explosion’ at Tecnotex for acquisition of replacement parts and acces- “Even as they operate under policies that shady relations with foreign businessmen,” sories for automobiles, construction materi- reflect the state’s discomfort with the concept said an employee of the foreign commerce al, home electronics and computers. of private enterprise, they pay taxes and earn ministry who requested anonymity. “More TRD Caribe is a retail chain that consists higher-than-average incomes,” it said. “For than just friendships were proven to exist; of more than 400 locations offering items in Cuba’s future, this entrepreneurial sector is there were some shady dealings.” cash throughout Cuba; and boasts annual significant as a potential starting point for new The commerce ministry employee added profits that exceed $100 million. policies, if Cuba’s government were to decide that “the decision came from the highest The Cuban army’s GAESA, or Grupo de once again to use market mechanisms to gen- level,” with instructions to act “quickly and Administracion Empresarial SA, is the cor- erate jobs and growth.” energetically.” porate umbrella that covers a dozen nation- Although a complete list of the foreign al businesses. Since February it has been MEXICO-CUBA TRADE SINKS TO LOW LEVEL firms whose licenses were revoked hasn’t led by Maj. Luís Alberto Rodríguez López- Simoneen Ardila, vice-president of the Mexi- been made available, a source employed by Callejas, the son-in-law of Raúl Castro. He is can Importers-Exporters Association, said the Cuban Chamber of Commerce told El known for his career in Cuban finance. annual trade with Cuba had dropped to $100 Nuevo Herald that two Italian firms, Agridea Rodríguez assumed the leadership of million over the last 12 years due to Havana’s and Bella SRL, have been blacklisted. GAESA after his predecessor, the Gen. Julio outstanding debt with Mexico, poor bilateral Both companies provided merchandise to Casas Regueiro, 72, was named to replace relations and Cuba’s own economic problems. Tecnotex and TRD Caribe, among other Raúl Castro as head of the Cuban army. Official data indicate that 87% of bilateral

& E 1 $ LO IL O GI      $0 April 2008 ❖ CubaNews 13 FOREIGN TRADE U.S. cigar importers eager to sell Cuban stogies again BY LARRY LUXNER machine — and sold for $1.25 apiece or less. incorporating Cuban tobacco in their blends, whether those cigars are made in the U.S. or hat if Cuba could once again export The remaining 6% consisted of premium imported cigars selling for an average $2.50 elsewhere.” cigars freely to the United States? Richard Di Meola, a retired cigar-industry That’s the question on the minds of each. By far, the leading supplier of premium W executive in Boca Raton, Fla., doesn’t think an many in the U.S. tobacco industry, now that cigars is the Dominican Republic, accounting Fidel Castro is no longer in power and Presi- for 177.6 million units, or 53% of the 2007 total. end to the embargo will mean Cuba would dent Bush approaches the end of his term. Other key suppliers are Honduras (84.6 mil- suddenly flood the U.S. market with cigars. Clearly, an eventual end to the punishing lion units) and Nicaragua (69.2 million units), In the five or six years prior to 1962, when U.S. trade embargo would give a major boost with much smaller volumes of cigars coming the embargo went into effect, Cuban factories to Cuba’s tobacco industry, which brings in from the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Ja- supplied an average 14 million of the 185 mil- $240 million annually. Each year, the island maica, Mexico, Panama and the Philippines. lion premium cigars smoked in the United produces around 150 million cigars, with the CAA President Norm Sharp said what peo- States — or only 7.5% of the total, he said. vast majority now exported to Europe. ple generally don’t understand is that “it was “When the embargo was enacted, we could “It would bring always Cuban not get Cuban tobacco anymore, and as the a new excitement tobacco stocks were depleted, the market for premi- to the industry. that was um cigars declined to as low as 50 million. Any time the highly “But it began to come back after the Cuban American con- sought after, not cigarmakers left Cuba when their companies sumer is told he the cigars them- were nationalized. They established cigar- can’t have some- selves.” making affiliations in other parts of the thing, he wants it He said most of world,” said Di Meola, who in 1956 began more,” says Michael Gold, president of Aran- the premium cigars consumed domestically working with Faber, Coe & Gregg Inc., then go Cigar Co. in Northbrook, Ill., which prior to 1962 — when the embargo went into the nation’s leading importer and distributor imports cigars from a variety of countries. effect — were handmade in Customs-bonded of Cuban cigars. “It’s similar to what we here in the Midwest factories in Miami, Tampa, New Jersey and Di Meola retired in 1998 from Consolidated experienced back when you couldn’t buy other U.S. cities with large Cuban immigrant Cigar Corp. (now Altadis USA) as chief oper- Coors beer east of the Mississippi River. So populations. ating officer and executive vice-president. “I think if Cuban cigars once again became people drove into Denver to load up their cars BIG DEMAND FOR CUBAN TOBACCO FORESEEN and bring beer back to college towns,” Gold legal in the United States, there would be told CubaNews. “Everyone clamored to get it, Even with cheaper machine-rolled cigars, another cigar mini-boom,” he predicted. but once Coors became available east of the Cuban tobacco was used in the blend. “There will be heavy interest focused on Mississippi, its market share dropped lower “It’s generally felt that, were the market to the premium cigar business, similar to what than most other beers.” open to Cuban cigars, you’d see a resurgence took place in the ‘90s but not as intense. Cu- Likewise, he said, once Cuban stogies are of cigar sales in the United States, because ban cigars will be tried and tested, and over freely available to Americans, they’ll grab less people would experiment with Cuban cigars time, they’ll compete on a more even playing of a market share than Dominican or even and be able to compare them to the cigars field with other fine cigars being produced in Honduran cigars. they’re now getting from the Dominican the Dominican Republic and Honduras. Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua, none of “Eventually, when the sense of the forbid- D.R. NOW WORLD’S TOP CIGAR EXPORTER which really had a cigar industry prior to the den is gone, the Cuban cigar will no longer In 2007, according to the Cigar Association embargo,” Sharp told CubaNews. compete on its reputation alone, but on quali- of America, 5.55 billion cigars worth $3.2 bil- “There’s going to be pronounced competi- ty as measured against all other good cigars lion at the retail level were sold to U.S. consu- tion for Cuban tobacco” which grows mainly in the world,” he said, suggesting that in mers. About 94% of that total were manufac- in the western province of Pinar del Río, he some ways, Dominican cigars are superior to tured domestically — nearly all of them by said. “A lot of people will be looking towards their Cuban-made rivals from a construction point of view. “But when a Cuban cigar is good,” he added, “it’s very good.” Banks — FROM PAGE 6 in a post-Castro Cuba. This proposed Cu- Some wonder whether Cuba could make ban Enterprise Fund would be financed by enough cigars to satisfy the burgeoning mar- “Capital will come from multinational the U.S. government, the European Union corporations that want to expand their busi- ket. And even if it could, a series of nasty and private firms hoping to encourage cap- trademark disputes would have to be resolved nesses into Cuba — and from investment ital growth — in the form of $100 million companies, private-equity funds, venture before the first Cuban-made cigar ever reach- from each of these three sources. es U.S. shores legally. capital, institutional investors like our fund, “The banking industry is going to be one all types of companies that take on risk,” For example, even if Altadis wanted to said Herzfeld. “Then you have the Cuban- of the last to develop in Cuba,” said Sala- bring Cohibas into the United States, it could American community in South Florida, who drigas, who fled the island in 1961 and is not because General Cigar — a subsidiary of will be very heavy investors, and we hope today vice-chairman of Premier American Swedish Match — owns the Cohiba trade- to partner with them.” Bank in Miami. mark in the United States. The Herzfeld Fund, established in 1994, “Banking requires a very specific set of Interestingly, the CAA doesn’t endorse or has about 3,500 individual investors and is regulatory systems and structures that do oppose the U.S. embargo. invested in 100 or so companies that stand not exist in Cuba right now. The initial It can’t, said Sharp, because “within our to benefit from a lifting of the embargo. banking opportunities will be more for membership, we have divergent views.” Some Last year, Carlos Saladrigas and his Cuba banks like Santander which already have companies like Altadis have a close relation- Study Group called for the creation of a branches in Cuba. They’ll be well-posi- ship with the Cuban government, while oth- $300 million fund to start small businesses tioned from the start.” ❑ ers are run by Cuban exiles fiercely opposed to the Castro regime. ❑

& E 1 $ LO IL O GI      $0 14 CubaNews ❖ April 2008 POLITICS A look at four new members of Cuba’s Council of State BY DOMINGO AMUCHASTEGUI and Ethiopia in the 1970s and 1980s. voiced publicly his support for PE and has written two books on this subject. hat follows are brief biographies of His brother Senen was top aide to Raúl four of the men apppointed by the Castro and later on chief of the General Staff Rumors circulating among Miami experts WNational Assembly on Feb. 24 to until his untimely death in the 1980s. in 2005 about his dismissal proved complete- Cuba’s 31-member Council of State. Although for short periods of time he was ly wrong. Instead of being fired, Casas Reg- army chief of the Eastern Army and chief of ueiro became acting minister of FAR in 2006; JULIO CASAS REGUIERO the DAAFAR (Air Defense and Air Force), on Feb. 24, he was formally appointed minis- ter of FAR and was elected vice president of Army Corps General, born Feb. 16, 1936, in Casas Reguiero’s field of expertise and of prominent performance was always Rear- the Council of State. Oriente province. Graduated from higher mil- Casas Regueiro has been a member of the itary studies in the former Soviet Union and guard Services, Logistics and Economic Activities. He is considered an excellent Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Cuba. Comes from a rural wealthy family. He, Party since 1975, a member of the National together with his brother and sister, joined organizer, always pushing for the highest standards of effciency. Assembly since 1976, and a member of the the July 26th Movement in 1957. In 1959, he Politburo since 1991. helped establish the new police force (Policía From 1969 to 2006, he was first depu-ty Nacional Revolucionaria). minister of economic activities, and since the GUILLERMO GARCÍA FRÍAS In 1966, Casas Reguiero was transferred to late ‘70s has been Raúl’s right-hand man in the General Staff in charge of Rearguard creating the foundations of the perfec- One of the three Comandantes de la Services and Logistics. He served in Angola cionamiento empresarial system. He has Revolución (together with Juan Almeida and Ramiro Valdés). Born in 1925 in Oriente province, member of a large, very poor and illiterate peasant family. Along with Celia Sánchez, helped prepare Fidel Castro's land- The not-so-mysterious Machadito ing. He was the first peasant to join the guer- rillas. Fought courageously and became or Cuba-watchers who characterize 1975, the foundations of Poder Popular Cuba’s new first vice president, José were laid on an experimental basis. comandante. After 1959, he became a literate F Ramón Machado Ventura, as myster- Over the last 20 years, he has overseen person, took various military courses, fin- ious, obscure or unknown, one thing is significant growth of Party ranks as well as ished high school and attended law school. clear: they really must do their homework. membership in the UJC youth league. García Frías was a military commander The 77-year-old revolucionario, unani- He’s been the organizer and supervisor until the late 1960s, serving as chief of the mously elected to his new job Feb. 24 by of a strong and efficient political machine, Western Army and deputy minister of FAR. A Cuba’s National Assembly, is nicknamed working side by side the whole time with member of the Central Committee and of the “Machadito” due to his short stature. Born his close comrade-in-arms and friend Raúl. Politburo until 1986. He then went into civil- in Las Villas province in 1930, he began It isn’t by chance that Machado has been ian activities connected to agricultural and working as a physician at the famous pri- a member of the Central Committee since transportation projects, and later became vice-president of the Executive Committee vate El Vedado clinic shortly after graduat- its establishment, and a member of the and minister of transport. ing from the University of Havana. Politburo since 1975, as well as vice presi- Machado was very as a member of the In 1986, he was dismissed from all his civil- dent of the Council of State since 1976. ian responsibilities, including his member- July 26th movement and soon after Fidel’s At the same time, he is directly involved landing, he joined the guerrillas, marching ship in the Central Committee and the in building perfecionamiento empresarial, Politburo, following very bad results and with Raúl Castro to establish a second including the adoption of its policies and guerrilla front in March 1958. Here he was sheer negligence in a number of vital eco- experiences as the economic platform of nomic projects. He was left only with what is not only “the doctor” but also a courageous the Party since 1995. frontline combatant. Machado was serious- his most successful achievement: the This tends to contradict much of the National Commission of Flora and Fauna, ly wounded that summer; he was appoint- “hardliner” aura — generally projected ed a comandante on his own merits. which over the years has been acknowledged from South Florida. by many foreign environmentalists and con- Experts agree that Cuba’s Communist Those who say Machadito “has never Party, Poder Popular and its public health servationists, including U.S. experts. been identified with particular policy lines In the ‘90s, he was co-opted into the Central system are among the strongest elements or revolutionary campaigns” are simply of Cuban society. They also agree that the Committee, and on Feb. 24, Fidel nominated dead wrong; it has been quite the opposite. him as a member of the Council of State, in name and personality of Machadito is Cuba-watchers also say that he rarely closely intertwined as a founding player recognition of his many contributions to and leader in each of them. speaks in public. Cuba’s environment in the last 20 years. From 1960 to 1968, he served as minis- Yet any systematic review of the Cuban ter of public health; he was dismissed after press will show Machadito inspecting, LEOPOLDO CINTRA FRÍAS some rather harsh clashes with Fidel, who checking and speaking in public across the Army Corps General, chief of the Western supported his deputy minister and close island, from Guantánamo to Pinar del Río Army. Born in 1941, in Oriente province. friend, Dr. José M. Miyar. — though it would be a big mistake to Joined the July 26th Movement and in 1957 Machadito was officially “inactive” for compare his personality, oratory skills and became a guerrilla in the Sierra Maestra. several months, going back to active duty media coverage with that of Fidel Castro. Comes from a large poor family who — like in the armed forces as head of FAR’s Another image being propagated is that other families in the Sierra Maestra — was Medical Services. In the early 1970s, he he has no international experience. Noted crucial to the survival and expansion of became involved in efforts to consolidate Cuba expert Brian Latell recently stated Fidel’s guerrilla movement. and expand the Communist Party in the that “if he has traveled abroad since the Studied in the USSR then spent 12 years of provinces of La Habana and Matanzas; in See Machadito, page 15 his military carrer in overseas missions in See Council, page 15

& E 1 $ LO IL O GI      $0 April 2008 ❖ CubaNews 15 Nominated by Fidel Castro to the Council In 1958, López Miera joined Raúl Castro’s Council — FROM PAGE 14 of State on Feb. 24, 2008. guerrilla forces, serving as a teacher among Angola, Ethiopia and Syria. the illiterate peasant population. After 1959, Chief of the Artillery Directorate and of ALVARO LÓPEZ MIERA he joined the militias and was an average foot Missile Air Defense, of Armored and Tank Army Corps General, chief of FAR's Gene- soldier for several years, until he took several divisions. Member of the Central Committee ral Staff. Born in 1944, in Oriente province. officers’ courses, specializing first in the field since 1965, of the National Assembly since His parents were talented intellectuals from of artillery and then in the field of Com-bined 1976, and of the Politburo since 1991. Chief of Spain, members of the Spanish Communist Forces (Tropas Generales). the Western Army since 1989. Party and veterans of the Spanish Civil War. Although his family and Raúl Castro’s have been very close since the 1950s, his military career is one of a self-made officer with bril- liant academic results in Cuba and Moscow. López Miera has served in overseas mis- sions in Ethiopia (where he almost lost his PRENSA LATINA life), Angola, and Vietnam. He also excelled in the academic field of higher military stud- ies in the former Soviet Union and Cuba. In 1997, he was chosen among many dif- ferent candidates to serve as chief of FAR’s General Staff. At the time, he was second in command and chief of operations at the From left to right: President Raúl Castro, Juan Almeida Bosque, José Ramón Machado Ventura, Leopoldo General Staff as a brigadier general. Cintra Frias, Carlos Lage Davila, Esteban Luís Lazo and new armed forces minister Julio Casas Regueiro. He has considerable international experi- experts who analyze the United States and the ence and played a key role in the expansion of Machadito — FROM PAGE 14 bilateral relationship,” Latell added — and the perfeccionamiento empresarial system. end of the Soviet empire, he has attracted no this is also very far from reality. In the 1970s, thanks to his ties with Spain’s Communist Party, he followed closely the attention doing so.” Machadito keeps a very close eye on events dynamics of Western Europe’s communist Yet Latell is overlooking Machadito’s trav- in the U.S. — and especially in Miami, where els to China and Vietnam, his association with parties and their clashes with Moscow, espe- he has close friends and relatives involved in the Foro de São Paulo, and his various high- cially after the Prague Spring of 1968. level meetings in Caracas and Managua relat- Cuban-American exile politics. A member of the Central Committe since ed to the Alternativa Boliva-riana of This is the real Machado Ventura — not the 1991, López Miera is a likely candidate for Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez. inconspicuous or mysterious apparatchik so other key positions in the near future. He is “There is no reason to suspect that he inaccurately portrayed by the media. very close to Raúl Castro. Nominated to the counts among the small circle of Cuba’s – DOMINGO AMUCHASTEGUI Council of State on Feb. 24, 2008. ❑

becomes one of earning higher salaries.” the banks,” said one of the Cuban economists. Reforms — FROM PAGE 1 Ramón Linares Torres, first deputy at the “It is tempting the new rich — from farmers to who asked not to be identified. “Fidel is no Ministry of Communications, told the Commu- black-market dealers — to exchange their longer leading the country, we are in better nist Party newspaper Granma that users will pesos for CUCs to buy goods, and thus financial shape, we have never had so much be able to sign up for cellphone service with reduce the pesos in circulation and strength- support from Latin American governments Etecsa, the Cuban telecom monopoly. en the currency and wages of everyone,” he and Raúl is a no-nonsense manager.” Etecsa will establish 30 offices around the said, adding increased food production had Another Cuban economist told Reuters cor- island for this purpose. Another 20 branches the same strategic aim. respondent Marc Frank that “this is just the are to be opened in a second phase, said Panama’s new ambassador in Cuba, Luís beginning. Decentralization and more indi- Linares, adding that Etecsa will keep its cur- Gómez, told reporters that two shipping com- vidual initiative will slowly spread from agri- rent price of $111 CUC (about $120 at the pre- panies hauling electronics to Cuba twice a culture to the entire economy. It’s inevitable.” vailing rate of exchange) to activate the week are now carrying four times the usual mobile equipment. number of containers. NO MAD RUSH TO SIGN UP FOR CELLPHONES According to a 2006 study by the UN Con- COMING SOON TO A PHARMACY NEAR YOU Yet considering the Cuban worker’s aver- ference on Trade and Economic Develop- age monthly salary of 408 pesos (about $17), ment, Cuba has one of the world’s lowest In yet another departure from the past, on it’ll be a long time before locals outnumber mobile telephone penetration rates, with only Mar. 25 the government lifted a rule that foreigners on the beaches of Varadero. 134,000 cellular subscribers for its 11.2 mil- forced people to pick up prescription drugs “These are not bread-and-butter issues,” lion inhabitants in 2005. from a pharmacy assigned by the state. says Cuba analyst Phil Peters, vice-president That translates into a penetration rate of Reuters reported that Cubans can now buy of the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va. just 1.2 per 100, which is on par with Eritrea, prescription drugs at any pharmacy. “Buying a cellphone and staying in tourist the Solomon Islands and the war-torn Demo- Previously, they had to fill prescriptions at a hotels may not be the top priority of most cratic Republic of Congo. Even impoverished single pharmacy attached to hospitals or local Cubans, but it’s still a positive step,” he told Haiti, the poorest country in the Western clinics — a measure introduced during the CubaNews. “How many times have we heard Hemisphere, has over a million lines in use. crisis of the 1990s when resources were legitimate criticism about tourism apartheid? With the ban lifted, some of the estimated scarce due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Well, that’s gone now.” 60% of Cubans who have access to hard cur- The restriction was deeply unpopular, and Even so, said Peters, “these measures do rency will rush to acquire mobile service and was one of those “excessive regulations” not tackle the big problems of growth, new stay in oceanfront hotels — though both luxu- which Raúl had promised to eliminate. jobs and fixing the purchasing-power prob- ries remain prohibitively expensive for aver- “There were lots of complaints. The author- lem caused by the dual-curency system that age people who earn the equivalent of $17-20 ities want people to be happy,” said a Havana affects most Cubans.” a month in relatively worthless pesos. pharmacy manager, who did not want to be Oscar Esinosa Chepe, a well-known dissi- “The government recognizes that around named because she wasn’t authorized to dent economist, says “now the struggle 15% of the population has 85% of the pesos in speak to reporters. ❑

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May 20: “After Fidel: Prospects for Change in Cuba and U.S.-Cuba Relations,” London. Discussion to be led by David Ridgway, former British ambassador to Cuba (1998-2001). Par- cipants include Dr. Elizabeth Dore of University of Southampton; Dr. George Lambie of De Editor & Publisher Montfort University; Emily Morris of Institute for the Study of the Americas, and Dr. Stephen ■ LARRY LUXNER ■ Wilkinson, International Institute for the Study of Cuba. Details: Canning House, 2 Belgrave Washington correspondent Square, London SW1X 8PJ. Tel: +44 20 7235-2303. Email: [email protected]. ■ ANA RADELAT ■ Political analyst Jul. 7-20: Two-week dance trip to Cuba. “You’ll take classes with professional dancers — ■ DOMINGO AMUCHASTEGUI ■ the best in Havana! You will go out to the best salsa, folklore and cabaret shows. Someone Feature writers who knows the place inside-out will walk around with you and explain how the culture works ■ VITO ECHEVARRÍA ■ and introduce you to people.” Cost: C$4,100 (including airfare from Canada). Details: Chen ■ SANTIAGO FITTIPALDI ■ Lizra, Latidos Productions, Vancouver. Tel: (604) 708-2170. Email: latidosproductions.com. Cartographer ■ ARMANDO H. PORTELA ■

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