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Vol. XII, No. 1 www.cubatradenews.com January 2010 exporting its Energy Revolution urning itself into an export platform to the ALBA Presidente TV show. Tbloc and beyond, Cuba has supplied and With the technology transfer, Cuba helps the South other countries with 43 mini power plants over the past two American country plug gaps in electricity production caused years and is in the process of bringing in some 30 more, by a drought. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announced on his Aló During his show, Chávez officially opened a $9 million, 15-mw electric plant on Margarita . “This is plant No. 43 we have installed,” the president said during the opening ceremony of the 8-generator battery, adding that over the Power Surge next two months, Venezuela plans to crank up one new power Cuban-installed generator clusters plant every other day. and electric work crews abroad In December, the Venezuelan electric energy ministry and Corpoelec signed an agreement for training of Venezuelan technicians by Cuba. As part of its “Energy Revolution,” Cuba has bought hundreds of generators since 2006 from manufacturers such as Guascor, Hyundai, MAN B&W, and MTU, and plans to install at least another seven fuel-oil generator clusters on the island this year. The country is now propagating its distributed power generation concept as a model for fellow ALBA member countries and other developing nations. According to official generator news agency AIN, Cuba already provided seven mini power clusters plants to , which has begun to export electricity Electric work crews thanks to a Cuban-inspired decentralized power generation map CTIN Continued on next page

Picasso, Warhol & Miró go INSIDE to Opinion: Turning the Tables...... page 3 Government investigates patient deaths...... page 5 U.S. oil group comes out of Cuba closet...... page 7 Page 8 Canadian airlines get broader access...... page 8 Cuba builds new gas power plant...... page 11

Cuban doctors have big impact in Haiti...... page 3 ‘Energy Revolution exports,’ from previous page All tanks, boilers, chimneys, and other metal parts at the new program, and one Ariguanabo power plant near Havana were supplied by the 6 0 - m w p o w e r Unidad Empresarial de Base Este Habana, and the generator plant to Haiti. cluster was set up by Empresa de Mantenimiento a Centrales Likewise, Cuban Eléctricas (EMCE). electric engineering Cuba has also provided Venezuela, Jamaica, St. Vincent teams are working and Grenadines, and Antigua & Barbuda with millions of in Ecuador and Chinese-made energy-saving light bulbs. Equatorial Venezuela is generating 70 percent of its electricity with in Africa. hydro power. Low water levels in reservoirs has forced the Official sources government into rolling blackouts. Generator cluster courtesy Guascor didn’t say where Referring to opposition accusations of giving away energy the generators for to Cuba in times of need, Chávez said that “the thing is Venezuela were bought, and who paid for them. But the eight backwards. The have spent two years helping us in generators installed on Margarita Island are made by MTU; the Energy Revolution.” some 300 BR4000 container generators made by MTU — a type Cuba has bought for use on the island — have been installed in Venezuela. One industry observer speculated photo: Venevision that Cuba simply resold some of the hundreds of generators it bought a couple years back. Isla Margarita The projects in Venezuela are handled by Alba Bolivariana, Caracas Cuban-installed a Cuban-Venezuelan joint venture. Venezuela has funded MTU generator most of the ALBA energy programs. sets on Isla Meanwhile, Cuba for the first time produced all additional Margarita metal structures of a generator set, official media announced. V e n e z u e l a

Note from the Publisher

he inevitable result of the economic and political challenges over the last few years is a call for reform, Cuba Trade & Investment News is a monthly publica- andT a thorough look at the practices and policies that may tion of Trade & Investment Publications LLC (TIPs), Tampa, FL, USA. CTIN is distributed to subscribers via have contributed to the problems. In the , the mail or e-mail. news has been filled with talk of reform — health care, finance, campaign finance, immigration and more. Publisher Andrew Goddard Change means opportunity. This issue of Cuba Trade & P.O. Box 13752 Investment News puts the spotlight on how Cuba is beginning Tampa, FL 33681-3752 USA to export one of its recent reforms: the “Energy Revolution.” Tel: 813 839 6988 The island is bringing its concept of distributed electricity Fax: 813 831 3811 production to Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti. That, in turn, [email protected] translates to hundreds of millions of dollars of equipment and www.cubatradenews.com Editor Johannes Werner engineering services sales, in which foreign companies are Tel: 941 330 0303 involved. Ecuador, Bolivia, and some Caribbean and African [email protected] nations may follow — even more opportunity. Another top “export” for Cuba is disaster relief and Editorial Advisors sustainable medical for poor countries. Note our coverage Chris Aberle, FCStone, Des Moines on Cuba’s tremendous involvement in Haiti relief. Kirby Jones, US-Cuba Trade Assn., Wash. DC We hope you will find this issue of our publication as David Lyons, Daily Bus. Review, Miami provocative, informative and useful as ever and will let us John McAuliff, FFRD, New York know what you think by writing me. Phil Peters, Lexington Institute, Washington SUBSCRIPTIONS Call 813 839 6988. One year $350. In and , add $15 postage.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE No part of this publication Andrew Goddard — [email protected] may be copied, photographed or duplicated without TIPs’ consent.

2 Other Views Earthquake relief

La Alborada Cuban doctors take center stage in Haiti Cuba has played a crucial role in relief efforts after the Jan. 12 earthquake Turning the Tables devastated the Haitian capital, Port au Prince. This episode will further Cuba’s medical support for poor countries — both in relief efforts and in long-term sustained medical programs — as developed nations magine the following scenario: are beginning to recognize that the Caribbean island has a global edge in a service The United States arrests in that faces increasing demand. WashingtonI a Cuban citizen who was granted a visa for religious epidemiologist and eight nurses were activities. As it turns out, the on board. suspect was distributing electronic The Cuban facilities serve as a focus communications equipment to certain point for assistance from other nations as people and groups in Washington well. More than 120 medical personnel known to be opponents of the and 17 nuns from Canada, Chile, , government and close to the Cuban , Mexico and Venezuela are embassy. Investigation reveals that using Cuban infrastructure, working side the suspect was a subcontractor of by side with Cuban doctors. a Cuban company that in turn was Cuban doctors at a Port au Prince ALBA members agreed during an operating under contract with Cuba’s hospital photo Prensa Latina emergency meeting in Caracas Jan. 24 Ministry of Foreign Affairs. to send doctors, nurses and supplies The company, which implements uba has “provided the most to Cuban facilities in Haiti. They also Cuban government contracts in Cimportant medical assistance” considered creating a reconstruction dozens of countries, declares to the in the immediate disaster response, the fund for Haiti, via the Banco del ALBA. media that all was above board and in United Nations recognized. As of late Venezuela agreed to provide free fuel to the open. The subcontractor, company January, Cuban facilities had attended Haiti, via the PetroCaribe agreement. officers explain, was only helping more than 20,000 Haitian patients Continued on next page members of the public in the United and performed nearly 2,000 surgical States to communicate better among procedures. themselves and with unspecified Three hundred and forty four Cuban Triangulation affinity groups in Cuba. The contract doctors, nurses and medical technicians Continuing the increasing at issue, worth millions of dollars, were already on the ground in Haiti — trend among wealthier nations of has the purpose of helping people 200 of them in the heavy-hit capital triangulating with Cuba to channel in the United States to build a real — when the earthquake struck, and aid to poorer developing countries, democracy, free from the domination they began to operate three treatment agreed to donate 5 million of large banks and corporations facilities in Port au Prince within a Norwegian kronor ($885,000) to defended by a repressive security matter of hours. Cuba established a fund Cuban medical efforts in Haiti. apparatus. What’s wrong with that? mini-air bridge from Santiago and The Norwegian embassy in Havana The Cuban company’s officers, was able to airlift another 66 medical signed an agreement Jan. 22 with media, and Ministry of Foreign personnel, most of them from the Cuba’s foreign trade and investment Affairs profess not to understand Henry Reeve mobile medical brigade, ministry. Cuba will use the funds for why the United States would want into Haiti the day after the disaster, the purchase of medical supplies. to arrest the subcontractor. Is the increasing the number of Cuban-run Meanwhile, the New Times of U.S. government so touchy and facilities in and near the capital to 10, Rwanda reported that insecure that it prohibits expert help plus one “itinerant medical brigade.” donated $1 million towards facilitating in building freedom and democracy? One week later, Cuba flew in 138 continued Cuban support to Rwanda. Does it fear modern communications medical students of Haitian origin who The funds help pay for the expenses technology, and innocent assistance are studying in Santiago, together with of 31 Cuban doctors, nurses and from well-intentioned agents of the a mobile hospital and medical supplies. technicians who have been in the Ministry? A total of more than 400 Cuba-trained landlocked African country for one Question: Upon consideration Haitian personnel is now working with year, treating nearly half a million of the explanations of the Cuban the Cubans. patients. Rwandan Health Minister corporation and the Ministry, what On Jan. 21, Cuba sent two barges Richard Sezibera thanked the South and a tug boat with drinking water, African and Cuban governments for the Continued on next page diesel, alcohol, cooking oil, and “unique cooperation” arrangement. medical supplies to Port au Prince. An

3 Earthquake relief ‘Cuban doctors,’ from previous page The Cubans — who have been calling for the United and Namibia. Cuba participated in an emergency meeting in Nations and the Panamerican Health Organization (PAHO) to Caracas Jan. 24 among ALBA member countries to coordinate take the lead in directing efforts in Haiti — are coordinating long-term relief and recovery aid. their relief efforts with Venezuela and other ALBA countries, Cuba has been providing medical support to Haiti since , , Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Norway 1998. A total of 660 Haitians are studying medicine in Cuba.

Crisis leads to limited cooperation Answering a question by an Italian correspondent, State Department spokesman Charles Luoma-Overstreet said U.S.- number of voices in the United States have been Cuban cooperation over Haiti was “absolutely” possible. A suggesting active U.S.-Cuban cooperation in Haiti, After news emerged that Cuban hospitals in Haiti werer while Cuba opened its airspace for U.S. flights and hinted it short on medical supplies, the United States Jan. 22 offered would accept U.S. help via international organizations. to provide supplies. Three days after the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, Cuba’s Meanwhile, a Reagan Administration permanent mission in New York announced that it is willing assistant defense secretary is advocating to cooperate with any nation, including the United States. the use of U.S. logistics for Cuban doctors. Cuba has personnel and infrastructure in Haiti, but it asked “We should stop and think that Cuba right the Panamerican Health Organization (PAHO) for logistical next door has some of the best doctors in support, one-way surgical supplies, hospital support services, the world,” says Lawrence Korb, now an and more material. analyst at the Center for American Progress In their communiqué to the United Nations, the Cubans in Washington. “We should see about flying Korb said they granted the United States access to their airspace them in.” for the relief effort; a State Department spokesman said Cuba Joining the choir is also Gary Maybarduk, a staffer at had given “specific authorization to be using Guantánamo the U.S. Interests Section from 1997 to 1999. “I suggest as a staging point coming into Haiti.” Cuba first allowed we cooperate with Cuba to provide medical personnel and individual emergency flights to travel through Cuban supplies to Haiti,” Maybarduk wrote in a letter to the editor airspace, but eventually broadened the agreement to a general printed by the Washington Post. “Cuba has a demonstrated permission. U.S. planes are now flying patients to U.S. ability to provide numerous doctors and nurses quickly, but hospitals without having to pre-clear each flight. it is chronically short on medicines.”

O p i n i o n

‘Contractor,’ from previous page will the U.S. government do? Cuba is bad. It’s a simple argument. a) Concede that it over-reacted, release the suspect, But consider further that the United States has a history apologize for the arrest, and declare that it is glad to of colonizing Cuba, intervening at will in its internal affairs, accept the assistance of agents of the Cuban company in supporting two dictators and several corrupt presidents, implementing the expertise of the Ministry; or invading the island, and pursuing a slew of terrorist schemes b) Cite the danger to national security, deny bail and to overthrow the government. What is more, it is required by liberty on personal recognizance for the suspect, and bring current law to sabotage the economy of Cuba to the point of charges of espionage and of conspiracy to overthrow the driving the people to insurrection, and it continues to fund government. and coordinate small groups in Cuba in order to undermine Not a single one of you, dear readers, would choose option the government. (a). In fact, you would probably give that option the chances Now what is the correct answer? For the most part, it of the proverbial snowball in Hell. appears that the answer is still (a): Cuba should release the Now turn the situation around to meet the facts in the agent, apologize, and let bygones be bygones. current matter of the U.S. State Department’s agent (twice Why? Because we are good and they are bad. It’s that removed) who has been arrested in Cuba. simple. What should Cuba’s response be? It appears that for large This editorial first appeared in La Alborada, the newsletter parts of the U.S. population, including the Executive Branch of the Washington-based Cuban American Alliance Education and most of Congress, and the media, the correct answer is, Fund (CAAEF), a non-profit organization of national scope indeed, option (a): Cuba should back off and apologize. that advocates for better relations between the United States Why the difference? In the end, because we are good and and Cuba.

4 E c o n o m y Official investigation cites ‘deficiencies’ in patient deaths in Havana wenty-six patients died at Havana’s Blaming “criminal negligence” and main psychiatric hospital during a scarce resources, a dissident leader coldT snap in early January that brought said that at least 24 patients died of temperatures below 39 degrees Fahrenheit, hypothermia. Citing employees, an AFP official media reported. The 2,500-bed report said that theft of food and blankets Hospital Psiquiátrico de La Habana is widespread at the hospital, commonly is located in the suburb of Boyeros. known as “Mazorra.” The hospital began State TV read a public statement by the to decline in 2006, after the death of ministry of public health announcing Eduardo Bernabé Ordaz, the doctor who an investigation. In a first finding, the Better times under Ordaz: turned it into a model facility after the commission said it found “various Havana Psychiatric Hospital revolution in the 1960s. deficiencies relating to the non-adoption An official report cited by Mexican of opportune measures.” The statement daily La Jornada said that in 2004 the said most of the deaths were from “natural causes” such as hospital had an average of 30 deaths per year. old age, respiratory infections and complications from serious illnesses, but it added that the responsible people would be Tsunami warning triggers mass evacuation brought before court. ithin less than one hour of an earthquake in Biologist wins Chinese award Wneighboring Haiti on Jan. 12, local civil defense in uban biologist Agustín Lage Davila, 60, was one Baracoa, at the eastern tip of Cuba, evacuated 30,000 people Cof seven scientists who were granted t h e from low -ly ing International Science and Technology areas to prevent BARACOA Cooperation Award by China. The award loss of life from a Cuba is given by the State Council of China possible tsunami. for outstanding contributions to China’s Evacuees included science and technology development. people living and Lage helped and guided development of working along the the first humanized monoclonal antibody city’s Malecón, Haiti for cancer treatment in China. and from several coastal suburbs. The ALBA medical institutions get underway evacuees returned t an ALBA Salud meeting in Caracas, the member two hours later. The countries hashed out details of a joint regulatory quick evacuation institutionA and a distribution company for pharmaceuticals. was termed a success; some 40,000 people in Baracoa Both the Centro Regulador de Medicamentos — which were evacuated in 2008 before Hurricane Ike, but there was will test, approve and register medications used in Cuba, a longer lead time compared to the tsunami evacuation. The Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua — and the Pacific Tsunami Alert Center issued the alarm. ALBAFarma distribution joint venture company will likely Meanwhile, Cuba will modernize its earthquake alarm be based in Havana, and Cuban officials are playing a leading system with Chinese technology this year, Vladimir Moreno, role in those institutions. director of the National Center of Seismological Research, Rafael Pérez Cristiá, head of Cuba’s Centro Estatal para la told Radio Rebelde. The new equipment, to be installed in Control de Calidad de Medicamentos, is the coordinator of the first quarter, will provide data real time. The island felt the “Proyecto Grannacional ALBA Salud”. some of the aftershocks of the earthquake in Haiti. “The mission is not only to produce pharmaceuticals, but that they get where they have to get so people feel satisfied,” Cuba expands lab system Venezuelan Health Minister Carlos Rotondaro said during the uba’s Centro de Inmunoensayo is expanding its Ultra meeting at the ALBA Hotel in Caracas. Microanalytic System, a crucial component of the The pharmaceutical projects country’sC preventive approach, to cover all 169 municipalities could be officially launched at this year. The Cuba-developed system of diagnostic procedures, the next ALBA presidential called Tecno SUMA, is used to detect HIV, hepatitis B and summit in April in Caracas. C, prostate cancer, various diseases in newborns, and more. Cuba already has a network of 212 labs using SUMA; 414 labs ALBA Salud meeting throughout use the system, first developed by in Caracas Cuba in the 1980s.

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Photos: Juvenal Balán, Em b a r g o Oil group says it wants to ‘address Cuba policy’ nderlining the importance of a pending bill in the from the embargo, the law would be a first step towards UU.S. Senate, an oil industry association has gone allowing U.S. oil companies getting active in Cuba. on the record, saying it prompted the measure. The bill passed the Senate Committee on Energy Very quietly, U.S. Sens. Mary Landrieu and Natural Resources more than half a year ago, (D-La.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Ak.) inserted but it isn’t clear when Senate Majority Leader oil exemption wording into a Senate bill last Harry Reid will introduce it to a floor vote; with summer. resistance against revenue sharing and senators Platts Oilgram News reported it was the such as Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and George Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association LeMieux (R-Fl.) determined to defend the (PESA) that encouraged Landrieu to insert the two Cuba embargo, the bill is facing a tough fight. Even so, S 1517 is sections. A vice president of Halliburton, who heads PESA’s remarkable because it embodies the first Cuba-related move government affairs, told Platts the trade organization is “very on Capitol Hill by the U.S. oil industry. interested” to “address current Cuba policy.” Platts also quoted an official of the International Association S 1715, which deals with increased oil revenue sharing for of Drilling Contractors saying he “liked” the bill. “The fact Gulf of Mexico states, includes a section that would allow that this could slip through fascinates me,” Brian Petty, vice U.S. citizens and residents to “engage in any transaction president of government affairs, said according to Platts. necessary” for oil and gas exploration and extraction in Cuba — “notwithstanding any other provision of law.” For that Some PESA members purpose, the bill would amend the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, allowing oil industry Baker Hughes Inc. Newpark Resources Inc. employees to travel to Cuba without having to apply for a Capgemini Oracle specific license with the U.S. Department of Treasury. Caterpillar Global Petroleum Raymond James & Assoc. Although it won’t explicitly exempt all oil-related activities Citigroup RBC Capital Markets A game changer? Deutsche Bank Schlumberger Dresser-Rand Co. Sumitomo of America FMC Technologies U.S. Steel Tubular Prod. Gardner Denver Inc. UBS Investment Bank Halliburton Weatherford Int’l Inc. Lufkin Industries Inc. Wells Fargo Bank Texas he announced retirement of TU.S. Senators Christopher Fund proposes purchase of U.S. claims Dodd (D-Ct.) and Byron Dorgan fund represented by Miami lawyer Timothy Ashby offers (D-N.D.) will soften the anti- to buy up to 700 up to half a century-old claims against embargo push in Congress, Cuba,A the Miami Herald reported. embargo defenders hope. The 700 claims, for U.S.-owned Dodd has been the leading properties seized after the revolution Retiring: Dorgan ... opponent of U.S. sanctions on in the 1960s, would make up about 85 an ideological base, and Dorgan percent of the monetary value of all claims. The Clarinbridge fund, which is controlled by an Isle of Man-based was crucial in the push, company, would then exchange the Mauricio Claver-Carone, director claims with the Cuban government in of the U.S.-Cuba Democracy a debt-for-equity swap. Theoretically, PAC, told the Miami Herald. the deal could undo one of the highest Ashby “It’s a game changer for 2011,” obstacles for normalization of U.S.- Claver-Caron said, according to Cuban relations. Clarinbridge filed the Herald. an application last summer with the Office of Foreign Assets Control. OFAC has not replied to the applications; Ashby told the Miami Herald that the Cuban government was notified by the group, “took it seriously,” but maintains a “wait and see ... and Dodd attitude.” Investors hail from Britain, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Israel and Mexico, Ashby told the Herald.

7 E c o n o m y Art collector donates Picasso, Warhol, Miró to Cuba aking a splash in Cuba and the United States, the first nine of 120 pieces of modernM art donated by philanthropist Gilbert Brownstone were unveiled during a ceremony at Cuba’s Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana. Brownstone, a gallery owner and curator who spends most of his time between Palm Beach, Fla. and Paris, said he made the Brownstone donation motivated by the great feelings of friendship that tie him to the island, its people and the revolution, according to AIN. “The true meaning of friendship is sacrifice,” he said, according to the official news service.

Brownstone, a dual U.S. and Swiss citizen, made the donation through his Paris-based Fondation Gilbert Brownstone. The foundation has sponsored the Havana Bienial and organized residency programs for Cuban and French artists. He also is a director of the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach, and for Center for International Policy, a liberal think tank in Washington. The first batch included engravings and sketches by Marcel Duchamp, André Masson, Joan Miró, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Edouard Vuillar, Georges Rovalt, Camille Pissarro and Pablo Picasso.

Canadian airlines get broader access 2009: Visitors up, revenues down anada reached an agreement with Cuba that will uba set a new record with 2.429 million foreign visitors Callow Canadian airlines to provide service between in 2009, according to preliminary data released by the Cuban airports, The Canadian Press reported. Under the new OficinaC Nacional de Estadísticas (ONE). The statistics didn’t arrangement, four Canadian charter airlines — Air Transat, include revenues, but the ministry said in November Sunwing Airlines, WestJet and Canjet Airlines — are allowed that revenues were down 11.6 percent. to fly between multiple locations after landing in Cuba. The Meanwhile, the island’s No. 1 beach resort crossed the agreement was scheduled to be announced during a visit of 1-million visitor mark in 2009. hosted a stunning 40 Trade Minister Stockwell Day in Cuba in January. The visit percent of Cuba’s total number of visitors. has been postponed. Canada is the No. 1 tourism source market Also, Cuba welcomed 300,000 Cubans living abroad in for Cuba; last year, 900,000 Canadians visited the island. 2009, the second largest contingent of visitors after Canadians, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said during a meeting of Varadero airport sees 3-pct rise Cuban expatriates in Havana. he number of aircraft arriving at the Varadero airport, Cuba’s second-largest, rose 3 percent last year, AIN Cuba touts two hotels at business travel fair reported.T 1.275 million passengers traveled through the he Cuban stand at the International Fair of Business airport that serves the island’s largest beach resort. Airport Tourism (IMEX 2010) in Frankfurt, , will Director Sidelsys Suárez said the airport generated revenues highlightT the new hotel Barceló City near the conference center of 75 million CUC (US$81 million) and profits of 34.8 in Havana and the NH Parque Central Torre in Old Havana, million CUC ($37.6 million). The average staying time per which recently added convention facilities for 300 people. An arriving passenger was 17 minutes, well below the 45-minute IMEX sales manager was in Havana in January to talk about maximum standard. future trends in congresses and incentive travel.

8 E c o n o m y 2010 targets: 1.9% growth, thrifty spending he government expects the Cuban economy to immediately and those that help replace imports. grow 1.9 percent this year, barely faster than “The amount of hard currency we plan to spend in duringT a dismal 2009. Economy Minister Marino 2010 will be less than the income we expect,” Murillo Murillo cautioned that the number may have to be told the parliament. revised, due to the unstable world economy. ECONOMY Investments in 2009 dropped 16 percent from 2008. The GDP grew 1.4 percent in 2009, according to Productivity declined 1.1 percent, while salaries rose official statistics. “In these exceptional circumstances, the 2.9 percent. Murillo said this contradiction needs to small growth must be appreciated in the context of what be “faced” this year, as must be the issue of “inflated payroll.” happened in the world economy and specially that of Latin In that regard, Murillo said, all major employers will first be America and the Caribbean,” said Osvaldo Martínez, chairman surveyed, to avoid “taking hasty decisions.” of the parliament’s economic commission. Even so, the performance wreaked havoc on the budget since Cuba gradually unfreezing assets, paying bills the original forecast for 2009 was for 6-percent growth, which resident Raúl Castro told the parliament during its year- was lowered to 1.7 percent mid-year. end session that nearly one-third of hard-currency funds Among the fastest-growing sectors were hotels and thatP had been frozen in Cuban bank accounts since early this restaurants (+7.9%), (+4.7%), transportation year had been released. Without providing figures — estimates (+4.2%), and all non-basic services (+4%). Among the worst- put the total at $1 billion — Castro said 30 percent of the performing sectors were mining (-4.7%), (-2.7%), other funds had been released. The partial freezing of accounts, manufacturing (-2%), retail (-1.9%), and trade (+0%). effectively imposed since late last year, is continuing to cause Thanks to a drop in imports of 37.4 percent, the country strain among foreign businesspeople. reverted a trade deficit to a slight surplus of $400 million in Meanwhile, Cuba resumed payments to foreign business 2009. Even so, Murillo warned the parliament in its year-end partners. Mexican companies received back payments in session that hard currency will continue to be hard to come November, Bloomberg reported. According to a Mexican by, due to low prices for Cuba’s exports (the value of exports foreign ministry official quoted by the news service, Cuba had was down 22.9 percent in 2009) and continued difficulties to stopped paying some Mexican construction and electronics access foreign financing. companies for imports eight months earlier. Murillo announced that the government wouldn’t spend Limited liquidity continues to be the country’s main more hard currency this year than it is receiving, and limit new economic problem, Economu Minister Marino Murillo told investments to projects that generate hard-currency revenues the parliament in its year-end session. Just Cuba. Corporate executives, company owners, lawyers, politicians, academics, diplomats and other government officials — every month, the relevant players read us.

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9 E c o n o m y Cuban nickel production lagging hile nickel producers around the globe are gearing up to raise production, Cuba will produce less nickel Nickel demand, prices continue to recover ickel prices continue their way up again, after thisW year, Economy Minister Marino Murillo Jorge told the crashing in 2008 from a record-high of $52,000 parliament, without specifying. perN ton and wild fluctuations in 2009. The current price on The production drop comes as the nickel price continues to the London Metals Exchange is hovering around $18,500 recover from a major drop last year (see sidebar). Nickel is per ton, up from a low of $10,000 in late 2008. Analysts the island’s biggest export commodity. are predicting a continued rise because global stainless Cuba’s total unrefined nickel and cobalt production in 2009 steel output was up 12.5 percent in the third quarter of was 70,100 tons. That’s down slightly from 70,400 tons the 2009, the most recent figures available, and production year before, which compares to an average between 74,000 is expected to rise 8 percent this year. Nickel prices are and 75,000 tons during most of the decade. While production driven by stainless steel production, to which the metal is at a Sherritt International Corp. joint venture in Moa was up a crucial ingredient. 2,000 tons, at least two of three processing plants owned by state company Cubaníquel saw drops. Neither the Ernesto plant nor the René Ramos Latourt plant met the 2010 spending to pinpoint revenue generators plan, according to local media reports; the only state plant to conomy Minister Marino Murillo meet the plan was the Pedro Sotto Alba. Venezuelan plans to told the parliament in its year-end reopen a mothballed ferro-nickel plant at Las Camariocas have sessionE that state companies in export apparently not advanced. industries such as nickel, tourism, civil aviation, biotechnology, rum, and Repsol renegotiating offshore contracts would be granted more leeway and be spokesman for Repsol told Platts Oilgram News that prioritized in hard-currency spending in the Spanish oil major is renegotiating the conditions of 2010. He didn’t specify. itsA seven-year exploration contract for six offshore blocks in Another prioritized area for hard- Cuba. The term for blocks 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 36 expired Murillo currency spending is food production, late last year, after Repsol failed to begin exploration. particularly within the “suburban agriculture” model. Repsol formed a consortium with Norway’s StatoilHydro and India’s ONGC Videsh for drilling in Cuba. Satellite Internet link bandwidth rising uba increased its satellite capacity for Internet use by Jamaica joins undersea cable project 10 percent in December, official media reported. elecomunicaciones Gran Caribe, the Venezuelan-Cuban TheC bandwidth rose to 209 megabytes per second for Tjoint venture that will operate a fiberoptic cable linking downloads, and to 379 mb for uploads. the two countries, is negotiating with three telecoms to install Meanwhile, Deputy Communications Minister Ramón an extension that will link Cuba to Jamaica, the Jamaica Linares dampened hopes that the bandwidth boost provided by Gleaner reports. TGC, according to the Gleaner, is negotiating an undersea cable to Venezuela that is expected to be completed with LIME Jamaica, Columbus Communications Jamaica, this year would allow for Internet service at Cuban homes. Due and Digicel Group. A fourth group of Jamaican investors, led to a lack of funds, the government “will continue to prioritize by Florida-based social use” of the Internet, Linares said. investment banker Linares said that Cuba is planning a series of investments “in Cuba Jason Abrahams, Siboney the coming years” to gradually increase Internet connectivity. is out of the race, But, he added, the U.S. embargo makes the process “extremely according to the Jamaica expesnive.” Therefore, the government will “maintain daily newspaper. collective access” on top of its prioroty list. That will include Abrahams is a “certain community and social interests,” as well as schools, managing director universities, hospitals, cultural and art centers, libraries, and f o r D e u t s c h e economic and research institutions. Bank Securities in Miami. The advertisement Venezuela La Guaira Venezuela-Cuba segment is being installed by a French-Chinese joint venture, Alcatel Shanghai Bell. Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding signed the agreement with TGC about the extension on Nov. 17. www.progreso-weekly.com

10 E c o n o m y Cuba, Venezuela to build new gas power plant uba is gearing up to build its fourth gas power plant, Meanwhile, Vice President Ramiro Valdés opened two more Juventud Rebelde reported. fuel oil power plants in central , bringing TheC 150-mw plant is going up as part of the petrochemical the total on the island to 37. Some 300 mw in generation cluster around the southern port city of and capacity were added in 2009, thanks to new fuel-oil generator will be powered with byproducts from the nearby Camilo sets. Valdés and Basic Industries Minister Yadira García Cienfuegos oil refinery. Presidents Hugo Chávez and Raúl officially opened the power plants Jan. 14. Castro announced the Venezuelan-Cuban cluster project two Fuel oil generator sets now produce 15 percent of Cuba’s years ago. electricity, according to Valdés. The report in the official newspaper didn’t provide any other specifics than saying that the power plant would be of Sherritt natural gas power plant “ecological and energy efficient technology” similar to that in Cuba of the Energas combined-cycle power plant near Varadero, which was built by Canada’s Sherritt International Corp. in 1998. The plant at Cienfuegos will go up at the western shore Havana of Jagua Bay.

Cienfuegos Official business weekly Opciones published information on a number of new joint ventures and projects Venezuela and Cuba agreed to create this year. They include New power lines, substations going up In Cuba: tate utility Unión Eléctrica is building a 25-mile 110 kv •Empresa Mixta Conformadora de Aluminio power line linking the city of with the Energas del ALBA S.A. (CONALBA), to produce aluminum powerS plant near Varadero. Construction is expected to be components for the domestic market in hard currency, and completed by summer. for export; In other news, state utility director Vicente de la O said •The PDVCupet S.A. joint venture was modified and its that a top priority this year will be construction of 19 objective enlarged, to be in charge of all refineries in Cuba. substations of Russian technology. The new entity, Cuvenpetrol S.A., is in charge of developing and operating oil, natural liquid gas, and compressed natural Cuba courting Spanish construction firms gas refineries on the island. That includes the expansion of Cuban delegation toured Spain, calling on Spanish the Camilo Cienfuegos refinery at Cienfuegos, design and construction companies to participate in infrastructure construction of a plant at Cienfuegos that will regasify liquid andA housing projects on the island, Spanish business natural gas, construction of a new refinery at Matanzas, and publication Cinco Días reported. expansion of the Hermanos Díaz refinery at Santiago. Among the projects pitched by Cuba are water and electric In Venezuela: infrastructure, and port renovations and expansions at Havana, •Guardián del ALBA S.A., which will conceptualize and Cienfuegos and Santiago. set up “Socialist Production Units” (UPS) in the information The delegation, led by Deputy Construction Minister Lesbia technology sector; Vázquez del Pino, visited construction supply, engineering •MINERALBA S.A., which will explore, perform and construction companies, as well as trade associations in geological research, produce, process and distribute Alicante, Valencia and Castellón. Some of these companies minerals in Venezuela, Cuba, ALBA member countries already supply Cuba with aluminum and ceramic products. and other nations; According to Cinco Días, Spanish businesspeople expressed •Empresa Mixta Socialista del ALBA para la concern regarding Cuba’s lack of experience with large Producción y Comercialización de Insumos y Servicios international contracts, and the inability to provide credit Asociados S.A., which will produce, process and distribute guarantees. Vázquez del Pino tried to reassure the Spanish agricultural goods throughout ALBA member countries, and businesspeople by saying that in most projects they would produce and distribute fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides and partner with Chinese companies or work within the ALBA other agriculture supplies; trade and integration agreement, which has a fund dedicated •Empresa Mixta Servicions Agroindustriales del to infrastructure projects. ALBA S.A., to provide agriculture-related services; Spanish companies such as Acciona Infraestructuras, •Empresa Mixta Gestora Marítima del ALBA S.A. Ferrovial, OHL and Atmos have done business on the island, (GEMA), to support the creation of an ALBA-wide but they are cautious after Cuba’s cash flow problems last year merchant fleet. impacted many companies. 11 E m b a r g o Contractor arrest puts tensions back into U.S.-Cuba relations ossibly raising the stakes over five Cuban agents serving expert who was working with Jewish groups on the island. long-time prison sentences in the United States for Consular officials from the U.S. Interests Section in Havana spying,P the Cuban government says a U.S. citizen it detained visited Gross in a high-security prison Dec. 28. Dec. 4 has ties to U.S. secret services. The State Department denied any ties to intelligence Parliament President Ricardo Alarcón, Cuba’s point man services. Spokesman P.J. Crowley said Alarcón’s description on U.S. issues, said the man was contracted “by a company was part of a “history of mischaracterizing” U.S. activities. that recruits for U.S. secret services,” and that he was part “The individual in question was there and was part of a of a privatization in the war against the Cuban government, process whereby we continue to encourage and help facilitate according to the Cubadebate Web site. Cuban citizens being able to do what citizens in most other Maryland-based Development Alternatives Inc., the private parts of the world get to do: Connect with the Internet, be able company that administers a USAID program supporting to communicate, be able to offer and express their views on a dissidents in Cuba, said in a press release that the detainee was variety of subjects,” Crowley said in a press conference. a “subcontractor,” and “a committed development professional No formal charges have been filed before Cuban courts, with many years of experience,” and that he provided “basic according to AFP. Alarcón said the investigation into the IT equipment such as cell phones and laptops” to a “peaceful, detainee’s activities in Cuba was ongoing. non-dissident civic group — a religious and cultural group In a speech before parliament Dec. 20, Raúl Castro said recognized by the Cuban government.” the detainee had illegally supplied “sophisticated satellite According to the Washington Post, the detainee is Alan P. communications equipment” to opposition groups. U.S. Gross, 60, of Potomac. Gross is an international development official sources say the man distributed basic communication equipment such as cell phones and laptops. On Jan. 7, State’s Crowley denied that USAID has stopped Regime-change funds ‘paralyzed’ sending contractors to Cuba. “We have these programs in SAID funds for Cuba have been practically place, and we’re continuing to pursue these programs.” paralyzed since March last year due to bureaucratic, securityU and other reasons, and U.S.-based organizations U.S. gives Cuba travelers terrorist treatment are beginning to run out of funds, according to a report by ll travelers arriving in the United States from Cuba El Nuevo Herald. must now undergo a pat-down and have their carry- “If this continues, the entire democracy program will onA luggage searched, following an attempted U.S. airplane disappear,” the newspaper quoted activist Frank Calzon. bombing after Christmas involving a Nigerian citizen. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) guaranteed Florida Sen. George LeMieux that Miami- ordered the rigorous checks for countries on the State based organizations would be able again to bid for USAID Department’s list of “state sponsors of terrorism,” plus Nigeria, projects on Cuba, a prominent Cuba exile activist wrote in Pakistan and Yemen. her column. In response, Cuba summoned Jonathan Farrar, head of In return, LeMieux unblocked his hold on an Obama the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, to the foreign ministry Administration candidate for ambassador to . to protest the country’s inclusion in the special measures. U.S.-based exile groups lost most of their USAID Communist Party daily Granma characterized the U.S. move contracts during the Bush Administration when evidence as “anti-terrorist paranoia.” of widespread misuse of funds surfaced. Since then, the State Department has granted Cuba contracts mostly to Cuba detains U.S. religious group third-country organizations and to for-profit companies such n an unusual move, Cuban authorities briefly detained a as Development Alternatives Inc., which made negative IU.S. religious group at the Havana airport and put them headlines when Cuba arrested what the company said was on a flight back to Mexico. Five participants of the 14-member a subcontractor. group of the First Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon, were “The United States will reopen the process for non-profit denied entry at arrival Dec. 26. They had planned to work at organizations to apply for funds for the fight for democracy,” an AIDS clinic and teach women how to make baby clothes. Remedios Díaz-Oliver wrote in Miami newspaper Diario According to group members, Cuban immigration officials de las Américas. “All this sounds good, including the told them they were not allowed to enter Cuba because they announcement that this agreement was done in written and “were there for religious reasons.” revised form, and approved by Hillary.” The Cuban officials “were rude and cold and indifferent,” a The State Department did not comment. group member said. “It was very psychologically disarming.” Díaz-Oliver is an officer of the Cuba Democracy PAC, a “We’re upset because of the treatment, but ultimately, we pro-embargo campaign finance contributor. want the policy to change,” she said. “I hope goodwill and improvement of relations will come out of this incident.” 12 E c o n o m y Amid rising sugar prices, Cuba expects ‘modest’ sugar harvest lthough world sugar prices are at historic highs, the Meanwhile, this harvest in Cuba is marked by an ambitious sugar ministry expects a “modest” harvest for 2010, push for higher productivity and diversification. The first weeks accordingA to official daily Granma. The total yield is expected of the harvest were done “with punctuality and efficiency,” not to exceed 1.5 million tons, about 100,000 tons more than official daily Granma pointed out. Since sugar prices began during the last harvest. to rise again last year, the sugar ministry has reactivated some Due to tightening supplies in Brazil and rising demand mothballed sugarmills, and invested in new machinery. The from India and Pakistan this year, the sugar price remains at ministry also eliminated the traditional summer break, which a historic high in futures trading in New York, at around 27 was used last year for preparing land and updating sugar cents per pound. In London, the sugar price floats at $731 per mills. Finally, nearly one-third of this harvest is expected to metric ton, after doubling in 2009. be dedicated to sugar derivatives, including nearly 200,000 tons of sugar-derived cattle feed and more than 300,000 tons of molasses used for ethanol production. Food production slowly rising Raising hopes that improvements are finally paying off, s agriculture reform is beginning to take hold, food officials in said the harvest in this central province production increased slightly in 2009, Granma will be 30,000 tons higher, with less sugarcane planted this reported,A based on an assessment provided by the National year. The increase is mostly due to investments in the Central Association of Small Farmers (ANAP). Antonio Guiteras, Cuba’s largest sugar mill, officials said. Even so, ANAP President Orlando Lugo Fonte said that agriculture in 2009 was marked by a lack of organization, Generational change efficiency and discipline. continues, at snail’s pace As red tape diminishes, 2010 “will be better, particularly ontinuing the glacial-speed for basic products,” Lugo told Granma, saying he expected generational change in Cuba’s increases in milk, pork, beef and rice production. leadership,C the Meanwhile, readers complained in letters published reconfirmed Vice President Ramiro by Granma about a scarcity of bread in Havana, both at Valdés Menéndez, 77, as a member. subsidized prices and in the . Ramiro Valdés is the man of the hour in the country’s nomenklatura. ilk is the showcase of agriculture The veteran is credited with creating reform in Cuba. Cuba’s domestic security and MilkM production rose from 106 million liters intelligence services in the 1960s. Two in 2006, to 145 million liters in 2007, to 226 decades ago, Valdés was demoted to million in 2008, and 290 million last year. mid-level positions, but he rose back A pilot project in five municipalities based to the top at the beginning of the 2000s on direct sales to consumers by dairy farmers Valdés and has been a very public face since. proved that self-sufficiency can be Since 2006, he has been minister of achieved in a matter of months. communications and informatics. Valdés continues to be the As of the end of 2009, No. 3 in the state hierarchy, just below Raúl Castro, 78, and 89 municipalities had First Vice President José Ramón Machado Ventura, 79. joined the milk project; The Castro brothers and Guillermo García Frías aside, 66 are now self-sufficient. Valdés is the only commander of the revolution still in a top The agriculture ministry position. expects to add 2,000 sales Meanwhile, the first woman ever, 63-year old General points for milk in 2010 to Comptroller Gladys María Bejerano, was appointed one of currently 6,000. six vice presidents. Also, Economy Minister Marino Murillo, The ministry also plans a middle-aged economist, was appointed to the Council of to set up an “experimental” State, as were four younger mid-level functionaries. The plant to produce powdered nominations cover the gaps in the Council of State left by the milk during spring and at peak defenestration of former Vice President Carlos Lage, 57, and period of milk production. ex-Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque, 43. Meanwhile, powdered milk First Vice President Machado told a Communist Party youth imports declined to an expected group in January that “a revolution renews itself, searches, 35,000 tons this year. and young people have a fundamental task in it, and they will become the relief team. We don’t have the slightest doubt.” 13 BY THE NUMBERS TOURISM

Arrivals Foreign Visitors - December uba was the only major tourism destination in Origin 2008 2009 % chg. Cthe Caribbean last year that saw an increase in Total 180,613 247,515 +37 visitor numbers. This growth was mainly due to a rise Canada 59,859 92,933 +55.3 in visitors from Canada and the United States. The Other* 41,850 73,636 +76 National Statistics Office (ONE), which generated 14,817 13,135 -11.4 these figures, does not identify travelers from the Spain 10,240 9,098 -11.2 United States, but it can be assumed that at least 90 8,643 11,527 +33.4 percent in the “other” category are U.S. travelers. Germany 9,796 9,743 -0.5 While the number of visitors rose, Cuba’s tourism 7,387 7,227 -2.2 revenues could not escape the global slowdown. Mexico 6,011 7,132 +18.6 According to Cuban officials, revenues as of November 2,712 2,989 +10.2 were down 11.6 percent. ONE does not provide Russia 4,220 4,289 +1.6 information on revenues. Netherlands 2,700 3,018 +11.8 Venezuela 1,734 3,041 +75.4 Foreign Visitors 2009, by origin 1,664 1,375 -17.4 Italy Germany Colombia 1,442 2,281 +58.2 4.9% 3.8% Spain *Includes United States 5.3%

United Kingdom Other* Arrivals Foreign Visitors 2008 vs. 2009 7.1% 85.5% Other* Origin 2008 2009 % chg. 41.2% Total 2,348,340 2,429,809 +3.5 Canada 818,246 914,884 +11.8 France Canada 8.3% Other* 528,900 584,103 +10.4 37.7% Mexico 6.1% United Kingdom 193,932 172,318 -11.1 *including United States Spain 121,166 129,224 +6.7 Italy 126,042 118,347 -6.1 Germany 100,964 93,437 -7.5 Total Foreign Visitors 2005-2009

France 90,731 83,478 -8 2,700,000 Mexico 84,052 61,487 -26.8 2,400,000 Argentina 47,405 48,543 +2.4 2,100,000 1,800,000 Russia 40,659 37,391 -8 1,500,000 Netherlands 33,548 33,123 -1.3 1,200,000 2,220,567 2,319,334 2,152,221 2,348,340 Venezuela 31,931 28,657 -10.3 900,000 2,429,809 600,000 Portugal 25,542 26,055 +2 300,000 Colombia 22,178 21,287 -4 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 *includes United States

Foreign Visitors 2009, by origin Foreign Visitors 2009, by month 1,001,000 Number 901,000 280,000 801,000 701,000 230,000 601,000 501,000 180,000 401,000 130,000 301,000 Month 201,000 80,000 101,000 Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. 1,000 UK

2007 2006 2005 2008 2009 Italy Other Spain France Canada Mexico Germany Argentina

14 C O N F E R E N C E S & E V E N T S News from the •Cuba: What to Expect. Panel discussion, Univ. of Miami, Feb. 8 Sales Department ++Trying to bring Saudi investments to Cuba, Deputy •Int’l Congress of Higher Education (Universidad 2010), Havana, Feb. 8-12 Foreign Minister Marcos Rodríguez Costa paid an official •19th Int’l Book Fair, Havana, Feb. 11-21 visit to . Rodríguez met with Foreign Minister •12o Festival del Habano (cigars), Havana, Feb. 22-26 Prince Saud Al Faisal and the higher education minister and •Int’l Meeting on Neurorehabilitation, Havana, March 8-12 held a speech about business opportunities in Cuba before the •4th Interamerican Congress of Pediatric Surgery, Havana, Chamber of Commerce of Riyadh, the Saudi capital.++ March 21-26 ++Russia plans to sell 100,000 tons of 4th grade milling •US-Cuba Travel Summit, Cancún, March 24-26 wheat to Cuba at low prices, Reuters reported. The shipments, •5th Int’l Conference of the Psychiatric Hospital of Havana planned under a bilateral government agreement for early (Psicohabana 2010), Havana, April 7-9 February through summer, are part of an effort to unload the •Int’l Congress of Information (Info 2010), Havana, April 19-23 intervention inventory at the Russian state grains distribution •VIII Festival Internacional del Cine Pobre de Humberto company. Russia is selling the wheat at no profit.++ Solás, Gibara, April 19-25, 2010 ++Havana-based Heber Biotec signed an agreement in •2nd Int’l Conference on Security and Defense, Havana, Hanoi to sell $2.7 million worth of biotechnology products to April 27-29 Vietnamese companies Hapharco and AMV Group, Prensa •7th Continental Congress of Natural Products and Natural Latina reported. From a base in , Heber hopes to Medicine, Havana, May 24-27 expand to , Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, •5th Int’l Meeting on Justice and Law, Havana, May 26-28 and .++ •8th Int’l Congress on Disasters, Havana, June 14-18 ++The national network of blood banks acquired new •1st ALBA Tourism Fair, Caracas, Sept. 28-Oct. 3 •12th Int’l Conference of Food Science and Technology Chinese technology. The equipment, including biological (CICTA-12), Havana, Oct. 4-8 security chambers, centrifuges, refrigeration equipment, and •7th Ibero-American Congress on Neonatal Medicine, mobile blood banks, was donated to Cuba’s EMED by state Havana, Nov. 8-12 holding company China MEHECO Corp. under a bilateral agreement.++ Call (941) 330-0303 or send an e-mail to JWerner@ cubatradenews.com for more information on events E c o n o m y El Salvador president says ‘No’ to ALBA E c o n o m y he new president of El Salvador said the leftist party on whose ticket he ran can join the ALBA trade and Two road projects underway integrationT agreement, but that his government wouldn’t. “If n a rare case of new road construction in Cuba, crews the FMLN wants to take part in ALBA through its mayors, began to build a 12-mile feeder road near the city or if they want to participate as a political party in the effort of ICienfuegos. The two-lane stretch linking the Camilo of governments, parties and countries that are in ALBA, they Cienfuegos refinery with Yaguaramas will ease access of the should do it,” Mauricio Funes said in January. “That’s not a port city to the Autopista Nacional, the island’s main east-west problem. But this government won’t do it.” axis. The new road and the highway will connect at Aguada Some 20 municipalities governed by the FMLN have de Pasajeros. created a joint venture with Venezuelan state oil company Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero participated PdVSA, ALBA Petróleos de El Salvador, snd both the general in the official opening ceremony of the first paved road making secretary of the FMLN and Vice President Salvador Sánchez the peninsula of Guanahacabibes and Cabo de San Antonio, at Ceren expressed their desire for El Salvador to join ALBA. the western tip of the island, accessible for regular cars. The Funes, who is the first left-leaning president elected in El 40-mile road will allow construction of 1,800 hotel rooms on Salvador in more than half a century, said he believes that five beaches. Construction was slowed when hurricanes in fall focusing on Central American integration, which has received 2008 destroyed 10 miles of new road. “heavy blows” in recent months, would be more beneficial to the Salvadoran people. The political crisis in Honduras and Havana Panama’s recent exit from the Central American parliament Guanahacabibes have strained cooperation in the region. peninsula Pinar del Río “I have decided to work more for Central American Yaguaramas integration, to consolidate a regional bloc, to unify policies, to unify efforts with the presidents of the region than look Cienfuegos towards other entities such as ALBA,” Funes said, adding that he prefers a “stronger strategic relation” with the United States under Obama. 15 C o m p a n i e s Sherritt International Corp. appointed two new directors to its board. John R. Moses, founder of Gilead Power Corp. and Gilead Mineral Corp. and co-founder of Niskibi Power Corp., has 30 years experience in the mining and power Kirby generation industries; R. Peter Gillin is president and CEO Washington trade consultant Jones of Tahera Diamond Corp. and Zemex Corp. and has served as is organizing a Cuba tourism vice chairman of NM Rothschild & Sons Canada Securities conference in Cancún in March. Jones, Ltd. Sherritt also announced that Jowdat Waheed, the who has put together U.S.-Cuban business company’s former CEO, resigned from the board and will conferences since the 1990s, last made a leave Sherritt. The Toronto-based mining, oil and energy splash three years ago with a conference company is Cuba’s biggest foreign investor. in Mexico City for the oil industry. The Kirby Jones US-Cuba Travel Summit *** , to be held Officials ofBiotech Pharmaceutical Ltd., a Beijing-based March 24-26 at the Meliá Cancún hotel United States Tour Cuban-Chinese joint venture, said the company generated in Mexico, is sponsored by the Operators Association USTOA National Tour $23.4 million in revenues in its first year, which is highly ( ) and the Association NTA unusual for a pharmaceutical startup. Biotech, according ( ). The event will allow U.S. tourism the officials, has established itself among the leaders of executives to meet some 20 Cuban officials as well as monoclonal antibodies in China. Cuba is involved in two more tourism investors from third countries. The Summit has Sen. Byron Dorgan biotech joint ventures in China, Beijing Neurotechnology been endorsed by (D-N.D.), who is Ltd. and ChangHeber Pharmaceutical. scheduled to hold the keynote address. *** A French container shipping line started weekly cargo service from the Port Lonely Planet, the world’s biggest travel guide publisher, of Houston to Cuba, the Houston featured Cuba among the 10 most appetizing destinations for Chronicle reported. Marseille-based 2010. In a survey among experts, Lonely Planet ranked the CMA CGM provides a weekly island on No. 6. Outranking Cuba were the United States, haul to two Havana and Santiago Canada, South Africa, Mexico and Thailand. Meanwhile, via Kingston, Jamaica. The concierge.com, a portal specializing in the promotion and sale French shipper has a U.S. of destinations, listed Cuba on No. 7 on its 2010 list. license through October 2011. *** Cuba cargo from Houston rose from slightly above 100,000 Los Van Van and La Charanga Habanera, two of Cuba’s tons of agricultural goods in 2003 to a peak of 322,000 tons most popular bands, performed at concerts in Miami and Key in 2007, to drop to 274,000 tons in 2008. West in December and January. This was the bands’ first U.S. *** appearance in years. Charanga lead musician David Calzado The 11th International Sugar and Derivatives Congress appeared live on a Miami TV talk show. Meanwhile, following this October will be held in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, the first a live concert on Havana’s Malecón seaside boulevard, U.S. time the event moves outside Cuba. Topics at the congress band Kool and the Gang received the Cubadisco 2009 award include energy, food, environment, social impact and more. from Culture Minister Abel Prieto.

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