Vol. 19, No. 1 January 2011

In the News With U.S. subcontractor still in prison,

Costly connection USAID freezes all new Cuba programs TeleCuba: FCC approval of rate hike may BY ANA RADELAT contracts: Freedom House, International Repub- lower cost of calls to Cuba ...... Page 2 he U.S. Agency for International Develop- lican Institute (IRI), People in Need, Creative ment has slammed the brakes on various Associates International and Institute for T controversial new Cuba initiatives. Sustainable Communities (ISC). National Assembly USAID and the State Department have not USAID declined to say how much money Reform-minded lawmakers pave way from spent one cent of the $20 million that President each grantee received. But the activities that chaos to market socialism ...... Page 3 Obama asked for — and Congress allocated — money financed appear to be winding down. for the controversial Cuba program this year. Brendon Keleher, vice-president at ISC, said As lawmakers prepare to approve that pro- his Vermont-based NGO had an 18-month, $1.2 Outlook for 2011 gram’s FY 2011 budget, USAID hasn’t even sent million contract to work with artisans in Cuba. Two Miami conferences offer rival scena- Congress its proposal on how this year’s funds “We wanted to help them understand the mar- ketplace and work with other artisans in the rios for Cuba’s future ...... Page 4 for Cuba would be spent. “Because we have yet to notify Congress of Caribbean and Latin America,” Keleher said. our specific plans to spend the funds, we have ISC’s contract expired Dec. 9. When Keleher Political briefs not issued any awards with fiscal 2010 funds,” asked for an extension, he was turned down. Board: Ice, pilot error caused ATR crash; USAID spokesman Drew Bailey told CubaNews. “USAID chose to end the program,” he said. Steve Horblitt, director for external relations OFAC OKs peso remittances ...... Page 5 USAID and State did hand out about $15.6 million to Cuba program grantees earlier this of Creative Associates, based in Bethesda, Md., year from its 2009 budget after key Democratic said “USAID guidelines” prevented him from Iconic branding lawmakers released their hold on the money. speaking about his company’s Cuba program. Final installment of 3-part series looks at Bailey said most of that went to “incremental Creative Associates’ staff includes Caleb funding” of five organizations with multi-year Cuban consumer preferences ...... Page 6 See USAID, page 3

Golf courses galore Special 2-page map pinpoints the location Secret cables unearthed by WikiLeaks of more than a dozen golf and marina pro- jects planned across Cuba ...... Page 8 offer dramatic look at U.S. view of Cuba BY LARRY LUXNER to confront drug smugglers that they’ve even SPECIAL REPORT idel Castro, bleeding internally on a domes- complained to their U.S. counterparts. Cattle, livestock industry — once the pride tic flight from Holguín to Havana in 2006, None of these dramatic revelations might Fnearly died from diverticulitis of the colon have ever come to light if not for WikiLeaks, a of Cuba — takes a beating ...... Page 10 after refusing to submit to a colostomy. shadowy “new media” nonprofit website that Three years later, Fidel’s brother Raúl — now since Nov. 28 has been embarrassing U.S. diplo- Saving the herd running Cuba — wanted to open secret talks mats around the world through its gradual release of classified State Department cables to Florida cattle rancher J. Parke Wright tells with the White House as the only way his gov- ernment could “make major moves toward meet- Spain’s El País and other newspapers. CubaNews how to do it right ...... Page 13 ing U.S. concerns,” according to Spain’s ambas- While most of the uproar surrounding Wiki- sador to Cuba, Manuel Cacho Quesada. Leaks has focused up until now on Afghanistan, Business briefs Officials of the U.S. Interests Section in Hav- Pakistan and the Middle East, it’s clear that before long, virtually every country with a U.S. criticizes rice import policy; ana, while clearly opposed to the Castro regime, Trabajadores have concluded that Cuba’s traditional dissident mission on its soil will be dragged into the fray Meliá opens 25th property ...... Page 15 movement — the focus of millions in aid from — and Cuba is no exception. Washington over the years — is unpopular, inef- Only a fraction of these 251,287 once-secret CubaNews (ISSN 1073-7715) is published monthly fective, greedy for American taxpayer dollars cables has actually been published. Even so, the by CUBANEWS LLC. © 2011. All rights reserved. and riddled with government spies. biggest diplomatic bombshell in recent history Subscriptions: $479 for one year, $800 for two years. China, meanwhile, is exasperated over Cuba’s has already been “devastating and destructive” For editorial inquires, please call (305) 393-8760 or for U.S. foreign service officers overseas, says send an e-mail to: [email protected]. habit of not paying its bills on time, and the Cubans are so upset with Jamaica’s reluctance See WikiLeaks, page 14 2 CubaNews v January 2011 TELECOMMUNICATIONS TeleCuba, planning fiberoptic cable, asks FCC for rate hike BY TRACEY EATON each other to handle international calls. In benefit, said Jose Magaña, a senior analyst at alling Cuba from the United States costs May 2003, the FCC gave TeleCuba permis- Pyramid Research in Cambridge, Mass. around $1 per minute. That’s 13 times sion to pay Cuba’s state-run phone monopoly “AT&T and Verizon definitely want to Cmore expensive than calling London or Etecsa 60¢ for every minute of calls it chan- strengthen their position in the Hispanic mar- Madrid, and 11 times more expensive than neled to Cuba. In turn, Etecsa agreed to pay ket, where Cuban-Americans are important,” calling the Vatican to chat with the Pope. TeleCuba that same rate for calls originating he said, adding that enhanced phone commu- “To have a normal conversation with a fam- in Cuba. nication — including roaming — would boost ily member, you must budget the cost of a din- One year later, Etecsa asked that its pay- phone companies on both sides of the Florida ner,” said Tony Martinez, a New York lawyer ment be raised to 84¢. But Treasury didn’t Straits. “There are definitely a few hundred million dollars there. There’s a good amount and editor of the United States Cuba Policy & agree, forcing TeleCuba to end direct phone Business Blog. “It’s tough on families.” service to Cuba. One reason Cuba calls are expensive is that Last March, Co- they are routed through third countries such ello requested FCC as Italy. permission to pay Etecsa at the 84¢

Miami-based TeleCuba Communications LARRY LUXNER Inc. wants to establish a cheaper direct con- rate so it could re- nection that some analysts say could eventu- establish service. ally lower phone costs for consumers and Because U.S. allow U.S. visitors to Cuba to use roaming authorities haven’t while making calls. yet taken action, To do that, TeleCuba first needs the FCC’s Coello’s May letter permission to pay Cuba 84¢ per minute of said, Etecsa and phone talk, up from current 60¢ per minute. Cuba’s Ministry of Both Verizon and AT&T have filed letters Communications with the FCC supporting TeleCuba’s request “question the com- — which is in line with President Obama’s mitment of the U.S. 2009 directive aimed at improving phone to truly enact poli- links with Cuba. cies that reflect the State and Treasury don’t object, either. But directives set forth Miami storefront advertises, among other things, long-distance service to Cuba. in the April 2009 the FCC, which must approve TeleCuba’s speech delivered by President Obama.” of money to be made.” request for a waiver, has not acted. On Oct. 26, Jennifer D. Hindin, a lawyer for Asked why the FCC hasn’t acted on An FCC spokeswoman declined to say TeleCuba, told Dortch that the company’s TeleCuba’s waiver request, Magaña speculat- when her agency might make a decision. request would “serve the public interest” and ed that conservative pro-embargo activists TeleCuba executives and their lawyers, who improve phone communication between “the may be trying to influence the regulatory have been traveling to Washington to meet U.S. public and their friends and family in agency, creating delays. with FCC officials and argue their case, Cuba … consistent with the President’s “There are a lot of politics going on,” he wouldn’t speculate either. recently expressed policy in favor of fostering said. “President Obama was more flexible TeleCuba wants to lay a fiberoptic cable deeper communication between the United toward Cuba in the beginning of his term.” between the two countries, and put into effect States and Cuba.” But sentiments in Washington have since an international roaming agreement it has On Nov. 24, Hindin sent another letter to taken a turn to the right, and that “might with Cubacel, Cuba’s mobile phone company. the FCC, saying the public record “indicates cause things to be delayed a little bit longer.” nothing but support” for her client’s petition. Magaña said FCC approval of TeleCuba’s FIBEROPTIC CABLE CONTINGENT ON RATE HIKE Karen Zacharia, a lawyer for Verizon, told waiver would help open up Cuba’s telecom A year ago, we reported that TeleCuba, in the FCC that the TeleCuba waiver was “rea- market and eventually lower the cost of calls. agreement with Great Eastern Group Inc. of sonable” and in the public interest. As it is, calls to Cuba are expensive – from Fort Lauderdale, plans to design, construct, An FCC waiver, she said in a letter to the 91¢ to $1.20 per minute, for instance, for cus- install and maintain a 110-mile-long cable agency, “would facilitate greater contacts tomers of AT&T. from Cojimar, Cuba, to Key West, Fla., the between separated family members in the That’s roughly five times more expensive same route occupied by an existing 1950s-era United Sates and Cuba and increase the flow than calling the Dominican Republic, six copper phone cable linking the two countries. of information between the two countries.” times more expensive than calling China or Once up and running, TeleCuba claims in a Brazil, and 10 times more expensive than call- press release, its $18 million fiberoptic cable AT&T, VERIZON SUPPORT TELECUBA REQUEST ing Hong Kong or Denmark. “will eliminate the need for satellite communi- AT&T lawyer James J. R. Talbot echoed AT&T prices for 192 countries and territo- cations” between the United States and Cuba, Verizon’s position. ries show that Cuba ranked in 51st place. The “allowing for an array of new telecom prod- In his own letter to the FCC, he wrote that most expensive calls, at $3.25 per minute, ucts and services such as high-speed Internet “to implement the stated U.S. foreign policy were to the Wallis and Futuna Islands, a and cable TV, which are not feasible using objectives, AT&T agrees that it may be nec- remote French overseas territory in the current satellite communications” essary to allow some additional temporary Pacific with only 2,500 phone lines in service. (see The five next priciest were: Chad, at $2.42; CubaNews, November 2009, page 4). flexibility in U.S. carrier settlement rates as a But Cuban officials say they won’t move predicate to the re-establishment of bilateral the South Pacific atoll of Vanuatu, $2.41; Laos, forward unless TeleCuba raises its payments international traffic arrangements on the $2.39; Comoro Islands, off the African coast, to 84¢ per minute, according to a May 21 let- U.S.-Cuba route.” $2:25, and Burma, $2.17. q ter from TeleCuba President Luis Coello to The rate waiver would lead to increased Tracey Eaton, former Havana bureau chief of FCC Secretary Marlene Dortch. competition in the U.S.-Cuba phone market, the Dallas Morning News, now lives in St. Augus- Phone companies around the world pay and companies like AT&T and Verizon would tine, Fla., and writes regularly for CubaNews. January 2011 v CubaNews 3 POLITICS Cuba’s National Assembly: From chaos to market socialism BY DOMINGO AMUCHASTEGUI growth in 2010. The budget, estimated at 2.47 This ratio will change drastically in 2011, n his closing remarks Dec. 19 to Cuba’s billion pesos, will run a 3.8% deficit instead of and even more later on. Taxation will play a 3.5% as originally predicted. major role considering that by 2015, some 1.8 National Assembly, President Raúl Castro million Cubans will be engaged in private Idescribed the gathering as “an exceptional Yet Jorge Marino Murillo, minister of econ- omy and planning, joined Lina Pedraza, min- businesses. assembly” — and indeed it was. At the same time, financial administration Never before had criticism been so preva- ister of finance and prices, in complaining about “incumplimientos” [not meeting goals] and taxation will be decentralized, with more lent, blunt and naked when discussing the “in every sector of the state economy, without power handed over to Cuba’s provinces and structure and functioning of Cuba’s socialist exception.” As a result, Murillo said, Cuba municipalities. economy, and its disappointing performance. lost over $200 million, and will be forced next For now, no value-added (VAT) or salary The event was marked by a recitation of year to spend $1.6 billion on food imports. tax will be imposed, at least not until stability past blunders — and illustrated by scores of is in place concerning prices and salaries. examples of inefficency, waste and misman- RAÚL CALLS FOR AN ‘END TO SECRECY’ Joaquín Infante, a prominent economist agement, as well as outright fraud and lies. State investments from the budget will be linked to the former economic system, has Raúl described it as “la historia repetida.” spent as follows: 50% on short-term produc- stated that 2011 and the first half of 2012 will Of course, the central issue was not lack of tive activities that generate hard currency; be “extremely tense,” but that by 2013, “re- discipline or missed opportunities, but rather 19.2% on housing; 13% on infrastructure con- sults and improvements will be quite visible.” a failed approach to socialism and ill-con- nected to industry; 10.6% on sidewalks, sew- Lastly, Raúl made three highly unusual re- ceived policies that ended in disaster. ers, power lines and other public works; 4.3% marks. One was that with few exceptions, Warning that “the life of the Revolution is on aqueducts, and 2.1% on urbanization. secrecy must be banished from Cuba, partic- at stake,” Raúl told the 611-member body that In addition, 68 projects that weren’t proper- ularly with regard to the way in which the “many Cubans confuse socialism with hand- ly designed and documented were dismissed. government and the Communist Party work. outs and subsidies, equality with egalitarian- In agriculture, 493 million pesos will be ear- He also said the self-employed and small- ism. We can assure you that, this time, there marked for input and supplies to farmers and business sectors will expand in the short will be no going back.” finqueros, and 1.52 billion pesos for construc- term, and that “the state doesn’t have to mess The 80-year-old Castro, speaking on behalf tion materials. around trying to regulate relations among of Cuba’s so-called “historic generation,” as- Pedraza said “tax income over the last three individuals” such as selling and buying. sumed full responsibility for these mistakes years has financed only 55% of the budget.” Not long ago, such remarks would have and said the country’s leaders “have the duty That’s why the 2008 budget deficit was 6.7%. been considered pure heresy. q to correct the errors we have made in these At that point, cuentapropistas were kicking in Former Cuban intelligence officer Domingo five decades of building socialism in Cuba.” 200 million pesos, or only 1% of the total. The Amuchastegui has lived in Miami since 1994. He The government expects Cuba’s economy state’s contribution was 24.8 billion pesos, writes regularly for CubaNews about politics, to grow 3.1% in 2011, up from a projected 2.1% and state-run enterprises, 19.4 billion pesos. economic reform and Cuba’s Communist Party.

Rather than attempt to destabilize the sweaters, crab meat and Godiva chocolates. USAID — FROM PAGE 1 Castro regime through protests and dissident Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), an embar- McCarry, a hardliner who was the Bush admi- activities, Kerry and Berman sought to use go supporter, is expected to try to ramp up nistration’s Cuba Transition Coordinator. In the program to help the Cuban people bring the Cuba program when she picks up the that position, McCarry urged USAID and about peaceful change. gavel of the House Foreign Affairs Committee State Department money to be used to foment That shift may be reflected in one USAID from Berman in January. program funded with 2009 funds this year. dissent and civil disobedience on the island. She’s likely to press for more funding of The agency gave Loyola University $3 million Washington-based Freedom House, which exile groups and destabilizing activities. to “create networks and empower communi- “I don’t want to talk about it now,” Ros- over the years received more USAID money ties in Cuba.” for Cuba programs than any other grantee, Lehtinen told CubaNews. “But we’ll see.” Loyola spokesman Steve Christiansen did Yet Ros-Lehtinen’s efforts may be check- did not return repeated phone calls. not want to discuss the school’s activities in IRI and People in Need, a Czech NGO, also mated by her counterpart in the Senate. Cuba. The university won a $425,000 USAID “We have undertaken a review of the pro- didn’t respond to interview requests. grant in 2004 to provide English courses to Before President George W. Bush assumed grams, and the State Department and USAID adults in a poor Havana neighborhood. have reassured Sen. Kerry that they’re im- office, most USAID Cuba grants went to exile But six months later, Loyola announced it organizations. But Bush sharply boosted proving oversight and policy direction over had suspended the school project because of the programs,” an aide to Kerry told us. “The funding for the program while directing more the political nature of that program. cash to groups like IRI and People in Need senator is in an ongoing dialogue with [Secre- that had helped destabilize Soviet bloc tary of State] Hillary Clinton and [USAID ‘GREAT SENSITIVITY’ AT USAID Administrator Ravij] Shah.” regimes in the late 1980s. USAID also gave a $1.5 million grant to The theory was that such NGOs were most In addition, the continued detention of Alan Grupo de Apoyo a la Democracia, an exile Gross — suspected of distributing high-tech qualified to weaken the Castro regime. group based in Miami, for “delivery of But after Alan Gross, a American subcon- communications equipment in Cuba — has humanitarian assistance to political prisoners dampened the White House’s enthusiasm for tractor for former USAID grantee Develop- and their families.” ment Associates Inc., was jailed in Cuba just funding provocative missions in Cuba. The group, also known as GAD, is involved Quipped a State Department official: “We’re over a year ago, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), with various dissident groups in Cuba, includ- handling things with great sensitivity now.” q head of the Senate Foreign Relations Commi- ing Las Damas de Blanco [Ladies in White]. ttee, and Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), his Since 2000, GAD has received $11 million Washington-based journalist Ana Radelat has outgoing counterpart in the House, held up from USAID. In 2006 it was accused of wast- been covering Cuba-related issues on Capitol Hill USAID funds to change the program’s focus. ing some of these funds on computer games, for CubaNews since the newsletter’s birth in 1993. 4 CubaNews v January 2011 POLITICS Outlook for 2011: microbusinesses and a new junta? BY DOREEN HEMLOCK probably continue to see an erosion” in U.S. A significant oil discovery also would boost sales to Cuba in 2011, Brickman predicted. pressure from U.S. oil companies to do busi- orecasting the future of Cuba is tricky, Washington also won’t thaw ties with Cuba ness in Cuba, paving the way to ease that part but four panelists at last month’s 34th anytime soon, now that Republicans have ad- of the embargo, panelists added. “That’s not F Annual Miami Conference on the Carib- dead. Congress could support” U.S. oil com- bean and Latin America offered scenarios for ded seats in Congress and boosted their clout panies doing business in Cuba, Ashby said. 2011 that include a surge in microbusinesses, in November 2010 elections, Ashby added. slowing trade with the United States and even Legislation to lift the ban on U.S. travel to Stronger support from Brazil, Canada and a new governing junta on the island. Cuba “is dead at least for the next two years,” other nations for Cuba’s new microbusinesses “I predict we will see a peaceful leadership the lawyer said. “And the executive order to also may influence how much Cuba’s private change in Cuba this time next year, not to a expand travel to Cuba on Obama’s desk, I sector grows and how the Castro regime person … but to a junta,” said Tim Ashby, a don’t think it will be released. [The Demo- treats it, Babun said. Spain alone has offered Miami-based lawyer active in Cuba for years. crats] don’t want to lose Florida and New at least $600,000 in credit for private farmers. Ashby said President Raúl Castro will name Jersey” by alienating Cuban-American hard- The United States also might aid microbusi- a group of perhaps five people to lead Cuba as liners in those states, Ashby said. ness in Cuba to improve the lives of dismissed it reshapes its struggling economy. state workers and avert a mass exodus — a That group would feature as “first among POTENTIAL OIL DISCOVERY A GAME-CHANGER nightmare concern that haunts U.S. authori- equals” Raúl’s son-in-law, Maj. Luís Alberto Several factors could shift the scenarios. ties. Warned Babun: “We don’t want to see Rodríguez López Callejas, now chief execu- For one, a significant find of oil in waters off one million Cubans jumping on boats and tive of the powerful Cuban holding company Cuba could portend a financial windfall for coming to Key West.” Gaesa. And it will include Raúl’s son, Havana, probably slowing momentum for eco- Caribbean nations are looking to see how Alejandro Castro Espín, Ashby said. nomic reform and certainly reducing the they too can help Cuba in its transition. The junta, he predicted, would likely boost Castro regime’s reliance on Venezuela as an Trinidad & Tobago is considering a multi- the efficiency and autonomy of state-owned oil supplier and a benefactor, panelists said. million-dollar line of credit to Cuba to buy enterprises, many of them run by young mili- “Cuba is extremely vulnerable [to changes Trinidadian products, hoping to build sales in tary leaders trained at business schools in in Venezuela], at least as vulnerable as it was a market far less competitive than the United capitalist Europe. with the Soviet Union,” said Rafael Romeu, a States, said panel attendee Brian Cecil Awang, Ashby and his fellow panelists spoke dur- Washington-based economist who collabo- chief executive at the Export-Import Bank of ing the annual Miami conference, which is rates with the Association for the Society of Trinidad & Tobago Ltd. q organized by the Washington-based nonprofit the Cuban Economy. He referred to Cuba’s Details: Sally Yearwood, Acting Director, Car- group Caribbean Central American Action. previous dependence on Soviet oil supplies ibbean/Central American Action, 1710 Rhode Is- C/CAA’s acting director, Sally Yearwood, and how the demise of the USSR in 1991 trig- land Ave. NW, Suite #300, Washington, DC 20036. moderated the Dec. 2 discussion on Cuba. gered economic crisis in Cuba. Tel: (202) 331-9467. URL: www.c-caa.org.

LIFTING OF TRAVEL BAN UNLIKELY FOR NOW Cuba’s elite now is debating ways to stoke the economy, with a younger generation of An alternative view from UM’s ICCAS market-oriented reformers pitted against gen- t’s October 2011, half a year after the 6th under Raúl Castro,” Gomez told reporters erally older, communist hardliners, said Teo Cuban Communist Party Congress, and and analysts. “Many Cubans on this side [of I the Florida Straits] have expected change, Babun of Miami-based Babun Consulting many people who had hoped for signifi- Group. “Both want to save the revolution but cant change in Cuba are disappointed. The and that change may not come.” differ on how,” he said. island instead keeps muddling along. Researchers from the UM institute said Castro already announced plans to lay off at The government and the Party, now both they generally see little chance of “bottom- least one million government employees, but led by Raúl Castro, are slowly implementing up” or democratic-style change in Cuba. questions remain over how to help them build reforms approved at the congress. After nearly 50 years of military-backed microbusinesses and how much to tax them. More than one million state workers have communist control, Cubans have adjusted Babun’s recommendation: Don’t overtax the been laid off, but fewer than expected have with a mindset to wait for change from the new entrepreneurs, or you’ll fuel tax evasion sought self-employment licenses because of top down, said business specialist José Azel. and a backlash. taxes; many work informally. Yet a government that specifies 178 cate- “Welcome to rookie capitalism. As the Public frustration runs high, but the polit- gories approved for self-employment — Cuban government will find out soon, where ical opposition remains small and fractured, including refilling disposable lighters and there are high taxes, there will be changes in with no common agenda. pruning palms but not other trees — “in no people’s behavior and at least, civil misbehav- The Catholic Church keeps negotiating way signals serious change” to loosen its ior,” Babun said. with the regime, which lets more Cubans grip, said Azel. In trade, Cuba has been slashing food attend seminaries but still bans church-run The Castro regime doesn’t even use the imports from the United States partly schools. And U.S-Cuba relations remain term “private sector” in offering new micro- because of its financial woes, shifting pur- chilly, as Washington sees no overriding business licenses to laid-off workers, refer- chases to countries that offer credit such as national interest in Havana. ring only to activities “outside the state sec- Vietnam and Argentina. That’s the word from That’s the bleak picture painted by Andy tor,” he pointed out. Jay Brickman, an executive of Crowley Gomez, the University of Miami’s assistant That controlling attitude, he said, con- Maritime Corp., which ships food to Cuba provost and a senior fellow at UM’s Institute trasts with Chinese leaders in the 1980s who with U.S. approval. of Cuban and Cuban-American Studies showed their willingness to move toward a Havana had hoped that buying food from as (ICCAS), at a Dec. 13 media briefing on the market-oriented system with such slogans many U.S. states as possible would boost outlook for Cuba in 2011. as “To get rich is glorious.” Pressure from Cuban-Americans for pressure on Washington to ease its embargo “Life goes on in Cuba. Nothing changes on Cuba. But with little progress on that polit- See ICCAS, page 15 ical front and Cuba short on dollars, “we will January 2011 v CubaNews 5

POLITICAL BRIEFS NEW OFAC RULE LETS CUBANS WIRE MONEY IN CUCs In their own words … Western Union has received approval from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign “When I first came to this country with my family as a young girl, we were Assets Control to begin paying out money trans- fleeing from oppression and seeking an opportunity to live in freedom. In Cuba, fers in local Cuban convertible pesos (CUCs). activists are condemned to the gulag and denied every basic human right and Effective Dec. 20, says WU, “consumers will dignity ... I pledge to do all that I can to isolate U.S. enemies while empowering receive money in CUCs at the exchange rate set at and strengthening our allies, and I will not make apologies for doing either.” the time the money transfer transaction is sent. — Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), longtime embargo supporter and incoming The [sender] will receive a receipt that provides chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the 112th Congress. both the exchange rate and the exact amount that the receiver will be paid in local currency. Payout “We see very little evidence that the mainline dissident organizations have in local currency will relieve the receivers of the much resonance among ordinary Cubans. [Without changes], the traditional 10% tax imposed on U.S. dollars.” dissident movement is not likely to supplant the Cuban government.” Also, the $5,000 limit for family remittance — Jonathan Farrar, chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, in a secret dispatch transactions has been raised to $10,000. to Washington dated Apr. 15, 2009, that questions prevailing U.S. policy on Cuba. The “This is a great step forward that will benefit cable was one of 251,287 exposed by WikiLeaks (see story on page 1 of this issue). Cubans living on the island, since they won’t have do any kind of currency exchange to get their “We track every pound that goes on the airplane. Our average bag weight in money,” said WU’s Victoria López Negrete, whose the last year has gone from 85 to 132 pounds [40 to 60 kg] per person.” company has been sending money to Cuba since — Tom Cooper, owner of Miami-based Gulfstream Air Charter, which flies a 146-seat 1999. “This measure makes our work a lot easier.” Boeing 737 to Havana daily. Cooper, quoted Dec. 16 by Associated Press, said his The new ruling allows anyone living in the U.S. company’s passenger load has jumped from 23,000 in 2009 to nearly 50,000 this year. to send money orders to Cuba to parents, broth- ers, sisters, children, aunts and uncles, said OFAC. “This is terrific news for thousands of Cuban families and for communities Details: OFAC Field Office, PO Box 229008, across Florida.” Miami, FL 33222-9008. Tel: (786) 845-2828. — Hiram Ruíz, Miami-Dade director of refugee services at Florida’s Department of BOARD: ICING, PILOT ERROR CAUSED ATR CRASH Children and Families, commenting on a U.S. decree reversing an earlier decision by the Departments of State and Homeland Security that would have denied a broad Icing and pilot error caused the Nov. 4 crash of . an AeroCaribbean commuter plane which killed all range of public assistance to about 3,200 Cuban migrants upon arrival in the U.S 68 passengers aboard, Cuba’s Civil Aeronautics Board announced Dec. 16. “Alan’s incarceration for a year without clarity of the legal process he will face Investigators found that “extreme weather condi- or its timing is a travesty. It violates every international standard of justice and tions” led to a “severe” buildup of ice on the plane due process ... We urge Cuban authorities to release Alan immediately on hum- that, “combined with errors by the crew in the anitarian grounds, as well as the fact he has already served one year in prison.” handling of the situation, caused the accident.” — Peter Kahn, Washington attorney for the Gross family, in a statement issued on the It said the ATR 72-212 twin turboprop had been one-year anniversary of his client’s imprisonment by Cuba on suspicion of espionage. in good condition and functioned properly before plummeting to the ground near Sancti Spíritus. “Sadly, I believe Alan Gross may stay in jail a long time, as long as these On that day, Cuba had the unusual condition of a [USAID pro-democracy] programs continue. I see the key to unlocking his free- cold front sweeping down from the north while a dom lies in our ending these covert and subversive programs.” small hurricane brushed along Cuba’s eastern tip. — New York attorney Tony Martínez, editor of the US-Cuba Policy & Business Blog. The combination of cold air and very high humidity from the storm created the unusual con- “You’ve got to stop this war in Afghanistan.” ditions conducive for icing, aviation experts said. — The last words of Richard C. Holbrooke, President Obama’s special representative POSADA LOSES BID TO KEEP EVIDENCE FROM TRIAL to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Holbrooke, who died Dec. 13, began his diplomatic career in Vietnam and brokered a 1995 peace accord that ended the war in Bosnia. A U.S. judge has rejected Luis Posada Carriles’ request to throw out evidence against him provid- “They got it ‘bass-ackwards.’ They are laying off first and hoping and praying ed by the Cuban government, and kept his sched- that the small private sector is going to expand enough to absorb them.” uled Jan. 10 trial date in Texas, the Miami newspa- — , per El Nuevo Herald reported Dec. 18. Archibald Ritter Cuba scholar and professor at Ottawa’s Carleton University, Posada is charged with lying under oath during quoted by the Miami Herald’s Juan Tamayo in a Dec. 20 article about Raúl Castro’s immigration procedures about his role in a dozen reforms entitled “Panic, Anger As Cuba Plans To Lay Off 1 Of Every 10 Workers.” 1997 bombings of Havana hotels. He’s not charged with the bombings, which killed an Italian tourist. “Almost all of us, if we haven’t planted a bomb or picked up a rifle, we’ve done U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone in El Paso other things. I went to prison for 20 years for Cuba. These are things that we Thursday denied a motion by Posada’s Miami law- thought were right at a given time. And at least I do not renounce my past.” yer, Arturo Hernández, to throw out 6,200 pages — Angel de la Fana, 71, a close friend of militant exile Orlando Bosch, speaking at a of evidence gathered by the Cuban government Dec. 9 gathering in Miami’s Little Havana for the unveiling of Bosch’s memoirs. and submitted in the case by U.S. prosecutors. Hernandez claimed he received the documents “You follow me on Cuba, and I’ll follow you on Israel, and we’ll be all right.” in November, although prosecutors had them in — Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart (R-FL), who’s retiring from Congress after 18 years, to then- March 2007 and he repeatedly asked for a copy fellow Florida lawmaker Robert Wexler, a Jewish liberal Democrat. Wexler, beginning May 2009. now president of the Center for Middle East Peace, recalled Díaz-Balart’s Posada, who lived in Venezuela and El Salvador comment from the early 1990s in a Dec. 12 story in the Chicago Tribune. for much of his exile life, was detained after he turned up in South Florida in 2005. 6 CubaNews v January 2011 MARKETING Iconic brand potential: What’s ‘Cuban’ about this product? BY EMILIO MORALES & JOSEPH L. SCARPACI heritage, and the underdog syndrome (a.k.a. the potential of taking popular national sym- n the last issue of this newsletter, we dis- David and Goliath) are readily identifiable by bols and assessing to what extent they are cussed the importance of iconic branding Cubans. If advertisers can bundle their prod- associated with the top 10 Cuban brands (see Iand presented categories that reflect ucts with a widely held value, they have the CubaNews, November 2010, page 10). broadly held values which Cubans hold dear potential of establishing an iconic brand. One open-ended question central to the In this issue, we present the results of our issue of iconic brands was posed: “Is there (see CubaNews, December 2010, page 15). anything Cuban about this product?” We These values, machismo/marianismo, creati- focus groups. As such, we organized 10 focus vity and resourcefulness, sugar and tobacco groups comprising 84 participants to explore counted the number of times respondents referred to Cuban myths or folklore in describing the top-10 Cuban brands. Four findings stand out. First, the sugar and tobacco legacy regis- tered more comments (123) than the second- (marianismo (70)) or third-place (creativity (66)) categories. Half of the top 10 products (cola, coffee, tobacco, and alcohol products) come from sugar and tobacco. Second, the Thaba backpack and Suchel soap and moisturizers failed to reveal any myth affiliations. Our hunch was that the backpack might symbolize the Revolution’s commitment to universal education, and thus could reflect the “creativity” dimension. We also thought the soap would tap into a social value that because Cubans wash often, it might be a stalwart symbol of purity, and therefore reflect the marianismo dimension. A third finding was the distinction between the “light” Cristal versus the “strong” Bucanero beers, even though just 0.4% alco- hol content separates them. Participants associated the green (lighter looking) Cristal can and would read the label “suave” [smooth] word out loud, and then contrast the word “fuerte” [strong] printed on the darker (heavier looking) Bucanero can. See Brands, page 7

Havana Club and other popular Cuban rum brands. January 2011 v CubaNews 7 ARTS & CULTURE New York’s ICP hosts ‘Cuba in Revolution’ photo exhibit BY VITO ECHEVARRÍA was like to cover Fidel Castro as his 1959 rev- journalism, including an archive of more than rench financier Arpad Busson and New olution literally exploded before their eyes. 2,000 photographs of Cuba. Along with the York’s International Center for Photo- The IAHF has assembled an extensive col- work of Salas and Erwin, on display were the F graphy last month co-sponsored a panel lection of well-regarded 20th-century photo- works of 30 other photographers, including discussion on Cuba’s political future, against those of 1950s Cuba by Constantino Arias. a backdrop of historical photographs assem- At one point, Busson traveled to Cuba to bled by Busson’s London-based International help assemble that collection.

Art Heritage Foundation (IAHF). BURT GLINN “It was fascinating to see the beauty of The Dec. 8 event, “La Revolución: Comple- these images,” Busson told Amanpour. “But xities of Cuba Today,” was moderated by vet- when I met these photographers, I realized eran CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour and that there was a much wider range of [Cuban] held at the New York Times Center. Participa- photos that have never been shown.” ting in the discussion were Peter Kornbluh, A shot of Castro and his band of rebels en- director of the Cuba Documentation Project, tering Havana was used as the exhibit’s pro- and journalists Jon Lee Anderson, Rafael Pi motion (see picture, upper left). There were Román and Patrick Symmes. also some rarely seen photos, including one of Independent filmmakers Saul Landau and Fidel skiing in Russia, and Che Guevara at his Jauretsi Saizarbitoria also speculated on the RENE BURRI office in Havana — as well as familiar iconic direction Cuba will likely take once the images by Alberto Korda and others. Castro brothers pass away. After New York, the exhibit will travel to Amanpour asked Busson about his involve- Washington, Moscow and Paris. q ment with ICP’s current photo exhibit “Cuba Details: International Center for Photography, in Revolution” — a collection of 150 photos on 1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street, New display until Jan. 9. Photographers Roberto York, NY 10036. Tel: (212) 857-0003. URL: Salas and Elliott Erwin talked about what it Fidel enters Havana, 1959; Che in his office, 1963. www.icp.org/museum/exhibitions/cuba.

revolution and serve as cultural goodwill here [in Cuba] as it does outside the island.” Brands — FROM PAGE 7 ambassador wherever possible. In this regard, Alicia Alonso is cultural icon, Such a strong national perception taps into artist, feminist, and heroine. Modifiers of Cristal’s lightness included the national belief that Cuba can produce Her perfume is enhanced in consumers’ “easy to drink”, “goes well with food”, “the heroes, not only in the context of the David- minds in ways that Havana Club rum does women prefer it”, and it’s good “for relaxing”. and-Goliath tensions between not; no transcendental figure is The heavier Bucanero pulled the opposite the island and the “imperio associated with Havana Club. way: “good for parties”, “it’s more for men”, yanqui” but also between Alicia Alonso products are “its good for dancing”, and even “it’s gets you someone who lived before and high-value goods that, on the drunk quicker”; all characterizations of extro- after the revolution, and who export market, at least, could verted machista behaviors. excelled during both eras. allow perfume users to tap into The strongest iconic content was Alicia the “feminine side” of Cuba, Alonso perfume, even though very few par- CONCLUSIONS much like the allure that forbid- ticipants in our survey had actually used the Our findings indicate the den Cuban cigars hold for men. fragrance (much like Montecristo cigars, greatest potential to develop In a future market in Cuba, which few had actually smoked). It registered iconic products, within and Alonso’s line will have to square strongly on the creativity (64) and marianismo outside Cuba, rests in Alicia off against Chanel perfumes, (24) dimensions. Alonso products and, to a less- while Havana Club will go head- Three reasons underscore this iconic er extent, Havana Club. to-head with Bacardí, Coke and branding potential. First, Alicia Alonso, the Several people identified the Pepsi will encroach on tuKola’s “primera bailarina de Cuba” [first lady of bal- latter as the rum of Cuba and market share, and the many let], epitomizes creativity. At 90, she’s a living only a few stated that they did Cheap, locally made cigarettes. product lines of Budweiser will legend in ways that Fidel Castro, Che Gue- not like it or that substitute rival Cristal and Bucanero. vara, and other revolutionary figures are not. rums were widely available for less cost. These findings hold promise for brand She has overcome adversity and has used Rum, of course, derives from sugar, an advertising in the future when a broader ar- professional and feminine talent to bridge ide- important resource historically. However, the ray of consumer goods might be promoted ological gaps. Cuban national and regional closure of nearly half the island’s mills since across the island. ballet performances reach all corners of the 2002 — coupled with a saturated global mar- Such brand novelty will reflect the level to world, despite opposition against the regime. ket of Caribbean rum — could make it diffi- which Cuban consumers acquire experience Cuban sensuality is also embodied in the cult to become an iconic brand. about particular brands — as well as their product and the woman herself; at least in her Moreover, Havana Club taps only into our attachment to iconic national symbols. q youth. Both the person and the product exude “sugar and tobacco” category, whereas Alicia elegance and femininity. This perception taps Alonso spans several value dimensions. Emilio Morales, a former marketing direc- into strong beliefs about the role of men Iconic features about Alonso were captured tor of Cuba’s CIMEX SA, and Joseph L. (machismo) and women (marianismo). well by one 33-year-old woman from Sancti Scarpaci, an adjunct marketing professor at Third, Alicia Alonso herself represents how Spíritus: “She, just like the product itself, rep- Virginia Tech, wrote this article for CubaNews. inhabitants of a small island can have an resents the best of Cuba … what the typical Details: The Havana Consulting Group. impact worldwide. This is also evident in Cuban woman aspires to in her own life: suc- URL: www.thehavanaconsultinggroup.com. Cuba’s quest to excel in sports, spread the cess and elegance. And that matters as much 8 CubaNews v January 2011 TOURISM CUBA’S EXISTING AND PLANNED LUXURY GOLF/MARINA PROJECTS

NOTE TO READERS: The above map, prepared by cartographer Armando Portela, is being published in this issue of CubaNews as a reference for our subscribers. Several months ago, we began a series of articles looking at the 15 or so luxury golf and marina developments now in vari- ous stages of planning across Cuba. Our November edition took a look at Bacunayagua, along Cuba’s north coast between Havana and Varadero, January 2011 v CubaNews 9

while our December issue examined La Altura, a similar project east of Pinar del Río in the new province of Artemisa. Likewise, the February 2011 issue of CubaNews will offer a detailed look at Leisure Canada Inc.’s three luxury hotel projects planned for Havana, Jibacoa and Cayo Largo. For more information on these new ventures, please see our extensive report on tourism which ran in the October 2010 issue (see pages 1-4). 10 CubaNews v January 2011 AGRICULTURE Cattle industry, once the pride of Cuba, takes a beating BY ARMANDO H. PORTELA Finally, the average weight per animal sent This is the 2nd in a series of articles by our to the slaughterhouse has dropped from 725 ith its herd reduced to 1915 levels correspondent Armando H. Portela that examine and little chance for a rapid recovery, various sectors of Cuban agriculture. In our next lbs in the 1980s to only 698 lb in the last five W years. The late scholar Leví Marrero men- Cuba’s cattle-raising industry faces issue, we’ll take a look at the cultivation of rice. its most severe challenges ever — a victim of tions an average weight of 1,000 lbs per ani- prolonged neglect and problems that have lowest number since 1915 (see chart, page 13). mal slaughtered in the 1950s. gone unattended for decades. In per-capita terms, the herd has shrunk Soon after the fall of the Soviet bloc, pas- All sectors of the Cuban economy were de- from 88 head of cattle per 100 inhabitants in turelands began to be invaded by marabú, a vastated by the collapse of the Soviet bloc in 1960 to only 33.7 per 100 over the last five thorny hardwood bush that creates impene- the early 1990s, but unlike other areas, cattle- years — not enough to supply the domestic trable thickets and requires continuous ranching is still in a free fall — and experts say recovery would take 5 to 10 years at best. The crisis unleashed in the cattle sector is systemic. As one part failed, it knocked down the next in a domino effect that weakened the whole industry, to the point that for many ex- LARRY LUXNER perienced farmers, the situation is irrever- sible without a comprehensive overhaul to make it self-sustaining. Half a century ago, Cuba nationalized the island’s entire cattle-ranching structure, removing it from private hands and changing the genetic composition of the herd itself. What had been a well-adapted, unpreten- tious system that fulfilled the needs of the domestic market became a much more mod- ern system — but one highly dependent on financial, energy and material inputs from abroad that proved to be unsustainable once Soviet patronage collapsed. The sudden loss of credits, fuels, machin- ery, fertilizers, medicines, fodder, irrigation Cows graze on a farm near Matanzas. Cuba’s livestock industry has declined sharply since the early ‘90s. capacity, personnel and genetic quality after 1990 translated into a devastating blow for the market, considering the herd’s low productiv- investments to keep it under control. whole sector. Several consecutive droughts ity (see chart, page 12). In Camagüey, Cuba’s leading cattle-produc- — including a particularly severe one in 2004- Meanwhile, the overall weight of slaugh- ing province, marabú covers over 70% of the 05 — made things even worse. tered cattle has dropped by 60%, from 296,400 land, while nationwide 48% of all pasture lands After peaking at 7.3 million head in the tons in the 1980s to 116,600 in the past few are “highly infested” by the bush, concedes early 1970s, Cuba’s herd declined to an aver- years (see graph below). These figures trans- Cuba’s Ministry of Agriculture. age of 5 million in the 1980s and fell again in late into annual per-capita production of 66 lbs Compounding their problems, Cuban cattle the 1990s. It now stands at an average 3.78 of boneless beef in the 1980s, dropping to 23 million head over the last five years — the lbs per-capita in the last few years. See Cattle, page 11 January 2011 v CubaNews 11

Cattle — FROM PAGE 10 ranchers could no longer readily purchase fodder, since without Soviet subsidies Cuba had no money to buy wheat, maize or other commodities on the world market. The down- sizing of Cuba’s sugar industry sharply cut the supply of molasses, torula yeast and other valuable nutritional supplements. As a result, the whole herd suffered, while some Cuban premium cattle breeds simply starved to death. Camagüey lost half of its herd, according to one article in the Cuban journal Bohemia. In addition, the specialized farms near Havana lost their highly productive animals — many of them averaging 25 liters or more milk per day — by the tens of thousands. Anecdotic references describe starving live- stock weighing less than 500 lbs as they were brought to slaughter.

See Cattle, page 12 12 CubaNews v January 2011

Cattle — FROM PAGE 11 One ironic outcome of the crisis has been the fate of the F1 breed, Cuba’s cherished milk cow created by crossbreeding India’s resistant Zebu — from which the F1 gets one- fourth of its genetic makeup — with the European Holstein that makes up the other three-fourths. The F1, highly vulnerable to dry climate spells, proved to be unsustainable under cur- rent conditions and is being slowly substitut- ed by the Siboney breed, which carries more Zebu blood and is therefore more resistant but less productive when it comes to milking. In recent years, meanwhile, costly irriga- tion systems have been lost to neglect while the lack of transport makes it hard to bring water trucks to fields during the dry season. Farmers who lived through the “special period” of the early 1990s still remember how thousands of animals died of thirst in the dry months from November to May. Barbed wire, crucial to keeping cattle under control, simply disappeared from state warehouses, indirectly causing more damage due to unrestrained grazing.

RECOVERY ON THE HORIZON? Another particularly serious problem was the exodus of skilled people — from insemi- nators and engineers to agronomists, pasture specialists, veterinarians, managers and celadores (the ones who check whether females are ready to mate). With dollarization in 1994, many such workers earning the equivalent of $15 a month or less left the farms in search of bet- ter-paying jobs. Other problems included awful roads, large-scale theft and lack of seeds, fertilizers and medicines. These days, agriculture officials see a glim- mer of hope in some improved figures after

See Cattle, page 13 January 2011 v CubaNews 13 AGRICULTURE Fla. rancher Parke Wright: U.S. is key to industry’s recovery BY LARRY LUXNER increased dramatically in the last four years, Lykes Brothers, a shipping firm started by uba’s cattle industry could have a really with much healthier weights and appearance his great-great-grandfather, owned a 15,000- bright future — if only the Castro gov- than before. It took me 11 hours to drive from acre ranch near Bayamo which was expropri- Cernment privatizes state lands to attract Bayamo to Havana, and I noticed very healthy ated shortly after the 1959 revolution. foreign investors, and Washington restores herds in Camagüey and Jagüey Grande.” “Between 1929 and 1956, my family diplomatic relations with Havana so that U.S. Wright, 60, is a lifelong Floridian, a devout shipped 359 Brahma bulls from the Hudgins tourists could flock to Cuba by the millions. Catholic and the owner of Naples-based con- ranch in Hungerford, Tex., to Cuba,” Wright So says John Parke Wright IV, a Florida sulting and trading firm J.P. Wright & Co. said proudly. “My ancestors were responsible rancher from Naples who’s been to Cuba Profiled six years ago by this newsletter for introducing the Zebu brand into Cuba. I’m now following in the same footsteps.” numerous times and probably knows more (see CubaNews, July 2004, page 8), Wright and about the island’s livestock industry than any his family have been shipping cattle to Cuba Despite a $3.6 million claim for his family’s cattleman in America. since the 1840s. confiscated land, Wright doesn’t appear to Days after returning from a cattle fair in hold any grudges. On the contrary, he says Bayamó — capital of the eastern province of he’d like to help Cuba as much as possible. “Governments don’t know how to run Granma — Wright spoke to CubaNews with passion about an industry that’s been a part of ranches. We wouldn’t have any meat in McDonald’s if the government was running

his family for generations. LARRY LUXNER “Beef cattle production is up. The head ranches in our own country,” said Wright, count of beef cattle is increasing, especially who counts Fidel’s older brother Ramón with the cattle of Flora y Fauna SA, MININT among his closest buddies. (Ministry of Interior) and of course the “I’m hopeful that privatization will come, Ministry of Agriculture,” he said. and that Cuba will reach out to foreign invest- “The quality of the herds I visited has ment, so that people like myself can invest in cattle-ranching again in Cuba, and be back in the saddle.” — FROM PAGE 12 Ralph Kaehler of St. Charles, Minn., was Cattle the first U.S. cattleman to sell livestock to 2005, the year of the great drought. Since Cuba after the embargo was relaxed in 2000 2005, the herd has grown 5% in size, while to allow food and medical sales to the island. beef production has risen 8% and milk pro- In 2002, Kaehler and his two young sons duction has shot up by 66%. became local celebrities after news photos It’s hard to know, however, what part of the were published around the world as they recent recovery can be credited to govern- showed Fidel Castro one of their bulls, named ment initiatives and what part was thanks sim- Minnesota Red, during a Havana trade show. In subsequent years, Wright managed to ply to better weather. sell 400 to 500 Brangus heifers, Brafords, Authorities must decide what kind of recov- Black Angus and Beef Masters to the island’s ery they want and how far to pursue such ini- food purchasing agency, Alimport. tiatives. If their goal is just to keep the indus- In the last two years, Alimport has also try from falling further, probably not much Cattle insemination lab, Camagüey province (top); Fidel Castro and the Kaehler boys sign contracts. bought 3,000 to 4,000 head of cattle from more has to be changed. But if their target is Canada, but there have been no purchases to return to a self-sustaining herd with an Havana-born Armando Portela, a contributor from the United States since 2004. affordable, non-subsidized supply of milk and to CubaNews since the newsletter’s birth in 1993, However, he said, “I have a contract in the beef for the people of Cuba, reforms will obvi- has a Ph.D. in geography from the Soviet Aca- works for frozen Brahma and Brangus bull ously have to go much deeper. q demy of Sciences. Portela resides in Miami, Fla. semen. I’m involved in an artificial insemina- tion program to increase beef production.” So far, Wright says he’s shipped 2,500 “straws” of frozen bull semen to Cuba worth a total of $100,000, with another 2,500 straws to be delivered shortly. “We’ve also been giving workshops for the last seven years in Cuba on breeding and feed technology at Cuba’s Institute for Agricultural Sciences,” he told CubaNews. “There’s a lot going on behind the scenes. I see the Cuban government making a consci- entious effort to raise standards of living by reducing restrictions,” Wright said. “Secondly, the development of agriculture and tourism fits into their long-term plan, but the opening of relations with the United States is vital to economic activity. So I’m look- ing to President Obama to normalize rela- tions with Cuba.” q Washington-based journalist and photographer Larry Luxner is the editor of CubaNews. 14 CubaNews v January 2011 confrontational: “best-friends-forever,” “keep- against the largely black Santiago team. WikiLeaks — FROM PAGE 1 it-private,” “we-respectfully-disagree” and, in rare cases, “take-your-visit-and-shove-it.” CHINESE VIP GETS THE COLD SHOULDER George Washington University professor Ed- The Times article quoted that cable as say- Here’s another tidbit from Parmly’s missive: ward “Skip” Gnehm, former director-general ing that most countries with diplomatic posts “A couple of weeks ago, there was a con- of the U.S. Foreign Service and former U.S. in Havana “do not raise human rights issues cert at Amadeo Roldan theater that featured a ambassador to Jordan, Kuwait and Australia. with the Cuban government in public or pri- Chinese conductor as guest of the National “This has broken our confidence and has vate. A handful of countries including Britain, Symphony ... The Chinese Embassy made a left most of our interlocutors fearful and Germany and the Czech Republic have re- big deal out of the Chinese guest conductor, angry,” Gnehm told CubaNews in a phone in- fused to send senior officials to Cuba, rather turning out a pretty much full house of Cu- terview from Amman, Jordan. “In the future, than accept the government’s restrictions on bans and others, and most importantly, the people are going to be wary about talking to who they can meet while there.” visiting Chinese vice-minister of culture, who us, and it’ll be harder for us to give our own Commenting on that apparent discrepancy, was in town on an official visit. governments the information they need to Julia Sweig — a Cuba expert at the Council on “After the concert, several officials got up make analytical decisions.” to speak,” the cable continues. “Leading the Cuban cohort was Abel Prieto, minister of cul- PREDICTING FIDEL’S DEATH — AGAIN ture, who had the usual things to say about When it comes to Cuba, the sheer volume the depth and strength of Cuban-Chinese ties. of traffic exposed by WikiLeaks could keep All the speakers got the usual polite applause. an enterprising journalist busy for years. “Then the Chinese vice-minister got up. One cable dated Mar. 16, 2007, almost Rather than just respond with counter-inani- eight months after Fidel ceded power to ties, he launched into a speech on the suc- Raúl, has received lots of attention. cess of China’s economic model, including In it, Michael Parmly — then-chief of noting the degree to which openness to the the U.S. Interests Section in Havana — world, encouraging private initiative and quotes unnamed sources as saying the letting individual creativity have free rein elder Castro fell ill on a domestic flight were key to economic progress. The audi- after a long day of giving speeches. ence went cold. Not a clap, not a peep when “They had to land urgently once they the minister finished speaking.” knew of his bleeding,” it says. “He was diagnosed with diverticulitis of the colon.” SOME QUESTION RELEVANCE OF U.S. CABLES That same cable quotes a medical source Other cables describe cooperation between as saying Castro “won’t die immediately, but U.S. and Cuba in counternarcotics efforts — will progressively lose his faculties and especially in the face of Jamaican indifference become ever more debilitated until he dies.” — and harassment of Cuban doctors in Vene- Parmly himself adds: “We are missing too zuela who quit their jobs and want to leave. many variables to be able to predict accurate- One 2010 report issued by the U.S. Em- ly how many more months Fidel will live.” Foreign Relations — told the Times that “on bassy in Caracas says physicians approved for In a January 2009 dispatch, Parmly’s suc- the one hand, the U.S. is saying the dissidents humanitarian parole via the Cuban Medical cessor in Havana, Jonathan Farrar, said “GOC are hopeless and aging. On the other hand, Professionals Program have been physically [Government of Cuba] officials would most the same interests section is saying that Cana- and verbally abused while trying to fly out of likely manage the death announcement and dian and EU engagement is not helping Venezuela’s Maquetía International Airport. subsequent funeral arrangements in great progress on human rights.” “Many of those allowed to board flights to detail with a view toward putting the best face Not all the diplomatic traffic out of Havana Miami are only able to do so after paying size- on the situation, both domestically and to the deals with life-or-death issues. A colorful dis- able bribes (generally $700 to $1,000) to Vene- world.” It goes on to speculate that Fidel’s patch dated Jun. 5, 2006, and signed by Parm- zuelan immigration officials or Cuban offic- death could even spark a drop in the number ly touches on baseball, health care and racism. ials said to be working at the airport,” it said. of Cubans seeking to emigrate, as islanders “USINT is always looking for human-inter- Another cable describes how Cuba has suc- wait to see what unfolds. est stories and other news that shatters the cessfully taken over the management of Vene- myth of Cuban medical prowess, which has zuela’s ports, yet in a February 2010 dispatch U.S. HAS DOUBTS ABOUT CUBA’S DISSIDENTS become a key feature of the regime’s foreign out of Havana, Farrar quotes a top Chinese On another topic, a series of cables sent to policy and its self-congratulatory propagan- diplomat there as expressing “visible exasper- Washington in May 2009 and signed by Far- da,” said the cable. ation” with Cuba’s insistence on retaining a rar hints that Cuba’s dissident movement is It went on to describe a prominent Jamai- majority control of any joint venture. no longer worthy of America’s full support. can surgeon, Dr. Albert Lue, who “has pub- “No matter whether a foreign business in- “Many opposition groups are prone to vests $10 million or $100 million, the GOC’s dominance by individuals with strong egos licly denounced Cuban medical incompetency in handling Jamaican patients who traveled to investment will always add up to 51%,” the un- who do not work well together,” Farrar told happy Chinese diplomat told USINT staff. his superiors. “We see very little evidence Cuba for eye surgery. Of 60 such patients he surveyed, three were left permanently blind The commercial counselor also complained that the mainline dissident organizations about Cuba always paying back loans late. have much resonance among Cubans.” and another 14 returned to Jamaica with per- manent cornea damage.” Yet just as diplomats are suspicious of Wiki- In that cable, the USINT chief suggested Leaks, so is at least one veteran Cuba-watcher. that new generation of “non-traditional dissi- The cable continues with an eyewitness ac- count of racial slurs and name-calling during a “We should not accept what the cables are dents” such as blogger Yoani Sánchez would saying as the absolute truth. The Interest Sec- have more impact in post-Castro Cuba, but baseball game pitting Havana’s Industriales tion in Havana talks to people and they get the that “the most immediate successors to the information and send a cable,” Jaime Such- Castro regime will probably come from with- For an in-depth analysis of the impact of licki, chief of the University of Miami’s Cuba in the middle ranks of the government itself.” the WikiLeaks scandal on U.S. diplomacy, see Transition Project, recently told reporters. The New York Times reported that in a cable this reporter’s article in the January 2011 “We are not getting the whole picture.” q about how other countries deal with Cuba on issue of The Washington Diplomat, page 9, or official visits, U.S. officials classified those online at http://www.washdiplomat.com. Washington-based journalist and photographer approaches on a scale from kowtowing to Larry Luxner is the editor of CubaNews. January 2011 v CubaNews 15

It also suggested that in the new context of tors puts Cuba among the region’s most BUSINESS BRIEFS economic adjustments being planned by the promising markets in the non-English speak- Castro regime, “it would be healthy to explain ing Caribbean,” said the company. “These SOUTH AFRICA FORGIVES $160m CUBAN DEBT to the grower just how much the government internal developments align well with the South Africa will cancel 1.1 billion rand can promise him.” ANSA McAL Group’s business strategy.” (about $160 million) of debt owed by Cuba in “It’s absurd and anti-economic that we can't The company, which already operates in an effort to boost trade between the two coun- come up with the $250 that it costs to produce Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Guyana, tries, said Rob Davies, the country’s trade and a ton of rice here when it’s needed, but we Grenada, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia and the industry minister. can find the $500 it costs to bring it from United States, has annual revenues of $790 Bloomberg also reported on Dec. 8 that Asia,” the weekly said. million and a workforce of over 6,000. South Africa will offer R70 million of extended In 2009, the Agriculture Ministry’s Rice Brooks said ANSA wants to export to Cuba credit lines, R40 million of support to Cuba for Program launched a state plan aimed at sub- as well as joint ventures with Cuban entities in seeds and fertilizers and R100 million from its stituting 29% of imports that year, a number generic drugs, biotechnology, food, construc- African Renaissance Fund to fund purchases projected to rise to 56% by 2013. tion supplies and plastic and glass containers. from Africa’s largest economy. Cuba spent more than $2 billion on rice Last year, bilateral trade reached barely $40 Meanwhile, the Moscow Times — quoting a imports in 2009, according to official figures, million, mainly made up of petroleum prod- preliminary prospectus for Russia’s first sale which show that Cuba’s 11.2 million inhabi- ucts from Trinidad. Even so, the twin-island of ruble-denominated Eurobonds — reported tants each consume an average of 11 lbs. of nation is Cuba’s largest trade partner in the that Cuba and North Korea owe Russia a com- rice per month, translating into annual con- 15-member Caricom bloc. bined $37 billion, more than half of all foreign sumption of more than 600,000 tons. Details: Norman Sabga, Chairman, ANSA assets claimed by the Russian government. McAL Ltd., 11th Fl., Tatil Bldg., 11 Maraval Rd., ANGOLA TO DRILL FOR OFFSHORE CUBAN OIL Port of Spain, Trinidad. Tel: (868) 625-3670. CUBAN MEDIA SLAMS RICE IMPORT POLICIES Angola’s state-run oil company Sonangol Fax: (868) 624-8753. URL: www.ansamcal.com. In 2011, Cuba will once again have to import has won rights to operate two Cuban offshore twice the amount of rice it produces in order oil blocks in a venture with Cupet SA, U.S. BEAN GROWERS MAKE NEW SALES TO CUBA to meet domestic demand, the official weekly Angola’s official news agency said Dec. 20, as Industry sources are now confirming recent Trabajadores reported Dec. 13, citing the Angola expands its international footprint. sales of U.S. dry beans to Cuba, totaling island’s deputy minister of agriculture. Sonangol already has interests on the U.S. 20,000 metric tons, or 440,000 bags, according Cuba needs “more people growing rice and side of the Gulf of Mexico and in Brazil. to the Northarvest Bean Growers Association. selling it though various channels, but with WestStar Food Co. sold Cuba’s state purcha- discipline,” said Juan Pérez Lamas in a meet- T&T CONGLOMERATE EXPLORES CUBA POTENTIAL sing agency Alimport 5,000 tons of pinto ing with growers, according to the publication Trinidad’s ANSA McAL Ltd., parent compa- beans, which left Corpus Christi, Tex., on of Cuba’s only legal trade union, the CTC. ny of Guardian Media Ltd., Trinidad Broad- Dec. 13. PS International has sold 10,000 tons, Trabajadores slammed the fact that a lack of casting, Carib Brewery Ltd. and 50 other local split evenly between blacks and pintos, to resources, general disorganization and apathy businesses in the brewing, manufacturing, Cuba, and St. Hilarie Seed Co. has sold the toward such options as cutting by hand have financial services, media and real-estate sec- Cubans 5,000 tons of black beans. caused “regrettable losses” in the rice fields. tors, sent a five-day mission to Cuba in late In early December, a delegation from North “We’re left with the impression that rice pro- November to explore investments there. Dakota discovered that Alimport wanted to duction goes at a faster pace than the develop- ANSA chief executive Gerry Brooks led the buy 5,000 tons of black beans. This is in addi- ment of a national infrastructure to sustain it.” delegation to Cuba — the first in the compa- tion to its recent purchase of 20,000 tons. In that sense, it said, there are problems ny’s 129-year history, said a press release. with machinery like tractors, mills and dry- Brooks was accompanied by the heads of MELIA INAUGURATES 25th PROPERTY IN CUBA ers, and a “poorly maintained network of ANSA’s various divisions, including ABEL Spanish hotel chain Sol Meliá has opened canals between reservoirs and plantations” Building Solutions, ANSA McAL Chemicals, its 25th resort in Cuba after 20 years of doing that loses half the water meant for crops. ANSA Polymer, Caribbean Development Co. business on the island. “Cuba now spends on producing the grain Ltd., and Carib Glassworks Ltd. The 105-room Meliá Buenavista — an “all- seven times more than Vietnam,” according to “A rapidly expanding market, promising inclusive royal service and spa hotel” — is Trabajadores, which stressed the importance business environment and commitment to located on Cayo Santa Maria, along the north of “better planning.” attracting foreign investments in strategic sec- coast of Villa Clara province.

— FROM PAGE 4 “It’s almost as likely there’s a Putin lurking out there as a ICCAS Gorbachev,” said Latell, referring to the former Russian president change on the island also is waning. widely criticized for keeping a hold on power even after leaving office. Recent surveys of exile voters in South Florida show their top con- The researchers warned that laying off a million state workers will cerns are the Iraq war, rising health-care costs and the U.S. economy boost tensions in Cuba, since most of them will lack the credit, skills, — not Cuba. Gomez said Florida’s new U.S. Senator-elect, Marco raw materials and tools to operate microbusinesses successfully. Rubio, reflects that trend, with his prime focus on U.S. domestic Plus, so many new entrants into service jobs from repairs to food issues including jobs and not on Cuban affairs. sales will likely reduce the incomes of people already hustling to make Of course, Cuba’s leadership must change some time, especially a living in those job categories. when Raúl and many of his top aides are in their 70s and 80s. “Perhaps one of the ironies is that the capital will mostly come from ICCAS Director Jaime Suchlicki predicted a growing role for Raúl’s the Cuban diaspora, so a Cuban family member can sell used books son, Alejandro Castro Espín, now a colonel and possibly “the next or trim palm trees” to make ends meet on the island, said Azel. heir” to the presidency. Growing social and economic tensions — especially among Cubans But ex-CIA official Brian Latell warned that Raúl — a four-star gen- with no relatives abroad to help financially — could lead to incidents eral and the world’s longest-serving military leader — would be mak- of protest, but researchers don’t foresee a mass uprising. Cubans are ing one of his “biggest political mistakes” to name his son as heir, and “all about bread-and-butter,” not democracy, Azel said. that “it might create some kind of rebellion in the Cuban military.” And state repression is likely to increase to quell the tensions, For serious change, Latell said Cuba would need a real reformer Suchlicki said. “The pot is boiling,” he said, but “not to the point of like a Gorbachev in the Soviet Union. But outspoken reformers have social explosion.” been pushed aside by Raúl and could be shunted in the future too. – DOREEN HEMLOCK 16 CubaNews v January 2011

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