Cuban Support of Argentina's Seizure of Repsol
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Vol. 20, No. 5 May 2012 In the News Caribbean tourism ministers welcome, OAS summit falls flat not fear, end to Cuba travel restrictions Cartagena get-together proves to be a con- BY LARRY LUXNER was a punishing U.K. airline passenger tax that sensus without Washington ..........Page 4 or years, the conventional wisdom was that has dramatically boosted the cost of air travel an eventual end to the U.S. embargo between Great Britain and its former Caribbean Fagainst Cuba would open the floodgates for colonies — and the lingering effects of the glob- Political briefs al economic slowdown that have hurt member Gross vents frustration in CNN interview; millions of curious Americans dying to visit the once-forbidden island — while the rest of the countries from Barbados to Belize. Ex-prisoners unhappy in Spain .....Page 5 Caribbean would, at least initially, suffer a sharp Yet just about every tourism authority inter- viewed at the San Juan conference told downturn in U.S. tourist arrivals. CubaNews that an end to the U.S. travel ban A culture of secrecy After all, before the 1959 revolution that would only help their islands. Cuba’s ‘hush-hush’ on corruption scandals brought Fidel Castro to power, Cuba and Haiti “Forget the competitiveness issue. We have were the region’s top destinations. Back then, undermines Raúl’s credibility .......Page 6 an island called Cuba just north of us that will relatively few Americans vacationed in Puerto open up in democratic fashion,” said Josef Forst- Rico, Aruba or the Dominican Republic. mayr, president of the 50-year-old Caribbean Protecting films But times have changed, and these days, Hotel & Tourism Association, which speaks for Cuban moviemaker sues Miami firm over tourism officials throughout the Caribbean 725 hotels and 375 other allied members. rights to ‘Club Habana’ film ..........Page 7 don’t seem the least bit worried about the so- “Cuban consumers have been behind the called “Cuba threat.” fence for so long that they’re just dying to get In fact, the word Cuba was barely uttered dur- out,” said Forstmayr, an Austrian who’s also ma- Newsmakers ing the course of the 16th annual Caribbean naging director of Jamaica’s Round Hill Hotel Miami’s Carlos Saladrigas, co-founder of Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference in and Villas. “This is a starved market. The soon- the Cuba Study Group, urges reconcilia- San Juan, Puerto Rico. Of much more urgent er we can create air links for them to travel, the concern to delegates at the Apr. 24-26 meeting tion — not confrontation ...............Page 8 See Caribbean, page 2 Painful silence Vivian Mannerud is hurt by lack of Cuban Cuban support of Argentina’s seizure of exile outrage at fire that destroyed her Coral Gables travel agency ...........Page 9 Repsol stake in YPF raises oil concerns BY VITO ECHEVARRÍA controlling stake in that country’s largest oil SPECIAL REPORT company, YPF, from Spanish-owned Repsol. The Diversification eases pressure on Cuba’s ag- exican President Felipe Calderón de- clared Apr. 12 that state oil entity Petró- plan by Argentine President Cristina Fernández ing National Electric System ......Page 10 Mleos Mexicanos and Cuban counterpart to seize Repsol’s share of YPF has generated controversy worldwide. Cubapetróleos have signed a non-binding letter “Cuba reiterates its solidarity with the Repub- Missing the boat of intent allowing Pemex to explore for hydro- lic of Argentina. This nation has a permanent Cuba no longer able to benefit from record carbons in Cuba’s Gulf of Mexico waters. sovereign right over all its natural resources,” high world sugar prices ..............Page 14 In addition, Mexican Energy Minister Jordy the statement said. Venezuela and several other Herrera and Cuban Minister of Basic Industry left-leaning Latin governments have expressed Tomás Benítez signed a memo of understanding similar sentiments. Florida’s new law to work together in technology, training, re- With that kind of strident rhetoric coming out Gov. Rick Scott signs anti-Cuba measure search projects and strategic planning in oil, of Cuba, will oil companies like Pemex — and after calling it unenforceable ......Page 15 electricity and renewable energy. those that have deals with the Cubans — think Yet given Cuba’s recent behavior regarding twice before doing business with Havana? foreign investments, some are now starting to Cuban offshore exploration blocks have al- CubaNews (ISSN 1073-7715) is published monthly by CUBANEWS LLC. © 2012. All rights reserved. question the wisdom of doing business with the ready been leased to an array of foreign oil com- Annual subscription: $398. Nonprofit organizations: Castro regime. panies including Venezuela’s PDVSA, Sonangol $198. Printed edition is $100 extra. For editorial in- A Cuban government statement, read on state (Angola), Gazprom (Russia), Petronas (Malay- quires, please call (305) 393-8760, fax your request TV in Havana, recently declared its support for sia), PetroVietnam, ONGC Videsh (India) and to (305) 670-2229 or email [email protected]. the Argentina’s decision to expropriate a 51% See Repsol, page 13 2 CubaNews v May 2012 lion tourist arrivals last year. Cuba, by com- The Dominican government operates tour- Caribbean — FROM PAGE 1 parison, received 2.7 million visitors. ism offices in both Moscow and St. Peters- better. There will be enormous opportunities Tourism is now a crucial source of foreign burg, and is promoting Puerto Plata and for inter-regional investment.” exchange for both countries; in Cuba’s case, it Samaná in addition to Punta Cana as major Hugh Riley, secretary-general of the brought in more than $2 billion last year. destinations for Russian tourists, who tend to Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organi- Enrique de Marchena Kaluche, managing spend more than the average visitor on excur- zation, said he’s not worried at all about Cuba partner of the DMK law firm in Santo Domin- sions, luxury items and souvenirs. as a potential rival. go, is ex-chairman of the Caribbean Hotel & Carlos Vogeler, regional director for the “We sell diversity. The fact that Cuba will Tourism Association as well as the Tourism Americas at the World Tourism Organization, become an even greater magnet to draw more Association of the Dominican Republic. said that for the first time in history, one bil- visitors into the Caribbean is something we Speaking at the San Juan conference, he lion people will cross international borders as all welcome,” Riley told us. “Cuba will also be said roughly 1.3 million tourists visited his tourists this year. a source of visitation around the Caribbean. country during the first three months of 2012, Germany is currently the top international “It’s a two-way street, and Cuban people no a 7.9% jump from the year-ago period. During outbound market, followed by the United doubt are as keen to get out an experience the that time, arrivals from Canada rose 3.7%, States and China. rest of the Carib- bean as the world is to experience Cuba once things change,” he said. Some 190 peo- LARRY LUXNER ple attended the CHTA’s San Juan event, though not a single Cuban official was among them — nor were any invited. That’s a conse- quence of the cur- CTO top official Hugh Riley rent state of U.S.- Cuba relations, which Forstmayr said has “deeply disappointed” him. “If you remember in the ‘90s, you had a real opportunity to open up to Cuba under Presi- dent Clinton. We were all investing in it. We built bridges to Cuba and brought them in as members of CHTA. But then the political real- Coconut palms line the coast at Tortuga Bay, an upscale resort within Punta Cana. With 4.3 million visi- ities changed, and it all fell apart,” he said. tors last year, the Dominican Republic ranked as the Caribbean’s most popular tourist destination by far. “There’s a general feeling that once Cuba develops alongside systems of Western-style from the United States 13.2% and from South “Seven destinations — Dominican Repub- democracies — which will eventually happen America a whopping 22.9%. lic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, Bahamas, — this is going to be our most important driv- D.R. hotel occupancy now stands at 85.6%, Aruba and Barbados — constitute 75% of all ing force for tourism development in the and the country has just over 65,000 rooms, arrivals to the Caribbean, but there’s a high entire region. There will be some initial com- more than any other Caribbean destination dependency on markets such as the U.S., petitive advantage and some diminishing of (Cuba, by comparison, has 56,705 rooms). Canada and Europe,” he said. “These are pre- arrivals into some of our islands. Cuba is so Kaluche credits effective marketing and cisely the markets that have suffered during geographically dominant, yet acts as a barrier promotion for the dramatic increase. the recent financial crisis.” between North America and South America. “Five or six years ago, we had a promotion Just imagine when it’s open.” budget of about $15 million, which was noth- PUERTO RICO SEEKS TO DIVERSIFY ing. Today it exceeds $50 million,” he said. No Caribbean destination depends more on DOMINICAN REPUBLIC LEADS THE WAY “We’ve diversified our markets and products.” the U.S. mainland market than Puerto Rico. Alec Sanguinetty, director-general of the North Americans account for about 60% of Nicole Rodríguez, chief marketing officer at Miami-based CHTA, quipped that Cuba is all tourist arrivals to the Dominican Republic, the Puerto Rico Tourism Co., said more than already open — just not for Americans. but Western Europe’s percentage is declining 90% of all visitors to her island are American “Cuba already has major markets in as new markets emerge.