INSIDE Legally,” the Newspaper Said

Vol. XII, No. 9 www.cubatradenews.com September 2010 The big reform is beginning he Cuban government triggered the biggest turnaround of the ecoonomy since 1968, when it nationalized small “I don’t sell on businesses.T credit. This is In a statement published by Communist Party daily Granma my mother-in- Sept. 13, Cuba’s official labor union prepared hundreds of law’s business.” thousands of state workers for unemployment, telling them it Privately-run will be their own responsibility to find new ways of making market stall in a living in an expanding private sector. Cuba. In order to “consolidate the achievements” of the revolution, it is necessary to “transform and make more efficient the current productive and labor process,” the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba approaches of the 1990s that condemned (CTC) explained in the statement self-employment to near-extinction, and directed to workers. stigmatized those who decided to join it Eleven days later, the official INSIDE legally,” the newspaper said. newspaper sent a message of confidence Bahamas negotiating border...... 7 Layoffs will begin in October, and to emerging entrepreneurs. Cuba now U.S., Cuba cooperating in Haiti...... 8 the government plans to cut 500,000 wants to “distance itself from the From communist to cooperative?...... 3 Continued on p. 5

Government grants 99-year leases to foreign developers n an effort to “expand and facilitate the participation of foreign investor groups for months and, in some cases, of foreign investment in international tourism,” the for years. CouncilI of State published a much-expected decree that “This action is very significant,” says Antonio Zamora, provides a legal framework for residential construction by a Miami lawyer who has researched foreign real estate foreign investors, granting leases on state land for investment in Cuba for more than 10 up to 99 years. years. “First, it happened. It signals that Cuba hopes to broaden its tourism base the Raúl government is moving to open up with the move, attracting a wealthy the economy towards the Vietnam model. clientele. Fidel and his group are not opposed or cannot Jibacoa Decree-law 273, published in the La Carbonera Gaceta Oficial No. 33 on Aug. 26, Havana Continued on next page reverts a decade-old de facto freeze Bahía Honda on foreign residential construction after a short-lived experiment with condominium projects Guardalavaca in Havana. The new law is expected to trigger golf and marina condominium construction far away from urban centers. At least Four golf projects are in four projects have been advanced states of planning on the drawing boards 99-year lease, from previous page owners might be allowed to sell. No regulations exist stop the moves.” regarding owners being able to lease their properties. And The government will begin negotiations with foreign there is no information yet as to what kind of taxes and investors about construction of up to 16 golf courses and fees the government would charge. Also, Cuba has yet to condo communities in January, Tourism Minister Manuel announce whether it will relax sticky regulations such as how Marrero announced on Aug. 1. The 16 projects “have already long and under what conditions foreigners are allowed to stay been approved by the Council of Ministers, are in the process in the country at a time, and under what conditions foreign of implementation, and it’s being concluded,” Marrero said part-time residents will be allowed to bring, sell or re-export in early August. personal property. Finally, the probably most controversial Foreigners interested in development projects on the issue is the potentially large influx of Cuban American island must go through three stages — identifying a Cuban property buyers. Due to U.S. restrictions, Cuban Americans partner, obtaining approval from the foreign investment and cannot legally buy property in Cuba, but observers expect tourism ministries, and finally getting the go-ahead from the wealthy Cubans living abroad to be the largest potential group Council of State. of buyers. Says Zamora: “Real estate sales, golf and marinas According to Marrero, negotiations on four golf course can’t work well without Americans. Perhaps there is also a projects are “very advanced.” They include one in the role for Cuban Americans in this effort.” eastern province of Holguín, one in western Pinar del Río, •Decree-law 273 modifies articles 221 and 222 of the 1987 and two located between Havana and the beach resort of Surface Law in Cuba’s civil code. Article 221 now stipulates Varadero (see map). The new regulations could spawn an that the state must issue a “surface right” title for each unprecedented construction boom of as many as 7,000 golf property subject to usufructo, including information about course condominium units, estimates Antonio Zamora. the property’s limits, conditions of use, and the time period, Many details remain foggy; a body of regulations structure, nature and use of the buildings or the specific surrounding foreign condo communities has yet to be activity planned for the property. Article 222 specifies that published. The government hasn’t said how often or quickly state-owned land can be leased for up to 99 years.

Note from the Publisher ig reform is underway in Cuba. In an effort to provide oxygen to the island’s cash- deprivedB economy, the state is retreating from minor business. Cuba Trade & Investment News is a monthly publica- The plan involves bringing illegal private businesses already tion of Trade & Investment Publications LLC (TIPs), operating out of the shadows and taxing them. The government Tampa, FL, USA. CTIN is distributed to subscribers via is in the process of granting hundreds of thousands of licenses mail or e-mail. for self-employment, it said it will allow non-state businesses Publisher Andrew Goddard to hire, and it lets state employees turn some small-scale P.O. Box 13752 manufacturing and retail services into cooperatives.At the Tampa, FL 33681-3752 USA same time, the government just announced it is giving foreign Tel: 813 839 6988 investors more leeway in real estate. Fax: 813 831 3811 Many important issues still are nebulous. What exactly will [email protected] foreign property owners be allowed to do? Will Cubans be www.cubatradenews.com allowed to buy golf course condos? What kind of restrictions Editor Johannes Werner in terms of size and activity is there on Cuban-owned private Tel: 941 330 0303 [email protected] businesses? Will foreigners be allowed to provide capital or material to private companies in Cuba? Editorial Advisors We will get you answers to these questions as soon as we Chris Aberle, FCStone, Des Moines can. Some of the Communist Party documents we have seen at Kirby Jones, US-Cuba Trade Assn., Wash. DC Cuba Trade & Investment News seem to hint at bigger things David Lyons, Daily Bus. Review, Miami to come: Public-private joint ventures between state companies John McAuliff, FFRD, New York and Cuban-owned businesses, and access to credit for private Phil Peters, Lexington Institute, Washington businesses, to mention just two. Stay current, stay informed… what you know will help you. SUBSCRIPTIONS Call 813 839 6988. One year $375. In Canada and Mexico, add $15 postage.

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2 Other Views Analysis: Economic reforms From communist to co-operative? By Pedro González Munné By Stephen Wilkinson He has consistently held the view that there are as many models of socialism Cuban Americans could idel Castro’s wry comment to U.S. as there are countries that try it out. As journalist Geoffrey Goldberg that jump-start the economy F a Marxist he believes that the particular Cuba’s economic system isn’t working circumstances of each society and the has become an aside that has echoed he Cuban American community peculiarities of their histories affect the round the world as columnists and in the continental United States character of whatever politics they might commentators have seized upon it as andT Puerto Rico today represents $1.9 have – be they communist or capitalist. the confession of a man preparing to billion for Cuba in direct revenues just What the statement really means is that meet his maker. from travel and migratory fees, family he agrees with his brother that the way the However, as it is wont to do with support and telecommunications, Cuban system is currently configured has Cuba, the world’s media (especially according to conservative estimates. to change, but watch the space carefully – The Cuban American community this does not automatically imply already exceeds 2 million people, that free-market capitalism is the between first-generation immigrants, answer – far from it. descendants and their families. Since being handed power by Just the half of the community that his brother in 2006, Raúl Castro travels to the island contributes to has taken measures to reform the Cuban consulate in Washington the economy, including using an estimated $185 million per year some market mechanisms and in fees for passports, visas and other allowing more citizens to work documentation. for themselves. In order to shrink Travel to the island is authorized the state (and the deficit – Cuba Castro, l., Goldberg, r.: Reading a little too from three U.S. airports — Miami, is in the same boat as the rest much into the comment New York (JFK) and Los Angeles of us), something like a million — to five international airports government workers are set to in Cuba — Havana, Cienfuegos, lose their jobs in the coming that which is vehemently opposed to Camagüey, Holguín and Santiago. months. socialism) is perhaps reading a little Frequencies are now higher that The government has recently handed too much into the comment. Fidel is a four daily flights with large-capacity out more than 2.5m acres of land to keen media watcher himself and seeing aircraft. This generates some $50 individuals and co-operatives, in order the attention his remark has received million in revenues per year between that they produce more food, and has will surely be clarifying his views in landing fees, health insurance, and accordingly loosened controls that the days to come, but you can be sure other airport or traveler services. prohibit Cubans from selling fruit and it will not be to say that capitalism Add to this the tons of medicine, vegetables. In an effort to build a modern is the answer. (Indeed, elsewhere in other medical goods and clothing the Goldberg interview he told his Continued on next page sent by families in support of relatives Photo: Roberto Suárez/JR interlocutor that he was still very much or as donations, and you easily get a dialectical materialist.) another $30 million per year. I don’t So what exactly did the old man include goods sent by private groups say? To be specific: “The Cuban model for black-market business, because doesn’t even work for us anymore,” was this is impossible to estimate. his answer to being asked if he believed Meanwhile, direct payments for it was something still worth exporting. telephone communications to the That is hardly an admission of total Cuban state monopoly Etecsa — at failure. He clearly thinks it worked call tariffs between $1 and $1.20 per once, and since he does not elaborate minute — are another $82 million. on the reasons why he thinks it doesn’t These revenues for the Cuban work now, it is premature to assume economy could grow by more that he is chucking in the towel. than $100 million in direct and Nor can the statement be interpreted indirect travel expenses if the Cuban Cuba, the world’s biggest cooperative as him saying that socialism per se has project? Workers at the Blas Roca failed – merely that Cuba’s current Continued on next page agricultural co-op model of it no longer fits the times.

3 Analysis: Economic reforms

‘Communism to co-op,’ from previous page Soviet-style of socialism has finally hit the buffers – a new tourism infrastructure it has eased property laws to give lease form of socialism is required, in which the state ceases to be periods of up to 99 years for foreign investors. the administrator of economic activity but the regulator. That’s However, at the same time the government has announced a different model of socialism – it may not work either – but that workers will be encouraged to take over the ownership it is not capitalism. of the companies in which they work. In a move that the government has actually called a deepening of socialism, the Stephen Wilkinson is the director of the Centre for Caribbean Cubans are about to launch what could potentially become the and Latin American Research and Consultancy at London biggest co-operative project the world has ever seen. Metropolitan University. This article first appeared in The The government is saying that the old centrally planned Guardian.

New books The Sugar King of Havana: The Rise and Fall Cuba in the Shadow of Change: Daily Life in of Julio Lobo, Cuba’s Last Tycoon the Twilight of the Revolution

By John Paul Rathbone By Amelia Rosenberg Penguin Press , 320 pages Weinreb University Press of Florida, Rathbone dedicated this history- 272 pages biography to Julio Lobo, the last big, Old-Guard businessman “Resolver, conseguir, in revolutionary Cuba. Then- inventar” — these are very Central Bank President Ernesto typical verbs used by ordinary ‘Che’ Guevara in 1960 tried to Cubans, or the “shadow public,” recruit the sugar tycoon to run as Rosenberg calls them. These the recently nationalized sugar “unsatisfied citizen-consumers” operations. Lobo refused and strive to survive with some left the country the next day, access to basic modern goods, losing it all. while struggling to maintain The book describes the personal space and control sometimes ambivalent relationship within an overarching state. The between Cuba’s upper class and both the Batista dictatorship University of Texas anthropologist traces back the emergence and the revolutionary government, but otherwise doesn’t shed of this class to the rationing system established in the 1960s any new light on Cuba. and the Special Period. Her look at this large population is a helpful tool in understanding Cuban reality. O p i n i o n

‘Other Views,’ from previous page regards to international financing plans, if it was allowed to buy properties for retirement or to live on the island, hundreds government granted entry to the more than 35,000 balseros of millions of dollars from the Cuban American community who arrived at U.S. shores in the last 10 years. This group is would be added. not allowed to enter the country, due to the joint policy with In my opinion, the hour of difficult decisions passed a long the United States to reject illegal immigration. time ago. Today, it’s necessary to consider that the buying The amount of small investments in agriculture and service power of émigrés — and I don’t include the massive fortunes businesses that the slow bureaucratic openings in the past amassed by the industries of hate, politics or delinquency few years have permitted is impossible to calculate. Cuban — could trigger an economic awakening for the battered families living abroad have contributed — and continue to agriculture and tourism services, to mention just two key contribute — millions of dollars in family loans, merchandize sectors. and other resources to stimulate these businesses. If there was a policy designed to stimulate low-level family Pedro González Munné lives in Miami and is director of investments, similar to what exists with other countries in The Cuban Nation (www.thecubannation.com)

4 E c o n o m y

‘Big reform,’ from page 1 Brazil, Spain, Norway, EU, UN offer help state jobs by the end of the hile the Cuban Central Bank is still analyzing how first quarter of next year, as it could provide startup loans to small businesses, part of a plan of “gradual and theW Brazilian government is offering help, Foreign Minister progressive” cuts through Celso Amorim told Raúl Castro during a two-hour meeting 2015. According to Raúl in Havana. Castro there are more than 1 “The cooperation will happen in terms of training, based million “excess” state jobs. on the experience Brazil has with loans to small and midsize Subsidies to loss-making New public-private enterprises, and with the tax system,” Amorim said. state companies made up partnerships? From a Party Amorim told reporters that Brazil had successfully 22 percent of government PowerPoint presentation developed small and medium businesses and reduced the spending in the 2009 budget, informal economy. according to official statistics, “It doesn’t pay off for Cuba to move 500,000 workers out just five percent down from of the public sector if they fall into the informal economy,” 2000. At 33.2 billion pesos, the national budget in 2009 was Amorim said, according to Reuters. three times as large as in 2000. Meanwhile, Cuba is considerung tapping into micro-loan Just what it is private entrepreneurs will be allowed to do and programs from the Spanish and Norwegian governments, how they will be taxed is barely beginning to emerge. the European Commission and the United Nations, Efe According to a recent Granma report, 178 types of activities reported. are now allowed; in 83 of those activities, business owners can hire non-relatives as employees. Business owners can now practice several activities at a time, Cubans that live or work abroad. These properties can be leased and a business can be practiced throughout Cuba, beyond the for convertible pesos (CUC). city of the owner’s residence. Self-employment, or cuentapropismo, has been allowed In-home restaurants, known as paladares, can now have up since 1993 for taxi drivers, home restaurants, bed-and-breakfast to 20 seats, hire non-relatives, and be operated by people that owners, watch and clock repair, carpenters or plumbers. are not retired. The previous limit was 12 seats. Beginning in October, the government will issue licenses Most importantly for the startups in an economy that is for self-employment activities that are new or have long been dominated by the state, private businesses are now allowed excluded. They are for food processing and sales, wineries, to sell their products and services to state entities. stone-cutters, florists, sports trainers, recyclers, massage In a first-ever assertion that housing can be used commercially, therapists, accountants, restroom and park attendants, tutors, business owners are allowed to rent homes or vehicles from seasonal agricultural workers, and agricultural products sales stands. Meanwhile, high-skill professional services, such as advertisement software developers, lawyers, physicians or engineers and architects continue to be excluded. Only university graduates who received their degrees before 1964 can use their skills for private business. The highest-skill activities allowed for self-employment include accountant, music teacher, language teacher and translator, art restoration, electrician, auto mechanic, photographer, and refrigeration mechanic. An even bigger number of state workers may be absorbed by cooperatives, which are already playing a central role in agriculture. Co-ops are now expanding into the retail sector, and possibly into production. These new entities will be allowed to rent state-owned properties for their business. At its peak in the late 1990s, the urban private sector employed some 210,000 Cubans; by the end of 2009, after the government re-centralized many economic activities, the number was down to 143,000. According to two Communist Party presentations, the government plans to issue 250,000 licenses for 118 different types of private businesses, These businesses will be taxed on revenues, ranging from 10 to 40 percent. Co-ops will be taxed on profits.

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Photos: Juvenal Balán, Granma E c o n o m y Bahamas, Cuba discussing maritime border nderlining the intensifying meeting in Havana last year. The search for offshore oil on Bahamas submitted their baseline, bothU sides, Bahamas and Cuba FLORIDA which is used to determine maritime resumed technical discussions borders, to the United Nations in about their maritime border earlier 2008. this month, the Bahamas Weekly The Bahamian delegation in this reported. third round included representatives This the the third round of from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, negotiations between the neighbors, the Attorney General’s Office, the as talks have been progressing since Ministry of the Environment, the 2005. A resolution is becoming Department of Marine Resources, the more pressing as Norway’s Statoil Royal Bahamas Defence Force, and is already performing exploratory Statoil franchise the Bahamas National Geographic drills adjacent to the Bahamian B A H A M A S Information Systems Centre. side of the border, and as Russia’s The discussions are “a matter of Zarubezhneft and Petrovietnam Cuba-Bahamas border priority,” the Bahamian Ministry of have leased onshore and nearshore Foreign Affairs said. blocks in east-central Cuba. The first round of preliminary CUBA Statoil is drilling near the maritime discussions was held in Nassau Map: Bahamas Petroleum Co. plc Map: Bahamas Petroleum border with Cuba. in 2005, followed by a technical Cupet rebuilding pipeline Russian company sets up nickel joint venture unit of state oil company CubaPetróleo is overhauling subsidiary of Alfa Group Consortium, the financial- a 12-kilometer stretch of the pipeline from a storage industrial conglomerate based in Moscow, set up a joint facilityA in Cárdenas to the oil tanker terminal in Matanzas, ventureA in Cuba with Commercial Caribbean Nickel S.A., RIA Granma reported. Novosti reported. An eight-kilometer stretch of the pipeline has already Palmira Resources Ltd. plans to extract nickel, cobalt, iron undergone maintenance. and chrome from nickel mining leftovers in eastern Cuba, the The oil company is also building a collector system around company announced in Russia. new wells near La Conchita, near Boca de Camarioca, also A pilot plant in Nicaro, Holguín province, will be operational in Matanzas province. next year, the company said. Once the pilot project shows how Energy & mining minister loses job to efficiently extract metals, a “large-scale” plant will process he Council of State and Raúl Castro dismissed Basic 100 million tons of nickel tailings near the location, Alfa’s Industries Minister Yadira García Vega, a government Alexei Mikhailovsky said, according to RIA Novosti. communiquéT announced Sept. 19. Up to 800 jobs could be created at the plant, Deputy Basic García, 54, was one of the highest-ranking women in the Industries Minister Ivan Martínez Leyet said. Cuban government. She was appointed in 2004 by Fidel Castro Alfa is active in finance, oil and gas, retail and to help implement the “Energy Revolution.” telecommunications. The Cuban venture is one of the group’s Her deputy minister was appointed to temporarily take over. first mining undertakings. The delay hints at a possible reorganization of the Ministry of Basic Industries, which includes electricity, oil, nickel mining and — since 2006 — the pharmaceutical industry. Observers believe that mining and pharmaceuticals could be moved to Holguín an industries ministry, while oil and electricity will be run by an energy ministry. Nicaro The communiqué cited “deficiencies” and García’s “poor control of resources for investment and the productive process.” This disqualification of García’s performance also puts her seat in the Politburo of the Communist Party in doubt. The note didn’t say whether she would retain her Politburo seat. Over the past couple of years, García played an increasingly Santiago subordinate role to Vice President Ramiro Valdés, who has been overseeing the ministry’s main investment projects. 7 P o l i t i c s Washington funding Cuba-led program in Haiti he United States and Cuba are — indirectly — working Below: together in the reconstruction of a hospital in Haiti. University OnT Monday, Haitian Prime Minister Jean Max Bellerive, Hospital U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and French Foreign in Port-au- Minister Bernard Kouchner signed an agreement in New York Prince under which the United States and France equally contribute to the $50 million reconstruction of the Haiti State University Hospital in Port-au-Prince. Above: Clinton, Caricom fund to help Cuban effort in Haiti Bellerive, Kouchner he third Cuba-Caricom summit of foreign ministers signing the Haiti in Havana approved creation of a fund for the agreement in New York. reconstructionT of Haiti. Not at the table: Cuba The Caricom-Haiti Fund intends “to facilitate the Photo: U.S. Department of State participation of the regional private sector in the While Cuba is in charge of executing the project, the U.S. reconstruction and recovery process of Haiti,” the government is talking only to the Haitian government, which final declaration of the summit said. Caricom member is the determining party in the Cuba-led $600 million program governments will “actively promote” the fund in regional to rebuild Haiti’s healthcare system. and international fora. The only reference made to Cuba during the signing event in Cuba is leading a $600 million effort to rebuild the New York was Kouchner’s remark that ”the structure and the earthquake-shattered country’s healthcare system; the materials necessary and the functioning of the hospital would declaration states that Caricom “endorses the Program be taken care of by others.” for the Reconstruction and Strengthening of the National Reconstruction of the 500-bed hospital, the largest in the Health System of Haiti coordinated by Cuba.” According Caribbean country, is a key part of the health program. Most of to the statement, several Caricom countries are already the Cuban-led program is funded by Venezuela and Brazil. participating in the healthcare program for Haiti. The hospital was heavily damaged during the Jan. 12 The declaration didn’t say whether the new fund would earthquake. contribute to that program, which is so far funded by Earlier this month, a U.S. NGO — Boston-based Partners in Venezuela and Brazil. Health — announced it is funding the $15 million construction The Cuba-Caricom summit also urged the international of a 320-bed teaching hospital at Mirebalais, in the north of donor community “to make good on the pledges and the Haitian capital. promises made to Haiti.” The summit ended Friday in Havana. The Caricom- E c o n o m y Cuba Joint Commission was started in 1993; the first Caricom-Cuba summit was held in 2002. U.S., Canada visitors boosting tourism etting a new record of 172,772 for August, the number of visitors arriving rose 5.4 percent during the month, House committee postpones travel ban vote theS Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas (ONE) reported. he chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee The monthly statistics showed a 9.6-percent rise in visitors Tfirst scheduled and then postponed, last-minute, a vote from Canada — the largest source market for Cuban tourism on a travel ban-lifting bill on Sept. 29. — and jumps in visitors from Britain (+11.6 percent), Germany “Wednesday will be the last day that Congress is in (+12.2 percent), Argentina (+59 percent) and Russia (+88.8 session before an extended district work period. That makes percent). The most substantial rise, however, came in the it increasingly likely that our discussion of the bill will be “other” category — the second-largest category, including U.S. disrupted or cut short,” said Howard Berman (D-Ca.) when visitors — which grew 16.7 percent in August. canceling the discussion on HR 4645 in his committee the day Visitor numbers from Spain, Italy and France dropped, -29.7 before it was scheduled, adding that he “strongly supported” percent, -12 percent, and -7.4 percent respectively. the bill, and that his committee will take it up “soon.” The monthly statistics don’t include revenue figures. The bill has been mired in committees for half a year Visitor numbers dipped in August last year. Even so, this and likely won’t advance before mid-term elections in year’s August figures were 2.9 percent higher than in August November. 2008, the previous record for the month. “I firmly believe that ... the right to travel will be restored For the first eight months of the year, the total was 1.769 to all Americans,” Berman said. million, up 1.8 percent from 2009.

8 E c o n o m y Government legalizes roadside stands xpanding a private retail own farm or backyards, unless Eexperiment from eastern Legalizing they are produced by another Cuba to the entire country, direct farm agricultural entity in areas the government indirectly sales: Roadside difficult to access. Sales must legalized roadside sales stands stand in eastern be registered daily, and taxes selling agricultural products at Cuba must be paid monthly. The unregulated prices. state also charges a 2-percent In Resolution 206 published in fee for the use of state-owned the Gaceta Oficial Aug. 27, the right-of-way, and the business Ministry of Finance announced owners must deduct 25 percent it will raise a 5-percent sales tax on “kiosks and sales points for Social Security. located in communities adjacent to roads and highways.” The roadside sales points are a potential outlet and The roadside stand owners must be supervised by a state additional source of income for a fast-rising number of agricultural entity or agricultural cooperative, according to private farmers. In an effort to boost food production, the the resolution. government has turned over more than 1 million hectares The business owners can only sell products grown on their of state agricultural land under long-term leases to private farmers and cooperatives. However, bottlenecks in the state- Privatized taxis see productivity boost operated distribution system are still causing crop losses. axis the government began to rent to drivers a year Gasoline prices going up ago have seen productivity increase by a factor of 55, n a blow for private taxi and trucking businesses, gasoline TransportT Minister César Arocha said, according to official prices are going up 10 percent, Communist Party daily newspaper Trabajadores. GranmaI announced on Monday. Revenues per cab rose from 529 pesos to 17,000 pesos, The newspaper cited rising oil prices for the move. The last according to Arocha. time the government increased gas prices was in September The success story about the taxis comes just as the official 2008. labor union made a big announcement that 500,000 state Gasoline prices in Cuba are among the highest in the workers will be laid off within six months, and most of them hemisphere. Premium gasoline rose 22 cents to $1.73 per liter will have to shift to private-sector jobs. ($6.54 per gallon); the cost of diesel is up 11 cents to $1.19 The drivers pay a fixed daily rent to the state. per liter ($4.50 a gallon). 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 Cuba to open nanotech research facility he Cuban government is planning The Third International to open a nanotechnology research Seminar of Nanosciences and centerT before the end of the year, as part Nanotechnology in Havana of a national plan to develop the new line was attended by 70 experts of research. from Russia, China, Japan, Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, scientific Netherlands, France, Italy, adviser to the Council of State, announced and United States, including the plan during the keynote speech at a nanotech conference in David Gross, 2004 Nobel Havana Sept. 8, according to official Website Cubadebate. prize laureate in physics and “The main objective for nanotechnology in Cuba is to join in director of the Kavli Institute 2015-2020 the leading nations in the region,” said the nuclear for Theoretical Physics at the physicist, who is Fidel’s oldest son. University of California, and Nanotechnology is about controlling matter on an atomic Zhores Alferov of the Russian or molecular level and has wide applications in medicine, Academy of Sciences, a 2000 manufacturing and warfare. The Centro de Estudios Avanzados Nobel laureate. de Cuba will focus on nanotech research for applications Castro Díaz-Balart ranging from materials production to medical applications, according to Cubadebate. The center will be open for joint Big state holding gets new chief projects with foreign researchers, particularly from Latin he government quietly America, Castro Díaz-Balart said. dismissed Eduardo Bencomo, Nanotechnologies will challenge raw material producers theT long-serving top executive of around the globe, Castro Diaz-Balart said, because new state holding CIMEX, and replaced synthetic materials will replace commodities such as rubber him with a military officer, Reuters or cotton. reported. In the 1980s, Fidel Sr. opened the biotech research hub Col. Hector Oroza Busutin assumed his post at Cuba’s in Havana, which has propelled Cuba into the top tier of largest hard-currency sector company in early September. biotechnology producers in the world. He previously held the No. 2 position in the Grupo de Azerbaijan discussing oil and gas agreement Administración de Empresas, the holding company running all military-owned businesses. he government of Azerbaijan is discussing an oil and CIMEX employees also told Reuters that the new deputy gas cooperation agreement with Cuba, news Website director is Ana María Ortega, who came from the military- AzerbaijanT Business Center reports. owned retailer TRD-Caribe. A Cuban trade delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Trade and CIMEX subsidiaries are active in retail, real estate, shipping, Investment Minister Oscar Pérez Oliva, is currently in Baku for finance, and tourism. talks about cooperation in tourism, biotechnology and oil. Specific negotiations will be held later, Pérez said, according Bad coffee harvest triggers measures to Azerbaijan Business. Talks with Azeri state oil company he government is SOCAR have not begun yet. taking measures after While SOCAR is shipping crude oil and petroleum products coffeeT production dropped to and is preparing supply of liquefied gas to the United States an all-time low of 5,500 tons and Canada, the company has no production in the western last year, Communist Party hemisphere. Cuba is seeking foreign participation in offshore daily Granma reported. oil exploration; SOCAR has limited offshore experience in the The government warned it Caspian Sea. However, company officials hinted they might will no longer import enough be interested in Cuba. Coffee harvest in coffee to cover the deficit, eastern Cuba an expected $40 million this year, and $47 million next year. Cuba in the 1940s was the world’s leading coffee exporter and produced 60,000 tons during the 1961-62 harvest. According to an agriculture ministry official quoted by SOCAR gas platform Granma, this year’s harvest is expected to top 6,700 tons, in the Caspian Sea and Cuba hopes to return to 30,000 tons. The state coffee plantations recently stopped using inexperienced student volunteers for the harvest.

10 E c o n o m y Agriculture reform reaches landmark number eaching a landmark figure in agriculture reform, the of the few exceptions was milk. government has handed over 1 million hectares of The recovery of food production has been hampered by a agriculturalR land in long-term leases to private farmers and lack of state-provided supplies for new farmers, and continued co-ops since beginning an effort to boost food production on bottlenecks in the state-controlled distribution system. Also, the island. a drought curbed efforts to boost rice production, which However, only 46 percent of the land distributed since 2008 dropped 1.7 percent during the first six months of the year. is being used, according to Juventud Rebelde. Still, that’s Bean production fell 27 percent. Consumers in Cuba have seen progress from two years ago, when 60 percent of all arable shortages for rice and beans throughout 2010. land in Cuba was fallow, most of it due to drastic cutbacks The government is now allowing farmers to sell all of in sugarcane cultivation. Much of that land was overgrown their milk production directly to consumers, and it raised by aggressive weeds, which are difficult to clear. Also, many prices it pays for most farm products. Also, the agriculture of the startup farmers are facing uphill struggles due to lack ministry is in the process of setting up a network of ”integral of knowledge and scarce supplies, as well as a pronounced basic enterprise units” for technical services to farmers in all drought. municipalities of the island, including private farmers. Finally, More than half of the distributed land is used for dairy and the government has opened rural supply stores where tools cattle operations, one of the most lucrative legal businesses and seeds are available for purchase by any farmer, a new in Cuba today; 26.7 percent are used to cultivate produce, and concept in a country where all farm implements have been 7.7 for rice, according to the Juventud Rebelde report. distributed by the state. Even so, food production in Cuba dropped 7.5 percent According to an agriculture official quoted by Juventud during the first half of the year, according to the National Rebelde, the government has received 133,900 applications Statistics Office (ONE). The statistics show drops in almost for long-term land leases, of which 83 percent have been all staples, including rice, beans, potatoes, pork and eggs. One approved.

Zombie comedy makes ripples — even before it’s produced already received coverage from the official Cuban news agency, the Associated Press, and Canadian TV. AP correspondent Will Weissert gives Juan of the Dead “a real chance at global success.” This is the second feature-length movie of Brugues, 34. “Personal Brugues Belongings”, released in 2007, received acclaim at the international film festivals of Miami and Malaga. n irreverent Cuban feature film that has received Release of Juan of the Dead is planned for spring or funding from Spain and Mexico is making ripples summer 2011. evenA as shooting won’t start until October. “Juan of the Dead” (Juan de los Muertos), at a budgeted euro 1.3 million ($1.65 million) the most expensive recent Protagonist in 1492, feature film made on the island, has an ironic take on 2010 — easygoing contemporary Cuba. In Alejandro Brugues’ film, an and entrepreneurial everyday Cuban protagonist, played by Alexis Díaz de amid disaster. Villegas, is trying to make money off an invasion of flesh- eating zombies, while the communist government insists all this is a plot backed by the United States to destabilize the country. The horror comedy has the backing of the government- run film institute ICAIC (one teaser for the film says, “50 years later, a new revolution has begun”) and is co-produced by Spain’s La Zanfoña Producciones and Cuba’s Producciones Quinta Avenida. The project has 11 E c o n o m y Sucre currency mechanism available to private businesses new currency exchange mechanism liquidity and bolsters hard-currency reserves in A created by the ALBA trade and ALBA countries’ treasuries. integration agreement is now available to Private companies interested in using the privately-owned companies in ALBA member mechanism should seek the help of Venezuelan countries, newswire AVN reported. state banks Banco de Venezuela, Banco del Tesoro Eudomar Tovar, president of the regional and Bancoex, Tovar said. These banks must get monetary council of the Sistema Unitario de approval from Venezuela’s central bank before Compensación Regional de Pagos (Sucre), each transaction, which is coordinated with peer said that privately-owned “small and medium- state banks in partner countries. size” companies in Venezuela will soon have “Basically, there has to be an importer and an the option of using the Sucre virtual currency exporter,” Tovar said, according to AVN. “You in their exports within the ALBA bloc. have to use the regular organs, the [participating Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador, Bolivia and state banks] and the central bank of the country Nicaragua agreed two years ago on a phase-in of the Sucre where the transaction will be made. It’s easy, and the operations system. In February, a Venezuelan and a Cuban state company are made real-time.” used the mechanism for the first time, in a rice purchase. A Venezuelan trade association, the Federación de Pequeños, The use of the Sucre lowers the cost and risk of exports and Micros y Medianos Empresarios y Artesanos de Venezuela imports, because it eliminates the need to convert their local (Fedeindustria), said it will help its members use the Sucre in currencies to U.S. dollars or Euros and back. It also increases export and import transactions, according to AVN. Columnist slams both golf critics and state-run tourism Under the headline “Tourism for millionaires — income abroad and who, thanks to their work or other legal activities for millions,” official columnist Jorge Gómez Barata have enough resources to buy them.” defends the government’s decision to sell luxury golf Golf aside, Gómez cites a long list of shortcomings course condominiums to what could be thousands of of Cuban tourist offerings, including the lack of wealthy foreigners — and then proceeds to a harsh typical, privately owned restaurants and shops or critique of the state-run tourism industry. traditional celebrations, marinas and nautical services, Reacting to what he calls “friendly fire,” Gómez Cubans who practice boating and sports fishing, ice said in a column published by Radio Taíno that Cuba Gómez or rollerskating rinks, theme parks, horse, greyhound must offer services beyond hotels, in order to stay Barata and car races, casinos, domestic cruises, bull or cock competitive. fights, tennis, polo, cricket, jai alai, billards, and “Paradoxically, at a moment when the authorities, extreme sports. pressed by economic emergencies, are displaying a certain “The case of tourism reveals with particular intensity the flexibility and shedding backward criteria and prejudices, limitations of centralized politics and of the belief that culture advancing towards economic, cultural and commercial and human relations can be administered,” he concludes. standards of more or less universal character, voices appear “It also reflects the difficulties created by the continued among the self-appointed guardians of the faith who, without validity of ideological stereotypes and the limits of the state any other arguments than outdated dogmas and stereotypes, managing entertainment, leisure activities and pleasures all go after a sport and an entire category of potential clients.” by itself, without support from the community and collective Taking his argument one step further, he urges the Cuban imagination.” government to include Cubans and Cuban Americans in both Gómez Barata’s tourism column did neither appear in the the development and practice of golf on the island. major official newspapers nor on the Cubadebate Web site, “As far as the residences go, the anomaly wouldn’t be their where his columns are frequently published. Gómez Barata sale to foreigners; the gravest aspect is that there aren’t any is a Cuban academic and columnist known for his critical appropriate offerings to Cubans who live in the country or analysis of U.S. politics. advertisement Cupet renovates pipeline A unit of state oil company CubaPetróleo is overhauling a 12-kilometer stretch of the pipeline from a storage facility in Cárdenas to the oil tanker terminal in Matanzas, Granma reported. An eight-kilometer stretch of the pipeline has already undergone maintenance. www.progreso-weekly.com 12 P o l i t i c s Cuba appeals to Obama to use executive power ... s a travel-ban lifting ban has become mired in the continued detention of a USAID subcontractor was an committees of the U.S. House of Representatives, obstacle to improved relations, Rodríguez said the embargo is CubaA is appealing to the White House to bring about economic a unilateral measure and should be lifted unilaterally. relief. President Barack Obama should use his executive power ... as does Amnesty International to ease the embargo, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez uman rights organization Amnesty International suggested during a press conference announcing Cuba’s annual Hcriticized President Barack Obama over his recent report about the economic impact of U.S. sanctions. extension of the Trading With the Enemy Act for another The report is an annual ritual ahead of a United Nations vote year. on a resolution condemning the U.S. embargo. The policy is “President Obama has failed to take a long overdue step isolating the United States, with only Israel and Palau voting toward dismantling a policy that is both ineffective and against the resolution last year. detrimental,” Amnesty said in a public statement issued Obama “remained below the expectations generated by his on Sept. 8, adding that he has the power to reverse the statements regarding Cuba,” Rodríguez said during a press decision at any time. conference in Havana, adding that the U.S. president should Cuba is the only country for which sanctions based on use his executive power to ease restrictions on the use of the the 1917 Trading with the Enemy Act are still in place. If U.S. dollar in transactions with the island. That could include TWEA was dismantled, the body of specific Cuba sanctions allowing the use of U.S.-issued credit cards on the island, the laws would lose its legal foundation, some observers foreign minister said. The president should also permit Cuban argue. airlines and ferries to bring passengers to the United States In a letter on Aug. 12, as it did in the year before, the and allow the purchase of Cuban-made medical products and London-based organization urged the president not to use allow Cuban companies to be paid accordingly. his executive power this time and let the TWEA expire. In Answering a reporter’s question about a recent remark its annual reports, Amnesty International has consistently by U.S. Undersecretary of State Arturo Valenzuela that condemned the U.S. embargo. Long-time anti-embargo activist dies he long-time leader of Pastors for Peace, the Rev. Walker also helped bring Congressional Black Caucus Lucius Walker Jr., 80, died of a massive heart attack. delegations, led by Rep. Maxine Waters (D.-Ca.), to Havana “ItT is with immeasurable sadness that we write to let you in 1999 and 2000. In 2000, he brought Waters and Rep. know of the passing of our beloved, heroic, prophetic leader,” Barbara Lee (D-Ca.) to Havana, to cut the ribbon for the the organization said in an email sent to supporters. first-ever U.S. medical trade fair on the island. During that IFCO, the roof organization of Pastors for Peace, was visit, Fidel Castro announced scholarships for U.S. medical founded in New York as an ecumenical organization 43 students in Cuba. years ago by African-American activists, to help community IFCO became the self-organization in the United States and in developing U.S. administrator countries. The group has been active in Africa, Puerto Rico, of the program. Haiti, Central America, Chiapas and Cuba. Walker had a high In 1988, Lucius Walker founded Pastors for Peace, after profile in Cuba, with being wounded in a Contra attack in Nicaragua. In 1991, he access to the Castro made his first fact-finding trip to Cuba. brothers and high- Pastors for Peace and Walker have made headlines since level officials. 1992 with their annual Friendshipment Caravans, which collect in-kind donations such as school buses, medication, school supplies, hurricane reconstruction supplies, or computers in the United States and elsewhere. Activists and Walker then usually brought them to Cuba via Canada or Walker with Mexico, in an outright challenge to embargo restrictions. The Fidel in 2009, Friendshipments often triggered searches and confiscations Friendshipment by U.S. Customs and Treasury officials when crossing the caravan in 2008 border. A “Reverse Friendshipment” in 2001 brought back Cuban- Photos: IFCO made goods such as bio-pesticides and solar panels.

13 BY THE NUMBERS PUBLIC INVESTMENT Total public investments, by type howing the depth of economic recession, public (Jan.-June, million pesos MN) Sinvestments dropped nearly 15 percent during the Type 2010 2009 % change first half of the year compared to the first half of 2009, according to data released by the National Office Total 1,606.2 1,883.6 -14.7 of Statistics (ONE) in September. Even though the Construction 957.1 1,053.8 -9.2 government prioritizes investments in areas that generate Equipment 307.7 482.8 -36.3 quick hard-currency returns or substitute imports Other 341.4 347.0 -1.6 — such as mining or hotels — even agriculture and manufacturing saw significant drops. Total public investments, by type (Jan.-June, million pesos MN) Public investments, by activity (Jan.-June, million pesos MN) 2009 2010 % change Construction 284.8 370 +29.9 Hotels, restaurants 27.3 202.1 +741.1 Mining 194.5 196.8 +1.2 Defense, social security 204.6 192 -6.1 Electricity, gas, water 285.3 177.5 -37.8 Manufacturing 177.7 143.9 -19.1 Agriculture 312.6 101.6 -77.5 Total Construction Equipment Other Transport, telecom 112 54.7 -51.2 Education 41.9 26.9 -35.7 Public investments, by province Healthcare 63.1 26.5 -58.1 (Jan.-June, million pesos MN) Retail 48.7 17.6 -73.9 Sugar industry 40 15.4 -71.5 Culture & sports 15.7 10.5 -33.2 r&d 11.7 2.5 -78.4 Finance 4.1 0.2 -94.7 Public investments, by activity 17.3-39.1 39.2-50.5 (Jan.-June, million pesos MN) 50.6-91.7 91.8-712.4 Construction Hotels & restaurants Public investments, by program Mining (Jan.-June 2010, million pesos MN) Defense & social sec. Value % total Manufacturing Total 793,3 100 Agriculture Tourism 134.9 17 Drought 91.3 11.5 Oil & gas 83.7 10.5 Public investments, by program Automotive 66.3 8.4 (Jan.-June 2010, % total) Generator clusters 20.4 2.6 Biotechnology 20.1 2.5 oil & gas 10.6% automotive 8.4% Roads 19.5 2.5 other Culture and arts 14.5 1.8 32.2% electric grid 9.3% Electric energy 13.3 1.7 environmental Nickel mining 11.2 1.4 protection 4.5% Healthcare 9.6 1.2 electric Education 9 1.1 clusters 2.6% Hospitals 8.6 1.1 drought 11.5% Oil refining 8.2 1 social works 3.9% tourism 17%

14 C O N F E R E N C E S & E V E N T S News from the •1st ALBA Tourism Fair, Caracas, Sept. 28-Oct. 3 •14th Agriculture Fair (FIAGROP 2010), Havana, Oct. Sales Department 2-10 ++A delegation of the British •12th Int’l Conference of Food Science and Technology parliament’s Cuba Initiative will be (CICTA-12), Havana, Oct. 4-8 in Havana at the end of September, •Cuban architecture conference, London, Oct. 8 the London-based Caribbean Council •4th Int’l Seminary on Conflict Resolution for Intellectual announced in its newsletter. The group, Property, Havana, Oct. 13-15 led by Ian Taylor, a Conservative •Congreso Biotecnología Habana 2010, Havana, Oct. 20- member of parliament and former 21 science and technology minister, will •Fruticultura 2010 (symposium on tropical and subtropical hold meetings with ministers and the Taylor fruit cultivation), Havana, Oct. 26-30 •28th International Havana Fair (FIHAV), Havana, Nov. British ambassador in Havana between 1-6 Sept. 26 and Oct. 3. The visit is organized by the Cuban side of •CETA Int’l. Conference on Sustainable EduTourism, Havana, the Initiative, which is chaired by Foreign Trade and Investment Nov. 7-9 Minister Rodrigo Malmierca. “Representatives will have an •7th Ibero-American Congress on Neonatal Medicine, opportunity to present their companies’ commercial interests in Havana, Nov. 8-12 Cuba and to discuss any new or existing business ventures,” the •3rd Int’l Congress of Tropical Animal Production, Havana, Caribbean Council newsletter said. Up to 25 British companies, Nov. 15-19 including law firm Eversheds, Esencia Hotels and Havana Energy, are aiming at deals under new Cuban regulations that Call (941) 330-0303 or send an e-mail to JWerner@ cubatradenews.com for more information on events allow for 99-year leases of land.++ ++A Canadian organization is hosting a conference promoting sustainable tourism in Havana. The CETA International P o l i t i c s Conference on Sustainable EduTourism, Nov. 7-9 at the Cuba, U.S., Mexico discussing Gulf agreement Meliá Cohiba hotel, is expected to attract some 300 participants elegations of scientists from the United States, from more than a dozen countries. The event is sponsored Mexico and Cuba are meeting in Sarasota, Florida to by the Cuban tourism ministry, the Canadian embassy and finalizeD discussions on a tripartite agreement for research and International Trade Canada. The Canadian EduTourism conservation of the Gulf of Mexico. Associates Cooperative Ltd. (CETA) aims to bring together The discussions at Mote Marine Science Laboratories are education, culture and the environment with tourism. The event hosted by the Washington-based Ocean Foundation. is appealing to tour operators, hoteliers, event and conference The U.S. government granted 20 visas to the participants of planners, NGOs, and hospitality operators.++ the Cuban delegation, one of the largest contingents of Cubans ++President Mauricio Funes during his visit to Havana officially visiting the United States in recent years. in the first week of October will be accompanied by 50 The Cuban delegation is led by Luis Alberto Barreras businesspeople. This is the first visit of a Salvadoran president Cañizo, with the Ministry of Science, Technology and the since the two countries resumed diplomatic relations last year. Environment. The businesspeople will have the opportunity to meet Cuban peers during a round of negotiations; work groups include Ahmadinejad: Respect for Fidel construction, tourism, food production, and pharmaceuticals. wo weeks after former president Fidel Castro criticized A number of Salvadoran companies are already doing business Thim publicly for his stance on the Holocaust and Jews, with Cuba, such as Industrias Capri (export of mattresses), Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Cuban López Davidson (export of pharmaceuticals), and Taca Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez on the sidelines of a United Airlines (flights to and within Cuba).++ Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. ++A Cuban trade delegation toured dairy factories, a During the meeting, Ahmadinejad called for increased ties bus and a tractor plant, and a bottling plant in Belarus. The with Cuba and said that he respects Fidel “and his revolutionary delegation, in Belarus for five days, is headed by Deputy spirit,” according to Iran Press TV. Before leaving for New Trade and Foreign Investment Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva York, Ahmadinejad met with the Cuban ambassador in Tehran, Fraga. During the visit, RUE Minsk Kristall, the country’s and asked to prepare for a visit by Raúl Castro to Iran. largest vodka producer, agreed to import Cuban rum. Iran has provided $600 million in trade credit for Cuba to Pharmaceuticals producer RUE Belmedpreparaty discussed Iranian exporters. Iranian state company Wagon Pars has sold the joint production in Belarus of drugs made by Havana-based hundreds of passenger and freight rail cars to Cuba’s state CIMAB. The joint production of powdered milk was on the railroad company. In May, Tehran-based irrigation systems agenda during a tour of a dairy factory. Finally, bus and truck maker Tadco opened an office in Havana, the first subsidiary maker MAZ, which recently sold 100 urban buses to Cuba, of an Iranian company in Cuba. talked about creation of a jointly operated warehouse.++

15 C o m p a n i e s India’s Biocon Ltd. said Phoenix-based eye surgery equipment manufacturer it is strengthening its nine- Sunridge International started an “Eyes for Cuba” program year old research partnership under which it plans to donate equipment to the island. The with the Havana-based Center company announced that the proceeds of the Luis Tiant of Molecular Immunology Annual Golf Tournament, held Sept. 23 in Massachusetts, (CIM). The partners are will go towards paying for Sunridge equipment and supplies developing a pipeline of anti- to be sent to Cuba, accompanied by a company team to Biocon campus CD6 monoclonal antibody train Cuban doctors on the equipment. Sunridge said its in Bangalore drugs that target lymphocytes, program is partnered by veteran baseball star Luis Tiant and Biocon Chairwoman Kiran Boston-based charity, Scientific Social Solutions. Sunridge Mazumdar-Shaw said; CD6 drugs are already going through subsidiary Ophthalmic International has developed an advanced clinical trials with psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis alternative, non-invasive treatment for glaucoma and ocular patients. Biocon didn’t provide any details. In April, the hypertension, called pneumatic trabeculoplasty. Since 2005, marketing arm of CIM agreed to sell its 49-percent stake in Cuba has emerged as a hemispheric hub for eye surgery. Under a joint manufacturing facility in Bangalore to Biocon. The its joint “Operation Miracle” program with Venezuela, Cuba Indian company said at the time it decided to take over the has bought hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cutting- Cuban stake because the underused facility was not financially edge laser surgery equipment that is used on the island and viable. The Biocon-CIM joint venture has brought to market throughout Latin America. A company press release didn’t two therapeutic drugs, a monoclonal antibody targeting the mention Operación Milagro, nor did it specify what kind of epidermal growth factor receptor for the treatment of cancer, arrangements the company has with Cuba. and human recombinant erythropoietin for the control of *** anemia in chronic kidney diseases. Ho Chi Minh City-based Dai Tin Commercial Joint Stock *** Bank donated 200,000 notebooks to Cuban students, Voice of Cuba plans to connect to Russia’s satellite- Vietnam reported. Dai TIn made the donation in celebration based navigation system, the Russian of 50 years of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Cuba. ambassador in Havana said, according With $58 million in assets, Dai Tin is among the smaller of to RIA Novosti. The Global Navigation 38 partly private banks in Vietnam. Satellite System (Glonass) is the main *** competitor to the United States-based Global Continuing its steady growth, sales of Cuban-made Havana Positioning System (GPS). “Our plans Club rum rose 5 percent in the 2009-10 financial year, include a detailed work on connecting Cuba Pernod Ricard SA said in its annual financial report. Havana to the Glonass system,” Mikhail Kamynin Club sales expanded at the same rate the previous financial said, according to RIA Novosti. In fall 2008, year. In what CEO Pierre Pringuet called a “strong and Cuba for the first time expressed its interest sound” performance, the Paris-based company saw overall to use Glonass for civilian purposes. revenues shrink by 2 percent in 09-10, while net income *** dropped 3 percent. The drops were caused by the disposal of The Cuban customs system signed an agreement in Beijing some existing brands, and the negative impact of currency with China Light Industrial Corporation for Foreign fluctuations. Sales of existing brands rose 2 percent, profits Economic & Technical Cooperation (CLETC) for the from existing brands rose 4 percent. The liquor giant is the purchase of $1.48 million worth of border security inspection worldwide distributor of Havana Club, which Pernod Ricard equipment. CLETC is a state enterprise that helps light-industry produces in a joint venture with a Cuban state company. companies export their products. The purchase includes *** X-ray inspection machines, explosive and drug detectors, Retired Mexican sprint star Ana Gabriela Guevara components of closed-circuit television, and computer announced that a golf tournament Oct. equipment to enhance Intranet capabilities. Most of the 13-17 at the Varadero Golf Club will equipment is provided by Nuctech Co. carry her name. Guevara, silver medal Ltd., a spinoff of Tsinghua University winner of 400 meters in the 2004 in Beijing. Cuba is already using Games, has superstar status in Mexico. equipment made by Nuctech, one of Sponsors for the Ana Guevara Golf Cup, the world’s largest providers of security hosted by the Cuban tourism ministry, inspection systems. Prensa Latina are Mexican airline Volar, Mexican said Cuba will use the equipment to tour operator TripsTravel, and Spanish “achieve a balance between facilitation hotel chain Sol Meliá. The organizers Nuctech and control of the growing activity expect some 125 participants, most of body scanner through the country’s gateways.” them Mexicans. Ana Guevara