Thursday, September 30, 2010

La teoría del caos

La teoría del caos
Fernando Ravsberg | 2010-09-30, 12:32

Cuando terminé el anterior post me quedé pensando en mi última frase y
me llené de dudas. Cómo un pueblo tan inteligente, creativo y educado
puede producir una burocracia tan ineficiente y tonta. Sin dudas, había
algo que no encajaba.

Me lo cuentan y me cuesta creer que el Ministerio de la Industria Básica
perdiera millones de dólares en la firma de contratos mineros por una
simple distracción. Sorprende que con tantos especialistas preparados se
produzcan semejantes pifias.

Verdad es que, al parecer, le costó el cargo a Yadira García y
posiblemente varios viceministros también tengan que entregar la casa,
el automóvil y el celular para regresar a sus provincias de origen, pero
eso no retornará el dinero perdido a Cuba.

Tratando de entender lo que sucede, salí y me sumergí entre la gente
común que en Cuba son siempre el farol que mejor alumbra. Hablé con
profesionales, obreros, cuentapropistas, amas de casa, transportistas,
jubilados y con muchos jóvenes.

En mi periplo descubrí algo muy importante, trascendental para
comprender lo que ocurre: los burócratas no son ineptos sino muy
inteligentes, tanto que fueron capaces de crear un mar de caos y navegar
allí sin naufragar.

En la Feria de Artesanía me cuentan que los funcionarios de impuestos se
oponen a que se autorice a los artesanos a contratar empleados. Pienso
que tal vez sienten un rechazo visceral a la "explotación del hombre por
el hombre".

La verdadera razón es más mundana. Cada vez que los inspectores
descubren un ayudante en los stands le cobran US$5 al artesano para
guardar silencio. Si se autoriza la contratación de personal se quedan
sin sus ingresos de moneda dura.

Creía yo que era reclamo de todos los cubanos el fin de la doble moneda,
sin embargo, en una gran fábrica de alimentos compruebo que no es así.
Los obreros me aseguran que a sus directivos les complace esa dualidad
monetaria.

Dicen que gracias a eso el Director General abrió cuentas bancarias
personales en el extranjero. Parece que pagar insumos, salarios, gastos
y servicios en dos monedas, con dos tasas de cambio y doble
contabilidad, deja buenas ganancias.

También fue un excelente negocio para algunos gerentes del turismo. Un
camarero me cuenta que se produjo una crisis cuando el gobierno puso fin
al hospedaje en moneda nacional, las "lunas de miel" y los "trabajadores
destacados".

No entiendo como eso podía afectar sus finanzas. Me explican que el
dinero recibido en moneda nacional lo contabilizaban después como si
fueran divisas. Así el Estado terminaba pagando en moneda dura las
vacaciones de los "trabajadores".

El precio de semejantes paquetes turísticos era tan alto que les hubiera
costado lo mismo enviarlos de vacaciones a Cancún, incluyendo los
boletos de avión y el hospedaje. Así por lo menos hubieran conocido otro
país.

Sin embargo, me aclaran que la crisis no llegó a la gerencia, los aires
acondicionados siguen funcionado y a los automóviles no les falta
gasolina. Es más, el restaurante continuó sirviendo la misma cantidad de
comida con la mitad de los huéspedes. El milagro de los panes y los
peces pero al revés.

Muchos recuerdan a aquel que compró la barredora de nieve (literalmente)
pero compruebo que no todos son tan tontos. En general los burócratas
miden muy bien los beneficios que cada negocio genera... a sus bolsillos.

Pasa en todos los sectores de la economía. Me cuenta un amigo que
algunos de los empresarios que compran zapatos buscan la empresa que les
pague la mejor comisión, sin importarles el precio o la calidad del
producto.

Me sorprendo al enterarme que cada soborno es de decenas de miles de
dólares. Explican que las compras siempre son millonarias, como
corresponde en una economía centralizada. Y yo voy comprendiendo por que
la descentralización tiene enemigos tan feroces.

Quedo pensando que al final de la historia todo lo paga el cubanito de a
pie. Él es quien está obligado a comprar zapatos de tercera, pagando por
ellos un salario completo a sabiendas de que se harán pedazos antes de 3
meses.

Y en ese caos reinan ellos, como señores de lo ajeno, resortes de todas
las palancas y dueños del futuro. Son los amos del inmovilismo, pero
encontré uno que si añora cambios... sueña con que un día la empresa que
dirige sea de su propiedad.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/mundo/cartas_desde_cuba/2010/09/la_teoria_del_caos.html

Drilling Plans Off Cuba Stir Fears of Impact on Gulf

Drilling Plans Off Cuba Stir Fears of Impact on Gulf
Desmond Boylan/Reuters
Cuba's nascent oil industry has pumps near Havana but lacks some of the
equipment needed to handle a major deepwater spill.
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS
Published: September 29, 2010

HOUSTON — Five months after the BP oil spill, a federal moratorium still
prohibits new deepwater drilling in the American waters of the Gulf of
Mexico. And under longstanding federal law, drilling is also banned near
the coast of Florida.
Multimedia
Map

Yet next year, a Spanish company will begin drilling new wells 50 miles
from the Florida Keys — in Cuba's sovereign waters.

Cuba currently produces little oil. But oil experts say the country
might have reserves along its north coast as plentiful as that of the
international oil middleweights, Ecuador and Colombia — enough to
bolster its faltering economy and cut its dependence on Venezuela for
its energy needs.

The advent of drilling in Cuban waters poses risks both to the island
nation and the United States.

Ocean scientists warn that a well blowout similar to the BP disaster
could send oil spewing onto Cuban beaches and then the Florida Keys in
as little as three days. If the oil reached the Gulf Stream, a powerful
ocean current that passes through the region, oil could flow up the
coast to Miami and beyond.

The nascent oil industry in Cuba is far less prepared to handle a major
spill than even the American industry was at the time of the BP spill.
Cuba has neither the submarine robots needed to fix deepwater rig
equipment nor the platforms available to begin drilling relief wells on
short notice.

And marshaling help from American oil companies to fight a Cuban spill
would be greatly complicated by the trade embargo on Cuba imposed by the
United States government 48 years ago, according to industry officials.
Under that embargo, American companies face severe restrictions on the
business they can conduct with Cuba.

The prospect of an accident is emboldening American drilling companies,
backed by some critics of the embargo, to seek permission from the
United States government to participate in Cuba's nascent industry, even
if only to protect against an accident.

"This isn't about ideology. It's about oil spills," said Lee Hunt,
president of the International Association of Drilling Contractors, a
trade group that is trying to broaden bilateral contacts to promote
drilling safety. "Political attitudes have to change in order to protect
the gulf."

Any opening could provide a convenient wedge for big American oil
companies that have quietly lobbied Congress for years to allow them to
bid for oil and natural gas deposits in waters off Cuba. Representatives
of Exxon Mobil and Valero Energy attended an energy conference on Cuba
in Mexico City in 2006, where they met Cuban oil officials.

Right now, Cuba's oil industry is served almost exclusively by
non-American companies. Repsol, a Spanish oil company, has contracted
with an Italian operator to build a rig in China that is scheduled to
begin drilling several deepwater test wells next year. Other companies,
from Norway, India, Malaysia, Venezuela, Vietnam and Brazil, have taken
exploration leases.

New Mexico's governor, Bill Richardson, a Democrat who regularly visits
Cuba, said Cuba's offshore drilling plans are a "potential inroad" for
loosening the embargo. During a recent humanitarian trip to Cuba, he
said, he bumped into a number of American drilling contractors — "all
Republicans who could eventually convince the Congress to make the
embargo flexible in this area of oil spills."

"I think you will see the administration be more forward-moving after
the election," Mr. Richardson said.

Despite several requests in the last week, Cuban officials declined to
make anyone available for an interview.

Currently, the United States, Mexico and Cuba are signatories to several
international protocols in which they agreed to cooperate to contain any
oil spill. In practice, there is little cooperation between Washington
and Havana on oil matters, although American officials did hold
low-level meetings with Cuban officials after the BP blowout.

"What is needed is for international oil companies in Cuba to have full
access to U.S. technology and personnel in order to prevent and/or
manage a blowout," said Jorge Piñón, a former executive of BP and Amoco.
Mr. Piñón, who fled Cuba as a child and now briefs American companies on
Cuban oil prospects, said the two governments must create a plan for
managing a spill.

Several American oil and oil service companies are eager to do business
in Cuba, Mr. Piñón said, but they are careful not to identify themselves
publicly because they want to "protect their brand image in South
Florida," where Cuban-Americans who support the embargo could boycott
their gasoline stations and other products.

There are signs the Obama administration is aware of the safety issues.
Shortly after the BP accident, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the
agency that regulates the embargo, said it would make licenses available
to American service companies to provide oil spill prevention and
containment support.

Charles Luoma-Overstreet, a State Department spokesman, said licenses
would be granted on a "application-by-application basis," but he would
not comment on the criteria.

Mr. Piñón said it appeared that an American company could apply for a
license before an emergency but that a license would be issued only
after an accident had occurred. "We're jumping up and down for
clarification," he said.

One group — Clean Caribbean & Americas, a Fort Lauderdale cooperative of
several oil companies — has received licenses to send technical
advisers, dispersants, containment booms and skimmers to Cuba since
2003. But it can only serve the member companies Repsol and Petrobras,
not Cuba's government.

Economic sanctions on Cuba have been in effect in one form or another
since 1960, although the embargo has been loosened to allow the sale of
agricultural goods and medicines and travel by Cuban-Americans to the
island.

Mr. Hunt of the drillers' group said that the association had sent a
delegation to Cuba in late August and had held talks with government
officials and Cupet, the Cuban national oil company.

He said that Cuban officials, including Tomás Benítez Hernández, the
vice minister of basic industry, asked him to take a message back to the
United States. "Senior officials told us they are going ahead with their
deepwater drilling program, that they are utilizing every reliable
non-U.S. source that they can for technology and information, but they
would prefer to work directly with the United States in matters of safe
drilling practices," Mr. Hunt said.

Mr. Benítez became the acting minister last week when the minister of
basic industry, the agency that oversees the oil industry, was fired for
reasons still unclear.

Donald Van Nieuwenhuise, director of petroleum geoscience programs at
the University of Houston, said that if an accident occurred in Cuban
waters, Repsol or other companies could mobilize equipment from the
North Sea, Brazil, Japan or China. But "a one-week delay could be
disastrous," he said, and it would be better for Havana, Washington and
major oil companies to coordinate in advance.

Opponents of the Cuban regime warn that assisting the Cubans with their
oil industry could help prop up Communist rule. Instead of making the
drilling safer, some want to stop it altogether.

Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, is urging President Obama to
recall a diplomatic note to Havana reinforcing a 1977 boundary agreement
that gives Cuba jurisdiction up to 45 miles from Florida. "I am sure you
agree that we cannot allow Cuba to put at risk Florida's major business
and irreplaceable environment," he wrote the president shortly after the
BP accident.

A version of this article appeared in print on September 30, 2010, on
page A1 of the New York edition.

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/world/americas/30cuba.html?_r=1&src=tptw&pagewanted=all

Cuban '09 coffee harvest was worst in history

Cuban '09 coffee harvest was worst in history
By WILL WEISSERT
HAVANA

Adios, cafe con leche?

Cuba -- where super-strong shots of espresso are a way of life -- says
it had its worst coffee harvest in history last year, with production
plummeting to just 5,500 tons nationwide.

And a full-page article in the Communist Party newspaper Granma on
Wednesday warned that authorities will no longer fill the shortfall with
imports. It said the government cannot afford to spend a projected $40
million this year and $47 million next just to keep islanders in
high-octane caffeine.

Cuba was the world's top coffee exporter in the 1940s, Granma reported,
producing a bean "that was very coveted in discerning markets."

As recently as the harvest of 1961-1962, Cuba produced 60,000 tons.

The newspaper cited inefficiency and negligence as reasons for the drop
in production, but did not go into detail.

Orlando Guevara, a coffee specialist at the Agricultural Ministry, told
Granma that Cuba hopes to produce at least 6,700 tons of coffee in the
coming harvest that begins in October and lasts about two months. He
said Cuba hopes to one day get back to 1970s' level of 28,000 to 30,000
tons a year.

As part of an effort to improve coffee production, Cuba recently
abandoned the long-held practice of using teams of ill-trained student
volunteers to harvest coffee, most of which is grown in the island's east.

Strong, almost tar-like espresso is most commonly served on the island
in thimble-sized shots cut with copious portions of sugar. Cafe con
leche is strong espresso combined with a large glass of steamed milk.
Though it is famous in Cuba, it is more commonly drunk by Cubans living
in the United States or elsewhere.

But cafe con leche's days could be numbered on the island itself. Bad
news about coffee production follows a report in May that Cuba recorded
its worst sugar harvest in more than a century, a scathing assessment
that followed the firing of the head of an industry that was once a
symbol of the nation.

No official figures were given, but officials acknowledged there had not
been "such a poor sugar campaign" since 1905, when the Cuban census
reported 1.23 million tons of sugar were harvested in the 1905-1906 season.

Communist officials have also for years attempted to jump-start the
country's foundering milk production, with only spotty results.

All of that could mean a lot less cafe con leche.

President Raul Castro has used every major address since taking over
power from his older brother Fidel in July 2006 to stress the need to
revive Cuba's farming sector and cut back on costly imports.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9IHLG000.htm

Cuba to drill for oil in water deeper than failed BP well

Posted on Wednesday, 09.29.10
Cuba to drill for oil in water deeper than failed BP well
By LESLEY CLARK AND SARA KENNEDY
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON -- Cuba is expected to begin drilling offshore for oil and
gas as soon as next year in waters deeper than those the Deepwater
Horizon rig was drilling in when it exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in April.

The Spanish energy company Repsol, which drilled an exploratory well in
2004 off the coast near Havana, has contracted to drill the first of
several exploratory wells with a semi-submersible rig that is expected
to arrive in Cuba at the end of the year, said Jorge Pinon, an energy
expert and visiting research fellow at the Cuban Research Institute at
Florida International University.

He said the rig is expected to begin drilling in 5,600 feet of water
about 22 miles north of Havana; and 65 miles south of Florida's
Marquesas Keys. The oil reservoir is thought to lie 13,000 feet below
the seafloor. The Deepwater Horizon rig was drilling in about 5,000 feet
of water when it exploded April 20, touching off the oil spill that
fixated the Gulf region throughout the spring and summer.

Luis Alberto Barreras Canizo, of Cuba's Ministry of Science, Technology
and the Environment, confirmed the drilling plans in an interview this
week in Sarasota, Fla., where he was one of 20 Cuban scientists who met
with scientists from the U.S. and Mexico to finalize a long-term marine
research and conservation plan for the three countries.

"Cuba needs to find its oil. It's a resource Cuba needs," Barreras said.

Environmentalists said the prospect of rigs just miles from Florida
could intensify pressure for the U.S. to engage in talks with its Cold
War antagonist to prevent ecological damage.

"We have a selfish interest in talking with Cuba," said David
Guggenheim, a conference organizer and senior fellow at The Ocean
Foundation in Washington. "At a minimum, you need a good Rolodex."

Guggenheim, who has worked on marine research and conservation issues
with Cuba for nearly a decade and helped that country track the
trajectory of the Deepwater Horizon spill, said computer modeling shows
that oil from a spill off Cuba's coast could end up in U.S. waters -
chiefly the Florida Keys and the east coast of Florida.

"The Gulf isn't going to respect any boundaries when it comes to oil
spills," Guggenheim said.

Barreras said he isn't worried about the ecological affects of offshore
drilling. "The Cuban environmental framework is very progressive," he said.

Pinon said, however, that an effective response to a spill might be
delayed by the need for U.S. companies to apply to the Treasury
Department for permission to work in Cuban waters, but State Department
spokesman Charles Luoma-Overstreet said U.S. companies could apply for
permits now to do such work.

"We would expect that any company engaged in oil exploration activities
to have adequate safeguards in place to prevent oil spills or other
incidents," he said. "U.S. companies can be licensed ... to provide oil
spill prevention and containment support related to operations in Cuba."

Daniel Whittle, the Cuba program director for the Environmental Defense
Fund, who recently returned from the island, said Cuban government
officials are "moving forward as quickly as possible" on securing
domestic oil production.

Cuba imports most of its oil and gas from Venezuela, and Whittle said
its own source would be critical to its economy.

He said the country is "taking a very close look at the lessons learned
from the BP oil spill. I can say they're determined to do it right. The
international consequences of doing it wrong are all something they'd
like to avoid."

Pinon said the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba had complicated Cuba's
efforts to secure a drilling rig. Vessels with more than 10 percent U.S.
parts are barred from operating in Cuba.

Repsol has hired an Italian rig, the Scarabeo 9, with a 200-member crew,
to do the job, but the rig's blowout preventer, a critical piece of
safety equipment that failed in the Deepwater Horizon explosion, was
manufactured in the U.S. The Scarabeo 9 is expected to drill as many as
nine other wells off Cuba's coast.

Florida lawmakers have sought - unsuccessfully - to squash Cuba's efforts.

When news reports of a potential deal with Repsol emerged in June, Sen.
Bill Nelson, D-Fla., asked the Obama administration to withdraw from a
1977 Maritime Boundary Agreement with Cuba to pressure its government.
National security adviser James Jones, however, said withdrawal "would
have no discernible effect" on the Cuban government and could create
further boundary claim disputes for the U.S.

Nelson tried a similar approach with the Bush administration in 2007
when Cuba was talking to Brazil about oil exploration. The Bush
administration also turned him down.

Guggenheim said he's encouraged that the State Department had granted
visas to 20 Cuban delegates to attend the marine and conservation
conference at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota - it was the
highest number ever issued for such a conference. The attendees
discussed a tri-national plan of action for protection of coral reefs,
sea turtles, fish, sharks and other marine life.

"We can't protect our own waters without working closely with Mexico and
Cuba," he said.

(Clark reported from Washington; Kennedy, of the Bradenton Herald,
reported from Sarasota, Fla.)

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/29/v-fullstory/1849343/cuba-to-drill-for-oil-in-water.html

La cosecha de café de 2009 fue la peor de la historia

Economía

La cosecha de café de 2009 fue la peor de la historia
Agencias
La Habana 29-09-2010 - 5:58 pm.

El gobierno deberá gastar 47 millones de dólares en importaciones.

La cosecha de café de 2009 fue la peor en la historia del país al
recolectarse 5.500 toneladas, lo que obliga a un gasto de 40 millones de
dólares al año para su importación, carga que el país "no puede soportar
por más tiempo", informó este miércoles el diario oficial Granma.

"El deterioro de la producción en años anteriores tuvo la más dramática
caída en la cosecha del 2009, la peor en nuestra historia cafetalera, al
acopiarse apenas 5.500 toneladas", escribió el periódico, según ANSA.

En 2010, el gobierno tuvo que gastar 40 millones de dólares para
importar café destinado al consumo de la población y, según las
previsiones, el próximo año debería gastar 47 millones de dólares, "una
pesada carga que el país no puede soportar por más tiempo".

El gobierno de Raúl Castro lleva adelante un programa de sustitución de
importaciones. El país importa el 80% de lo que consume.

Las 5.500 toneladas recolectadas suponen un 9% de la mejor campaña,
1961-62, cuando se alcanzaron 60.300 toneladas. El país aspira a llegar
en 2015 a las 22.000 toneladas, acercándose así a las cifras de los años
70, entre 28.000 y 30.000 toneladas.

Un total de 80.700 hectáreas están dedicadas al cultivo del café, de las
que solo el 85% está en producción y "mal aprovechado".

El gobierno achaca el descenso de la producción a la carencia de fuerza
de trabajo en la montaña, lo que obliga a una "costosa movilización
anual" de estudiantes y trabajadores de otros sectores, y a la
ineficiente aplicación de la tecnología al cultivo, entre otros motivos.

http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/la-cosecha-de-cafe-de-2009-fue-la-peor-de-la-historia

Cuba perforará en el Golfo a más profundidad que BP

Cuba perforará en el Golfo a más profundidad que BP

La posibilidad de que haya plataformas tan cerca de la Florida podría
intensificar la presión para que Washington entre en conversaciones con
las autoridades de la Isla para prevenir daños ecológicos

Redacción CE, Madrid | 30/09/2010

Se espera que Cuba comience a realizar perforaciones petroleras en el
fondo del mar tan pronto como el próximo año, utilizando equipo que
llegará a mayores profundidades que la plataforma Deepwater Horizon que
estalló en el Golfo de México, afirmaron expertos de la industria, según
El Nuevo Herald.

La compañía española Repsol, que perforó un pozo de exploración en 2004
frente a las costas de La Habana, ha sido contratada para perforar el
primero de varios pozos de exploración con una plataforma semisumergible
que deberá llegar a Cuba a fines de este año, dijo Jorge Piñón, experto
en energía y catedrático invitado en el Cuban Research Institute de la
Universidad Internacional de la Florida (FIU). Afirmó que se espera que
la plataforma perfore a 5.600 pies de profundidad en un área a unas 22
millas al norte de La Habana, unas 65 millas al sur de Marquesas Keys.

El anuncio se hizo mientras 20 científicos cubanos se reunieron esta
semana con colegas de Estados Unidos y México en el Laboratorio Marino
Mote de Sarasota, para definir los últimos detalles de un plan a largo
plazo de investigación marítima y conservación para los tres países.

Luis Alberto Barreras Cañizo, que encabezó la delegación cubana como
representante del Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Medio Ambiente,
confirmó los planes para la exploración. "Cuba necesita encontrar su
petróleo, es un recurso que Cuba necesita", dijo el funcionario en una
entrevista con el Bradenton Herald.

Los ambientalistas sugirieron que la posibilidad de que haya plataformas
a sólo 45 millas al sur de la costa de Florida podría intensificar la
presión para que la Administración del presidente Barack Obama entre en
conversaciones con las autoridades de la Isla para prevenir daños
ecológicos.

"Una política de aislacionismo no beneficia a nadie. Tenemos un interés
egoísta en conversar con Cuba", dijo David Guggenheim, organizador de
conferencias y catedrático de The Ocean Foundation en Washington. "Como
mínimo, se necesita una buena lista de contactos".

Guggenheim, quien ha estado trabajando en asuntos de investigación
marítima y conservación con Cuba por casi una década y que ayudó con
imágenes de satélite y modelos para seguir la trayectoria del derrame
petrolero en el Golfo de México, dijo que los modelos computarizados
muestran que un derrame frente a las costas de Cuba podría terminar en
aguas de Estados Unidos, sobre todo en los Cayos y la costa este de la
Florida. "El Golfo no va a respetar límites cuando se trata de derrames
petroleros", dijo.

Barreras declaró que no está preocupado por los efectos ecológicos de
las perforaciones en el fondo del mar y afirmó que "el marco ambiental
cubano es muy progresista", agrega la información de El Nuevo Herald.

Una portavoz del Departamento de Estado dijo que Estados Unidos espera
que las compañías de exploración petrolera tengan "salvaguardas
adecuadas" y que las empresas estadounidenses podrían obtener una
licencia a través de la Oficina de Control de Bienes Extranjeros del
Departamento del Tesoro para colaborar con los esfuerzos de prevención
de derrames petroleros en Cuba.

Pero Piñón, quien argumentó en una nota en mayo que la política de
Estados Unidos hacia Cuba pondría en peligro la capacidad de respuesta
efectiva a un derrame, dijo que esos permisos podrían tomar semanas.
"Uno no puede poner un derrame en pausa para lidiar con la burocracia",
señaló.

Daniel Whittle, director del programa de Cuba para el Environmental
Defense Fund y quien recientemente viajó a la Isla, dijo que las
autoridades cubanas se están "moviendo lo más rápidamente posible" para
asegurar la producción petrolera doméstica porque actualmente importa la
mayoría de su petróleo de Venezuela.

Whittle señaló que la nación caribeña "está estudiando muy
minuciosamente las lecciones aprendidas del derrame de BP. Puedo decir
que están decididos a hacerlo bien. Las consecuencias internacionales de
hacerlo mal es algo que les gustaría evitar".

Piñón dijo que a Cuba le tomó tiempo conseguir una plataforma que no
violara el embargo comercial de Estados Unidos, que prohíbe que operen
en Cuba embarcaciones con más de 10% de partes estadounidenses. Indicó
que la plataforma italiana Scarabeo 9 tiene una válvula para prevenir
explosiones, manufacturada en Estados Unidos. Se espera que la
plataforma perfore hasta nueve pozos frente a las costas de Cuba.

Los legisladores de Florida han intentado, infructuosamente,
obstaculizar los esfuerzos de Cuba.

Cuando se dieron a conocer los reportes de un acuerdo potencial con
Repsol en junio pasado, el senador Bill Nelson le pidió a la
Administración Obama retirarse del Acuerdo de Límites Marítimos con Cuba
de 1977 para presionar al gobierno de la Isla. Pero el asesor de
Seguridad Nacional, James Jones, dijo que el retiro "no tendría un
efecto discernible" sobre el Gobierno cubano y podría acarrear nuevas
disputas de límites.

Nelson intentó algo similar con la Administración del presidente George
W. Bush en 2007, cuando Cuba estaba en conversaciones con Brasil sobre
exploración petrolera. En esa ocasión, la Casa Blanca también rechazó su
propuesta.

Guggenheim dijo que se sentía alentado porque el Departamento de Estado
había otorgado visas a los 20 delegados cubanos que asistieron a la
conferencia de Sarasota, un mayor número que nunca antes. Los asistentes
discutieron un plan trinacional de acción para la protección de los
arrecifes de coral, las tortugas marinas, peces, tiburones y otras
formas de vida. "No podemos proteger nuestras propias aguas sin trabajar
de cerca con México y Cuba", puntualizó.

http://www.cubaencuentro.com/cuba/noticias/cuba-perforara-en-el-golfo-a-mas-profundidad-que-bp-245951

Gobierno trata de recuperar cosecha cafetalera

Gobierno trata de recuperar cosecha cafetalera

Analista dice que el país no puede seguir invirtiendo unos 40 millones
de dólares en la importación del grano

Agencias, Madrid | 30/09/2010

Cuba tuvo en 2009 la peor cosecha cafetalera de su historia y tuvo que
importar grano para el consumo doméstico, pero elaboró un plan para
comenzar a revertir la situación a partir de 2010.

"El país no puede seguir invirtiendo cerca de 40 millones de dólares,
como en este año, para importaciones de ese grano", expresó uno de los
principales analistas del sector agropecuario, Juan Varela, en
declaraciones publicadas el miércoles por el diario oficial Granma.

Según el rotativo la "más dramática" caída de la cosecha se produjo en
2009, cuando lograron acopiarse apenas 5.500 toneladas y debió comprarse
el producto en el exterior para cumplir con la demanda de la población,
que lo recibe subsidiado mediante su libreta de abastecimiento.

Agregó que fenómenos naturales como los ciclones afectaron a los
cafetos, pero reconoció que también incidió la falta de control en la
siembra y poda o una mala aplicación de la tecnología.

Varela recordó que en la década de los 40 Cuba era el principal
proveedor de café en el mercado mundial.

Entre los planes de rescate de la Isla están medidas tecnológicas como
la regulación de la sombra de las plantas y la conservación de los
suelos hasta retomar prácticas tradicionales de cultivo perdidas en
estos años.

Recientemente se informó que no se usará más el trabajo voluntario de
jóvenes estudiantes para la cosecha del café, que en las provincias
productoras del oriente de la Isla entra en su punto más fuerte en octubre.

Según el especialista Orlando Guevara del Ministerio de Agricultura,
para este año se busca "contener el descenso" y se aspira "en la actual
cosecha a no menos de 6.700 toneladas".

"El objetivo consiste en garantizar el modesto plan de 2010 que abre el
camino para llegar en 2015 a las 22.000 toneladas", dijo Granma.

Las autoridades esperan también poder incrementar el rendimiento de las
áreas cultivadas. Actualmente se dedican al cultivo del grano unas
80.700 hectáreas y de ellas sólo el 85% está en producción "y mal
aprovechado", informó el rotativo.

La idea de las autoridades es lograr crear las condiciones para sostener
cosechas similares a las de la década de los 70 de entre 28.000 y 30.000
toneladas, cifra que se consideraría razonable, aunque es casi la mitad
de las 60.000 conseguidas a comienzo de la década de los 60.

http://www.cubaencuentro.com/cuba/noticias/gobierno-trata-de-recuperar-cosecha-cafetalera-245949

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

A helping U.S. hand to Cuba's market reform?

A helping U.S. hand to Cuba's market reform?
Sep 29, 2010 08:33 EDT


– Boston University Professor Susan Eckstein is author of "The Immigrant
Divide: How Cuban Americans Changed the U.S. and Their Homeland" and
"Cuba under Castro," and past president of the Latin American Studies
Association. The views expressed are her own. –

Raul Castro announced that 10 percent of Cuba's state employees, half a
million people, will be dismissed from their public sector jobs and free
to pursue work in the private sector. The near-fiscally bankrupt state
no longer can afford to pay inefficient workers. But the Cuban
leadership remains a reluctant reformer. We Americans have a vested
interest in facilitating a deeper market transition 90 miles off shore.

This is not the first time Cuba under the Castro brothers has launched
market reforms, having introduced minor openings over the years. After
paying nearly all workers equally and distributing most goods equitably
through a ration system in the '60s, it began to tie earnings to work
performance, expand private economic opportunities in agriculture and
the service sector, and allow goods to be sold off the ration system on
an ability to pay basis. It has also permitted private foreign
investment since the '90s. But measures introduced during economic
troubles proved too meager to fuel significant economic growth and many
were reversed when priorities shifted.

While head of state, Fidel made the decision to follow neither the
Soviet nor the Chinese examples of reform. He considered the Soviet
model — in which glasnost (political reform) preceded perestroika
(economic reform) — an invitation for political suicide. While the U.S.
applauded Soviet changes, the political opening drove Gorbachev from
power, leaving the Soviet Union to join the dustbin of history. And
when Fidel went very publicly to China to learn about capitalism, he
didn't like what he saw — rising inequality and materialism,
antithetical to the egalitarian and non-materialistic precepts of the
Cuban revolution.

If times have changed and continued commitment to socialist precepts are
a luxury the Cuban government no longer can afford, how likely is a full
market transition? Private sector jobs require private investment.
Earning only about $20 a month on average, ordinary Cubans cannot be the
main source of capital. The government might provide some financing,
but it plans to slim down state employment precisely because it lacks
the fiscal resources to keep the economy afloat.

The Cuban-American community and the U.S. government might be sources of
capital, but this will require both to break with their policies of the
past, just as the Cuban government now plans to break with its past.
Unlike overseas Chinese who played a key role in the "Chinese miracle"
by convincing officials to reform the economy and by investing large
amounts of money in their homeland, the more than half a million Cubans
who fled the revolution in their country in the first decade of Castro's
rule took a different path. They determinedly sought to bring Castro's
government to heel, partly through economic strangulation. Although
many shared in the American Dream, they resisted sending money home.
Instead, they used their emergent political clout in the U.S., their
votes, and a political action committee they formed to pressure
Washington to maintain a virtual Berlin Wall across the Florida Straits.

Because of immigrant political influence, the U.S. government maintains
an embargo on U.S.-Cuba trade and investment, though it has opened up
economic relations with China and even Vietnam with which it fought a
major war. The most recent Cuban immigrants send remittances to family
they left behind to help them cope with the economic crisis they are
experiencing. They may be a source of funds for the private economic
activity Raul will now allow. But as struggling newcomers to the U.S.
they have little money to spare and share. Although they favor improved
U.S.-Cuba relations, many are not yet U.S. citizens and have no PAC of
their own — and thus have little influence over U.S. Cuba policy,
despite being a force for change.

As both Raul and Fidel acknowledge that their economic system no longer
works, we have an opportunity to respond in kind, to make a full market
transition more probable. If we acknowledge that our 50-year embargo
has been ineffective (never strangulating the Castro regime to the point
of collapse) and signal to the Cuban government that we are supportive
of their effort to restructure their economy, we will be working in our
best interests as well as Cuba's. U.S. business will benefit from new
investment and trade opportunities, and we will minimize the likelihood
of another mass exodus from Cuba, of un- and under-employed Cubans who
envision their future prospects far better in the U.S. than in their
ailing economy.

In 1980, 125,000 Cubans took to the sea from the port of Mariel to
emigrate without U.S. entry permission. We do not want "another
Mariel," potentially on a larger scale, at a time when close to 10
percent of our own labor force is jobless. Moreover, improved relations
with Cuba will further our political interests: In our post-9/11 world,
we could help transform one of our closest of neighbors into an ally.

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2010/09/29/a-helping-u-s-hand-to-cuba%E2%80%99s-market-reform/

Cuba poised for offshore drilling?

Published: Wednesday, Sep. 29, 2010
Cuba poised for offshore drilling?
Experts at Mote conference think so
By SARA KENNEDY - skennedy@bradenton.com

SARASOTA — Cuba may be poised to begin offshore drilling for oil and gas
as soon as next year, according to some of those attending a
tri-national conference on marine issues here.

"They will begin drilling, I think, within the next year," said Wayne
Smith, Ph.D., who served in the foreign service in Cuba during the
Carter and Reagan administrations, and now works for the Center for
International Policy in Washington, D.C. He is also an adjunct professor
at Johns Hopkins University.

"It's good for Cuba," Smith added during an interview at a break in the
conference at Mote Marine Laboratory. "Let's hope the Cubans are more
careful about their drilling practices than we were."

The island nation about 90 miles from Florida's tip already has oil
wells on land, but offshore exploration and drilling for oil and natural
gas will be new, scientists said.

The conference, the Tri-national Initiative for Marine Science and
Conservation of the Gulf of Mexico and Western Caribbean, focused not on
oil drilling, but on finalizing a long-term marine mutual research and
conservation plan for the United States, Mexico and Cuba.

It continues today with a program addressing ecosystem-wide conservation
for animals like sharks and sea turtles, along with discussion of
marine-protected areas, coral reefs, fisheries and other topics.

One session did address the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster: It was
titled "BP Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Disaster: Lessons and Implications
for Our Tri-national Work."

In interviews with The Herald, many of the delegates appeared to be
well-acquainted with Cuba's energy development plans, which entail
leasing offshore sites to international oil companies. U.S. companies
are prohibited from participating, due to a long-standing economic
embargo of the Communist nation.

"It's still in the exploratory phase, but it's no doubt it'll be
significant," said David Guggenheim, Ph.D., moderator of the conference.
"It will generate badly needed revenue and energy independence."

Guggenheim said the U.S. government had granted visas to 20 Cuban
delegates attending the marine conference, which he hoped might
encourage at least a conversation on how Cuba, the United States and
Mexico might work together on issues of such great importance.

He said it was unusual for so many to be allowed in the United States at
one time, constituting "a dramatic change at least in this regard."

The Cuban delegation was headed by Luis Alberto Barreras Cañizo, M.Sc.,
representing the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment.

"Cuba needs to find its oil, it's a resource Cuba needs," he said during
an interview.

Asked if the idea of oil and gas drilling off the coast of his country
bothered him from an ecological point of view, Barreras replied it did not.

"The Cuban environmental framework is very progressive," he said through
an interpreter.

Jorge R. Piñon, a former president of Amoco Oil Latin America, which
merged with BP, was not at the Sarasota conference, but said later in a
telephone interview that Cuba had awarded 29 blocks, called concessions,
to a group of about seven international oil companies.

Piñon, who is also a visiting research fellow at the Cuban Research
Institute at Miami's Florida International University, said that a
submersible oil drilling rig is going through sea trials, and is
expected to arrive near Cuba at the end of the year.

"The first quarter next year, we do expect for (Spanish company) Repsol
to be drilling about 22 miles north of Havana," he said.

http://www.bradenton.com/2010/09/29/2613115/cuba-poised-for-offshore-drilling.html

Gobierno: El fin de los despidos es vincular el 80 por ciento de las plantillas a la producción

Trabajo

Gobierno: El fin de los despidos es vincular el 80 por ciento de las
plantillas a la producción
Agencias
La Habana 29-09-2010 - 12:10 pm.

Los 'no idóneos' sólo recibirán un mes de subsidio de desempleo por
década trabajada.

Los ajustes laborales anunciados por el gobierno, que eliminarán medio
millón de empleos públicos en los próximos seis meses, pretenden lograr
plantillas donde al menos el 80 por ciento de los trabajadores esté
vinculado directamente a la producción, informaron este martes medios
oficiales.

El diario Granma, portavoz del Partido Comunista de Cuba, publicó un
reportaje sobre los detalles de la "reorganización económica"
emprendida, reportó EFE.

Dijo que Cuba tiene actualmente entidades laborales "con más custodios
que trabajadores de su actividad productiva"; mientras tanto, el Estado
"invierte en la alimentación del pueblo 1.500 millones de dólares
anuales" y el 50 por ciento de las tierras cultivables del país están
sin explotar.

Granma señaló que "si existe en estos momentos una gran masa trabajadora
en actividades improductivas es el resultados de deficiencias en la
planificación de la economía".

También insistió en que nadie "quedará desamparado" con este ajuste
laboral y en que no se trata de un proceso improvisado.

Según Marino Murillo, ministro de Economía, citado en la nota de Granma,
la eliminación de las plantillas infladas, subsidios excesivos y
gratuidades indebidas, entre otros, contribuirán "en el futuro
inmediato" a financiar subidas salariales.

El gobierno dijo que el despido de 500.000 trabajadores estatales en los
próximos seis meses se llevará a cabo atendiendo a criterios de
"idoneidad demostrada" y con el asesoramiento de comités de expertos y
de la Central de Trabajadores (CTC, sindicato único) en cada centro de
trabajo.

La información oficial indicó que quienes sean cesados recibirán un
subsidio por desempleo según los años trabajados, reportó la agencia
Notimex.

Así, todos los cesados recibirán un mes de salario básico. Quienes no
puedan reubicarse en ese período recibirán el 60 por ciento de sus
haberes otro mes si laboraron de 10 a 19 años. Quienes hayan trabajado
de 20 a 25 años recibirán dos meses de subsidio, tres quienes hayan
trabajado de 26 a 30 años, y cinco quienes acrediten más de 30 años,
según la agencia estatal Prensa Latina.

http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/gobierno-el-fin-de-los-despidos-es-vincular-el-80-por-ciento-de-las-plantillas-la-produccion

Cuba podría incrementar los salarios tras eliminar plantillas infladas

Cuba podría incrementar los salarios tras eliminar plantillas infladas

Según un vicepresidente de la Isla, el aumento sería posible por la
eliminación de subsidios y servicios gratuitos

Redacción CE, Madrid | 29/09/2010

El vicepresidente cubano Marino Murillo afirmó que la eliminación de las
plantillas infladas en el sector estatal podría financiar incrementos
salariales en el futuro inmediato, destacaron el martes medios de
prensa, de acuerdo a la agencia Prensa Latina.

Para Murillo, tal aumento salarial sería posible además por la
eliminación subsidios excesivos, gratuidades indebidas y liberar al
Estado de un grupo de actividades, de acuerdo con un artículo del diario
Granma sobre el reordenamiento laboral en el país.

El adelanto del también Ministro de Economía y Planificación están
contenidos en un trabajo que ocupa las páginas centrales de la
publicación titulado Cuba no dejará a nadie desamparado, reorganiza su
economía y sus fuerzas productivas.

Para el articulista esas son razones de peso que aconsejan modificar
resoluciones del Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social con lo que se
perfeccionaría el tratamiento laboral y salarial al medio millón de
trabajadores que quedarán cesanteados.

El objetivo es garantizar el empleo racional de la fuerza de trabajo y
fortalecer el papel del salario y su relación con los resultados del
trabajo, añadió la fuente.

Al hablar sobre la necesidad de reducir los puestos de trabajo en el
sector estatal, la nota explicó que el propósito es alcanzar plantillas
en las que al menos el 80% de sus miembros esté vinculado directamente a
la producción o los servicios.

http://www.cubaencuentro.com/cuba/noticias/cuba-podria-incrementar-los-salarios-tras-eliminar-plantillas-infladas-245887

PARA MEJORAR LA PRODUCCIÓN DE CAFÉ EN CUBA

PARA MEJORAR LA PRODUCCIÓN DE CAFÉ EN CUBA
29-09-2010.
Elías Amor Bravo
Economista ULC

(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- "La crisis cafetalera tiene muchas
justificaciones y en parte es verdad que la producción se ha visto
dañada unas veces por el azote de los ciclones, otras por la sequía, en
los últimos años ha estado muy presente el déficit de insumos básicos y
la falta de motivación por los bajos precios, pero no nos llamemos a
engaño, el principal problema consiste en la falta de control: la poca
atención a los productores, la ineficiente aplicación de la tecnología
al cultivo, la escasa siembra, resiembra y poda y la casi olvidada
renovación de las viejas plantaciones".

¿Palabras de un economista crítico con el régimen? En absoluto, artículo
publicado en el diario Granma de hoy 29 de septiembre.
Para explicar el drama de tener que importar café por 40 millones de
dólares en la otrora potencia productora de este cultivo, se aduce
directamente "el principal problema consiste en la falta de control: la
poca atención a los productores, la ineficiente aplicación de la
tecnología al cultivo, la escasa siembra, resiembra y poda, y la casi
olvidada renovación de las viejas plantaciones".

Falso. Al final, todo se reduce a una sola cuestión: un pésimo sistema
de derechos de propiedad, en el que nadie tiene el más mínimo interés en
dedicar su tiempo y esfuerzo a algo de lo que sabe que nunca será dueño.
La falta de control y de responsabilidad que ahora Granma utiliza para
atacar a los pobres cubanos, nada tiene que ver con aquellas
confiscaciones masivas de propiedades del comienzo de la llamada
"revolución", las campañas enloquecidas para cultivar café por los
"pioneros" en los eriales, donde los guajiros sabían que nunca podría
obtenerse este producto, la introducción de nuevas variedades cuya
inserción en el suelo cubano no estaba garantizada, o las
desforestaciones practicadas en los bosques tropicales donde se obtiene
el café de mejor calidad.

En suma, el café, alimento básico de la dieta de varias generaciones de
cubanos, se convertía en un artículo escaso, de calidad controvertida,
incluso para los importadores que acudían a la Isla a comprobar la
calidad del producto, y que se percataban que de vez en cuando, les
entregaban gato por liebre, si chícharos tostados de la mejor calidad.

La situación actual es especialmente grave. Con los precios en los
mercados internacionales del café y la crisis financiera del la economía
cubana no es posible en 2010 asumir unos gastos con cargo al presupuesto
estatal de 40 millones de dólares para importar el que se destina al
consumo de la población.

El régimen castrista en bancarrota estimula a los productores con
precios muy por encima de los que existían y, aunque todavía no
satisfacen todas las necesidades, ha incrementado la entrega de aperos
de labranza y otros insumos para enfrentar la etapa inicial del programa
de recuperación y desarrollo del café. Pero es evidente que estas
medidas no han dado los resultados esperados, y hace falta seguir
importando café para atender las necesidades básicas de la población.

En el castro raulismo, donde todo títere con cabeza que se mueve es
eliminado de la escena política, la máxima de la eficiencia parece
haberse convertido en un logro nacional. Mal camino han elegido con
tanta arenga crítica y como siempre tanta palabrería, cuando la solución
es muy clara.

Devuelvan la tierra a quien la trabaja, garanticen a los guajiros la
propiedad de sus tierras, establezcan un marco jurídico duradero de
regulación de los derechos de propiedad para todos los cubanos, y dejen
trabajar a la gente en paz. Los resultados serán los que ya Cuba
demostró en sus primeros 51 años de república democrática y libre que
podría conseguir. Incluso mejores, porque el paso del tiempo y el avance
tecnológico se encargarán de mejorar las cosas. Como se indica en el
artículo de Granma, "Cuba fue en la década de los años 40, según fuentes
del Ministerio de la Agricultura, la principal exportadora de café del
mundo". En 2009, la cosecha de café en la Isla apenas alcanzó 5.500
toneladas.

http://www.miscelaneasdecuba.net/web/article.asp?artID=30066

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Military man to head Cuba's biggest company

Military man to head Cuba's biggest company
Reuters
By Marc Frank Marc Frank – Mon Sep 27, 4:10 pm ET

HAVANA (Reuters) – President Raul Castro has put a military officer in
charge of Cuba's largest commercial corporation as part of a drive to
increase efficiency and reduce corruption in the country's major foreign
exchange companies.

Colonel Hector Oroza Busutin arrived at the headquarters of the Cuban
Export-Import Corporation (CIMEX) earlier this month, replacing its
long-time President Eduardo Bencomo, according to various company employees.

"Since then, there have been a lot of military people running around
here," one of them said, asking that her name not be used.

Since taking over the presidency from older brother Fidel Castro in
2008, Raul Castro has taken steps to boost Cuba's troubled state-run
economy and weed out corruption.

He reportedly wants to brings some of the country's independent
companies under government ministries and views consolidation, which has
already begun, as the best path forward.

In many cases, he has entrusted the task to military officers, with whom
he is said to feel more comfortable after almost five decades as Cuba's
defense minister.

At least 10 military men hold positions in his cabinet or as deputy
ministers and heads of key agencies.

Oroza Busutin moved to CIMEX from his position as No. 2 in the
military-run Administrative Group of Businesses (GAE.SA), a holding
company which also operates numerous foreign exchange businesses
including the country's largest tourism corporation and real estate
firm, a chain of warehouses and hundreds of retail outlets selling
everything from groceries to domestic appliances.

Castro's son-in-law, Colonel Luis Alberto Rodriguez, is the chief
executive of GAE.SA.

CIMEX's new deputy director, Ana Maria Oretega, held a similar position
at the military's retail chain, TRD-Caribe, according to the company
sources.

"I'm not surprised. It follows the trend under Raul," said a Western
diplomat in Havana.

The appointment has not been announced despite CIMEX's relations with
hundreds of foreign suppliers and significant role in Cuba's everyday life.

CONSOLIDATION UNDER WAY

CIMEX, with annual revenues of more than $1 billion, is an independent
state-run conglomerate that operates exclusively in foreign exchange and
the local equivalent called the convertible peso, valued at $1.08 per unit.

It runs its own shipping line and bank, clears foreign credit card
transactions, controls remittance wire transfers, operates a real estate
business and the country's largest travel agency and owns more than
2,500 commercial outlets including department stores, fast food spots
and gas stations.

The change in command at CIMEX follows the liquidation last year of
CUBALSE, Cuba's second-largest foreign exchange company. Its numerous
businesses were spun off mainly to military-run companies and CIMEX.

The dissolution of CUBALSE, Cuban authorities said at the time, would
"reduce expenses, increase negotiating power, concentrate the
administration of service-providing entities, and carry these out with
greater efficiency."

In the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba's chief
benefactor, the elder Castro opened the door to international tourism
and investment, legalized the dollar and later the convertible peso and
welcomed family remittances.

The military along with CIMEX and CUBALSE were given the task of
absorbing the influx of cash by establishing retail and other businesses
in what the government viewed as an experiment in state-managed competition.

But Raul Castro reportedly has come to view the competitive model in
state-run foreign exchange operations as redundant and rife with corruption.

Theft at their gas stations has been estimated at up to 50 percent by
the official media and much of Cuba's prolific black market is said to
be fed by warehouses under the various companies' control.

It is still not clear what will happen to CIMEX, but many believe some
of its operations will be spun off, with, for example tourism businesses
going to the Tourism Ministry.

There is also talk that a single chain of retail establishments
operating in convertible pesos is planned.

(Editing by Jeff Franks and Cynthia Osterman)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100927/wl_nm/us_cuba_corporation_1

Azerbaijan ready to study Cuba's investment potential

Azerbaijan ready to study Cuba's investment potential
28.09.2010 19:01

Azerbaijan and Cuba consider the possibilities for cooperation in the
field of medicine, agriculture, tourism, Deputy Economic Development
Minister Niyazi Safarov said at a business meeting with the Cuban
delegation in Baku.

"Cuba is greatly interested in Azerbaijan. The Cuban delegation visited
Azerbaijan several times. The purpose of this delegation's visit is to
get information about Azerbaijan, familiarize with the sectors,
including agriculture, medicine and tourism development and exchange
views, " deputy minister said.

Safarov said that it is planned to get acquainted with investment
opportunities in Cuba's economy, which may be interesting for
Azerbaijani entrepreneurs.

Deputy minister said that two countries have great potential to expand ties.

The head of the Cuban delegation, deputy minister of external trade and
foreign investment Oscar Peres-Oliva Fraga said that Cuba and Azerbaijan
can cooperate on mutually beneficial conditions in many areas. First of
all, cooperation is possible in the field of medicine, namely biotech
programs to reduce the number of cases in which Cuba has made great success.

"We will discuss cooperation in the field of oil and gas, as well as
other sectors after the meeting with entrepreneurs," the Cuban deputy
minister said.

http://en.trend.az/capital/entrepreneurship/1758050.html

Cuba espera que al menos el 80% de los trabajadores estén vinculados directamente con la producción

Cuba espera que al menos el 80% de los trabajadores estén vinculados
directamente con la producción
MADRID, 28 (EUROPA PRESS)

El Gobierno de Raúl Castro espera que con la nueva reorganización
laboral, que prevé el despido de más de un millón de trabajadores del
sector público para reubicarlos en otros sectores, al menos el 80% de
los trabajadores estén vinculados directamente con la producción,
informó este martes el diario oficial "Granma".

El rotativo oficial del Partido Comunista de Cuba explica algunos
detalles de lo que será esta histórica reforma anunciada hace unos meses
por Castro, en un intento por aliviar al Estado de cargas económicas y
mejorar la competitividad de sus empresas, las cuales se han visto
afectadas por la crisis económica global.

"Hacer eficiente cada puesto de trabajo, alcanzar plantillas en las que
al menos el 80% de los trabajadores estén vinculados directamente a la
producción, servicios u otra actividad fundamental, contrario a lo que
sucede ahora, resultan imprescindibles", señala "Granma".

El régimen apunta a una profunda transformación del esquema laboral como
solución a la crisis económica en la que se encuentra sumido debido al
contexto mundial, que ha provocado una drástica reducción de las
exportaciones y un aumento similar de las importaciones.

Estas dificultades se manifiestan, sobre todo, en el sector alimentario
al que el Estado destina 1.500 millones de dólares (1.104 millones de
euros) mientras el 50% de las tierras permanecen en desuso o son
improductivas.

"Existe en estos momentos una gran masa trabajadora en actividades
improductivas es el resultado de deficiencias en la planificación de la
economía, lo cual nos ha conducido a un desequilibrio económico
incrementado; también, por la situación financiera internacional: crecen
los precios de importación y bajan los de exportación", recoge el texto.

Así, alude a la necesidad de reducir el número de trabajadores públicos
y reubicarlos de acuerdo al principio de idoneidad, es decir, a las
cualidades de cada empleado para un determinado puesto. "Si para hacer
el trabajo de una persona hay emplantilladas tres, si además esas
ubicaciones están en la esfera no productiva, si la industria es
ineficiente, si el más idóneo no es quien desempeña el cargo, cómo
elevar los salarios o el nivel de vida de la población", reza el texto.

Sin embargo, las consecuencias de esta reforma serán amortiguadas por
los programas estatales. "Es cierto que podríamos encontrar núcleos
familiares afectados en el transcurso de la aplicación de esta medida,
pero al lado de ellos estará la revolución humanista, evaluando y
proponiendo soluciones, acordes con sus posibilidades reales", indica.

En el marco de estos inéditos cambios, el Gobierno autorizó el
desarrollo de empresas privadas con contratación de personal en un total
de 178 áreas, para absorber a los trabajadores que resulten afectados
por la masiva reducción de empleos, así como el alquiler de las
viviendas de los cubanos que vivan fuera de la isla.

Estas medidas entrarán en vigor a partir del próximo mes de octubre,
cuando los cubanos podrán obtener una de las 250.000 licencias que el
régimen otorgará para abrir pequeños restaurantes, ofrecer servicios de
transporte, trabajar como payasos, masajistas, jardineros y hasta
cuidadores de baños públicos.

http://www.invertia.com/noticias/noticia.asp?subclasid=&clasid=&idNoticia=2406970

Empresarios británicos negocian el arriendo de terrenos para campos de golf

Turismo

Empresarios británicos negocian el arriendo de terrenos para campos de golf
Agencias / DDC
La Habana 28-09-2010 - 3:48 pm.

Empresarios británicos que iniciaron este lunes una misión de negocios
en Cuba podrían estar entre los primeros en arrendar terrenos en la Isla
para construir campos golf y hoteles, tras el reciente cambio en las
leyes de inversión que permite a extranjeros arrendar tierras por plazos
de hasta 99 años.

Según BBC Mundo, Emely Morris, analista de temas cubanos de la unidad de
investigación de la revista británica The Economist es muy posible que
en los próximos meses se firmen una serie de contratos de arrendamiento
de terrenos, que desde hace un tiempo están en negociación.

Uno de los empresarios que negocian la adquisición de solares en Cuba es
Andrew Macdonald, gerente general del grupo Esencia Hotels and Resorts.

"Esperamos llegar a un acuerdo con las autoridades cubanas y aprovechar
los términos de esta reforma que acaba de producirse para, una vez
concluidos los estudios de factibilidad correspondientes, desarrollar un
proyecto de gran envergadura de hoteles que incluya campos de golf",
dijo en la Isla Macdonald, citado por BBC Mundo.

Esta semana el grupo buscará avanzar en las negociaciones para adquirir
un lote de alrededor de 100 hectáreas."Hay varios proyectos en marcha,
pero esperamos ser uno de los primeros en concretarse", dijo el empresario.

La medida que permite a los extranjeros arrendar terrenos por hasta 99
años fue anunciada el 27 de agosto pasado. El límite anterior era de 50
años.

Se enmarca dentro de un plan de las autoridades para captar el turismo
más lucrativo con el desarrollo de proyectos que incluyan campos de golf.

Morris advirtió que esta modificación debe ser vista como algo muy
controlado.

Los gobernantes cubanos "están siendo muy cautos. No se trata de un paso
hacia la apertura final a la inversión extranjera. Va a ser un proceso
controlado y muy regulado. Van a abrirse, pero sólo a un ritmo en el que
ellos puedan mantener control", destacó.

De acuerdo con la agencia Reuters, una decena de inversores extranjeros
presentó al gobierno cubano proyectos para construir lujosos campos de
golf, con un ojo puesto en una eventual apertura del turismo estadounidense.

Pero los planes no despegaron debido, en parte, a que La Habana no había
aclarado los términos de las concesiones de tierra.

Los campos de golf se financian generalmente con la construcción de
viviendas de lujo en sus alrededores, inversiones que sólo se justifican
con derechos de uso suficientemente largos para amortizarlas.

La ley cubana de inversión extranjera contempla la venta de propiedades
a extranjeros, pero un experimento a fines de la década de 1990 fue
abortado tras ventas limitadas de apartamentos en La Habana.

La medida anunciada en agosto amplía los derechos de uso, pero la
propiedad de la tierra sigue en manos del Estado.

"Ha sido un punto muy contencioso, y quienes presionaron por esta ley
tuvieron que vencer fuertes obstáculos porque hay una gran preocupación
entre las autoridades con respecto a la idea de vender el patrimonio a
extranjeros. Es algo muy enraizado", dijo Morris, según BBC Mundo.

Las autoridades cubanas se han percatado de que "están perdiendo el
mercado turístico más lucrativo, y piensan que con el desarrollo de
hoteles con campos de golf y otras facilidades asociadas con éstos
comienzan a penetrar ese mercado", consideró.

http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/empresarios-britanicos-negocian-el-arriendo-de-terrenos-para-campos-de-golf

Restructuring Cuba's Economy

September 27, 2010 3:25 PM
Restructuring Cuba's Economy
Posted by Portia Siegelbaum

HAVANA -- Fiscal austerity has not been part of the Cuban Revolution's
lexicon but since President Raul Castro officially began calling the
shots in February 2008 the island has slowly begun a political U-turn in
an effort to pull the economy out of recession.

Sociologist Aurelio Alonso says the latest measure laying off 500,000
civil servants and other state employees by March 2011 is nothing less
than "a process of restructuring the Cuban socialist economic system."

Before Castro took the knife to the bloated public sector this month,
the salaries of some 5 million people -- over 85 percent of the Cuban
labor force -- were coming out of the national budget. Last April, the
President announced up to a million unproductive workers would get axed.

Inevitably, Alonso, a researcher at the Center for Sociological and
Psychological Studies in Havana, says these changes are creating
"uncertainty" among the population, raising "fears of losing their
jobs". He adds that the government's new opening for the private sector
could be the opportunity to better their lives.

The Government, meanwhile, he says, has to deal with the crossover
between the formal and informal economies.

Official statistics show there are 143,000 workers currently registered
as self-employed, but Alonso believes the number of people involved in
the informal economy is three to four times higher. There could be as
many as 500,000 people working for themselves either full or part-time,
without licenses, either because the government stopped issuing
permission for self-employment in their fields or because they want to
avoid paying taxes.

There are at least two reasons for the boom in the informal economy and
the black market it feeds off of: 1) the inability of the state to meet
all the demand for a wide variety of services; and 2) the state's
inability or unwillingness to keep prices in convertible currency (many
items are simply not available in the non-convertible Cuban pesos in
which Cubans are paid) at affordable levels (such as cement, paint, wall
tiles).

Anyone in Cuba who has remodeled their kitchen or fixed their roof or
needed a car mechanic knows there exists an army of competing
construction workers, house painters, carpenters, plumbers, electricians
and others offering their services and the vast majority of them are
unlicensed. You may have to put yourself on a waiting list for them as
they are often booked months in advance. The same is true for catering
services.

Apart from the 143,000 people with licenses to be self-employed, there
are another 448,000 registered to work in the private sector primarily
on family farms.

Reforms set into motion by Castro in September 2008 put nearly 2.5
million acres of fallow State-owned land into the hands of already
existing private farmers, individuals who wanted to try their hand at
it, as well as cooperatives.

In all 110,000 farmers received the right to cultivate though not the
ownership of the land. The plots are expected to begin fully producing
within two years which would provide a major relief to the government
which spent nearly $100 million on food imports for the population last
year.

And the government announced last Friday that it will issue 250,000 new
licenses for trabajo por cuenta propia or self-employment.

Another 200,000 government jobs will be converted into worker-run
cooperatives or leasing deals. An experiment in this began months ago
with the leasing of taxis to drivers and premises to barbers and
beauticians formerly employed by the State who now run their operations
as private businesses. Similar conversions from State to cooperative-run
enterprises will probably take place on the level of local industries
such as furniture making and upholstery.

Alonso describes what is taking place as a change in the "vision of
socialism". The new view is that the State shouldn't dominate
everything, run everything. The role of the State, he says, should be to
establish controls and taxes but it doesn't have to manage every little
corner food stand and every grocery store.

"The State gains nothing by running a national system of grocery stores
(where Cubans buy their state-subsidized monthly food rations). It gains
nothing by distributing the food to these state shops. This method is
supposed to control theft but it still exists.

On Sept. 24 Granma also published a list of 178 types of work that will
be legalized as of next month ranging from home appliance and car
repairs, to carpentry, massages, home caretakers, animal groomers and
park attendants.

One entirely new job description opened is for accountants. Presumably
they will be needed by the new businesses and cooperatives which will be
required to keep books for tax purposes.

Without giving the long explanatory speeches for which his older
brother, former President Fidel Castro is known, Raul Castro has quietly
chipped away at the Revolution's long held vision of the welfare state
and launched a series of painful spending cuts.

Gone are the subsidies for many basic food items -- like potatoes and
peas -- that customers once bought for pennies as part of a monthly
ration. Gone are most of the items that used to make up a food basket
capable of taking families to the end of the month -- they are now lucky
if they last a week to 15 days. Gone are the virtually free lunches that
until a few months ago, were provided at every business, factory, office
and construction site.

The State's once model childcare system has shrunk to the point where it
can no longer meet the needs of many working women.

Primary and secondary schools, despite great efforts can no longer
provide truly nutritional or even filling lunches for students. Talk to
any parent and they'll tell you that they pack something, even if only a
hard boiled egg, to supplement the meals served in the school lunchroom.

Free government boarding schools in the countryside for the upper grades
have been closed down as there is no longer cash to cover food,
electricity, and transportation to and from what was once heralded as a
revolutionary experiment in teaching adolescents to work and study at
the same time. It should be mentioned here that both parents and
children were more than happy to bid farewell to a failing system --
failing to a great extent because teachers were no longer willing to
work under the poor conditions for inadequate salaries and left the
profession. Classes were pre- videotaped and distributed to all the
schools. Televisions replaced teachers.

Omar Everleny of the University of Havana Center for the Study of the
Cuban Economy says that despite the reality of bloated state payrolls
there are still government jobs to be filled: in teaching, particularly
on the primary and secondary levels; in agriculture, construction, and
the police. But he says it remains to be seen if someone who for years
held the post of a mechanical engineer will want to work in construction.

"The salaries," he says, "do not motivate people to take these jobs."

Everleny believes the transition will be rough going and "there are
going to be losers in the initial stage" but that in the end things
could be better for people.

There are those who haven't waited for Raul Castro to enact change.

A private spa offering waxing, massages and sauna was recently
inaugurated in a typical Havana neighborhood. A mother-daughter team of
entrepreneurs paid a builder to put up a structure in their large back
yard to house their business.

Several dozen Cubans attended the reception featuring wine, food and
live music. The guests were all people who run some form of private
business-- either rent rooms in their homes to tourists, or run beauty
parlors, or paladars (home restaurants). They represent the type of
person who will have the money to pay for the spa's services.

The beauty products on display, as well as the massage table, had been
brought in from the United States by the owner's son who lives in Miami.
The modest spa far from being a Golden Door spa nevertheless represents
a considerable cash investment in the Cuban context.

One item stood out: the towel covering the massage table was clearly
stolen property from one of the major Spanish hotel chains prominent in
Havana.

This highlights one of the great problems raised by the layoffs and the
opening to self-employment and cooperatives. Where are these new
businesses supposed to get their supplies?

Economy Minister Marino Murillo Jorge admitted in last Friday's edition
of the Communist Party newspaper Granma that the country was in no
condition to establish the wholesale outlets for "the next few years".
He further confessed that state-run retail shops did not at present have
sufficient inventory to meet the newly emerging private sector's demand
for supplies and equipment.

The self-employed will therefore have to buy their supplies at the same
stores and at the same prices as the rest of the population. Just how
much of a profit will they be able to make without their prices driving
away customers? How much will a private restaurant owner be able to
charge for a can of beer that both he and the public buy for one
convertible peso in a supermarket?

The lack of wholesale suppliers for the self-employed is not a new
problem. People were first granted licenses to work for themselves back
in the 1990s when Cuba faced a catastrophic economic crisis and major
unemployment for the first time since 1959.

"Many activities that were legal during this period have always had to
turn to the black market to find supplies at lower prices, so that they
could make a profit and not price themselves out of the market," notes
Everleny.

Resorting to the black market has become such an accepted part of life
in Cuba that people openly speak about it to the foreign press.

Ildelisa, a single mother and housewife, sells soft drinks and pastries
from her home in the densely populated Centro Habana neighborhood. For
several years she has a government license for her business but she took
it a step further by organizing a virtual cooperative with several of
her neighbors who pitch in to make the desserts.

She's worried that with more people going into business for themselves
(and 80 percent of those who are self-employed today either operate
gypsy cabs or are in some form of food services) it might become more
difficult to obtain the ingredients she needs. "If there are more people
buying sugar and flour, the prices on the black market may go up," she
said. Prices outside the black market often have a 200 percent mark up
and purchasing items in state-run stores would be ruinous to her
business she says.

Dissident Vladimiro Roca, son of a leader of Cuba's first Communist
Party, says nothing has changed, that the apparent reforms are nothing
more than the same old, same old. Without really opening up and giving
private business access to goods at wholesale prices, he asks, how can
the private sector thrive?

There are many other unanswered questions. A call to the Ministry of
Labor and Social Security produced the response that people would have
to wait for the regulations to be published in the Official Gazette but
they couldn't say when that would be.

Especially worrying to the self-employed is the issue of taxes. Clearly
the State expects everyone to pay taxes on earnings. Private businesses
in certain categories that will be allowed to hire workers will have to
pay an added tax for the right to have employees. As well, all the
self-employed will have to pay into the national social security fund
and employers will have to contribute to it for their employees.

Rumors are rampant as to the amounts to be paid. An alleged Communist
Party document leaked to the media says taxes on gross income will range
from 10 to 40 percent, plus another 25 percent toward social security
but this could not be confirmed.

Everleny suggests that the State needs to avoid putting a very high tax
on certain activities that would impede their development. "When the
State wants to promote an activity that has not been embraced with
enthusiasm by people, it will lower the taxes [on that business], and
that will not be a step back," he said. In order to encourage the
self-employed to take up certain less desirable occupations, the State
could considerably drop taxes on them. But, he said he could not say
which jobs would fall into this category until people start requesting
licenses.

Both Everleny and Alonso are convinced that Cuba is better prepared than
it was in the 90s to implement an efficient tax collection system and
that the taxes to be applied now have been more thoroughly thought out.

Alonso notes that in the past someone with a room in their home to rent
to tourists was obligated to pay a standard monthly tax whether or not
they actually had a guest. Now he believes the tax will be geared to
their actual earnings. But he is convinced that taxes must be paid.

One of the new categories of job to be legalized is that of a domestic
worker, a job which in reality is already widespread.

"At the moment earnings are totally disproportionate," says Alonso. "A
domestic worker earns much more than a transplant surgeon." In his
opinion, cleaning women should be well paid, but he believes they should
have to pay taxes to redress this imbalance in society.

Hopefully, say both Alonso and Everleny, the State will now run only
those industries of national importance such as mining and petroleum,
electricity production, health care and education and let the private
sector, including cooperatives, take on all the rest as the experience
of the past five decades has shown the State can't do it all.

Most people are going to wait and see, but as the pink slips are handed
out, the newly unemployed will have to find some way of feeding their
families. That just may be the impetus needed to jump start the Cuban
economy.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20017758-503543.html

Cimex, Cuba's largest commercial corporation

Cimex, Cuba's largest commercial corporation
Mon, Sep 27 2010

(Reuters) - President Raul Castro has put Colonel Hector Oroza Busutin
in charge of Cuban Export-Import Corporation, or CIMEX, Cuba's largest
commercial corporation, as part of his campaign to increase efficiency
and reduce corruption.

The state-owned company that Oroza will run has operations ranging from
banking to jewelry stores, but there is little detailed information
available on its more than 80 companies and 25,000 employees.

What follows comes from the CIMEX web page, www.cimexweb.com, and the
last annual information released by the company covering 2006, when
revenues were $1.3 billion, with 48 percent of that coming from retail
operations and the rest from its other businesses.

* FINANCE - The company operates the Banco Financiera International, one
of the three most important state-run banks in Cuba, which specializes
in financing trade operations. Its financial division, FINCIMEX, clears
all foreign credit card transactions in Cuba and manages all remittance
wire transfers from the United States and most other countries,
operating for example more than 100 outlets with Western Union.

* INTERNATIONAL TRADE - CIMEX accounts for between 6 percent and 10
percent of all foreign trade and operates the Melfi Marine container
shipping company, Zelcom free trade zone and two companies that handle
customs and other logistics, ADESA and AISA. The company maintains
numerous offices abroad and exports specialty products such as rum,
coffee, cigars, ice cream, perfume, soda, fruit juice, seeds, jewelry
and commemorative items.

* TOURISM - The company's travel agency, Havanatur, is the country's
oldest and largest with a monopoly on travel from the United States,
while Havanauto is the largest rent-a-car agency and also provides taxi
service.

* DOMESTIC TRADE - The company operates around a dozen wholesale outlets
and a similar number of factories to process food for its outlets. In
2006, CIMEX operated 2,747 retail outlets, including 1,188 Panamericanas
all-purpose stores, 363 gas stations (Servi-Cupet), 1,128 eateries from
fast food to full service restaurants, 49 photo shops and 14 video
stores, some of which were located in its numerous commercial centers.
The company reported it accounted for 46.1 percent of foreign exchange
retail sales in 2006 and 70 percent of gas station revenues.

* REAL ESTATE - In 2006 the company owned 13 office buildings and
condominiums, but the number has increased since then.

* OTHER BUSINESSES - Cimex operates businesses in almost every sector of
the economy. The following are some of the most important:

Coral Negro - Jewelry and sale of international brand watches in Cuba.

Casa de la Moneda - Mints commemorative coins and medals.

Contex - Cuban fashion and uniforms.

Imagines - Advertising and operates the only satellite television service.

Ecuse - Construction and automotive service.

Cubapack - International package and messenger service and online
shopping for delivery inside Cuba.

Producciones Abdala S.A. - Recording studio and Unicorn record label.

Tecun - Importation, assembly and sale and service of computer technology.

La CerrajerÌa Integral - Security systems.

La Maison - fashion

(Reporting by Marc Frank in Havana; Editing by Jeff Franks and Cynthia
Osterman

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68Q55320100927

Cuba ups gasoline prices about 10 percent

Posted on Monday, 09.27.10
Cuba ups gasoline prices about 10 percent
By PAUL HAVEN
Associated Press Writer

HAVANA -- Cuba has upped already-high gasoline prices by about 10
percent amid sweeping changes to the economy, a move that could lead to
grumbling among cash-strapped islanders, particularly private taxi
drivers who are not allowed to raise their own prices.

The changes, which took effect Monday, were announced in the Communist
Party-newspaper Granma, which cited rising international prices for the
move. It was the first time prices have risen since September 2008, when
crude oil internationally sold for about a third more than it does now.

The cost of diesel fuel - used by many of the old cars that populate
Cuba's streets - rose to $1.19 a liter ($4.50 a gallon), about 11 cents
a liter (42 cents a gallon) higher than previously. The highest octane
fuel rose even more to $1.73 a liter ($6.54 a gallon), from $1.51 a
liter ($5.72 a gallon).

The prices approach those paid in Europe and are apparently the highest
in the hemisphere, topping pump prices in Brazil and Bermuda. They are a
fortune for Cubans who make the average salary of just $20 a month.

But the changes are not likely to affect many islanders, a reason why
past gas hikes here have not led to unrest, as they sometimes do in
other developing countries.

Few people on the island own a car, and those lucky enough to have been
issued a vehicle through their state-run companies usually have a
monthly quota of gas paid through work.

The government heavily subsidizes the public transportation system on
which most Cubans rely, and it did not announce an increase in those prices.

Those who will take a hit are the thousands of private taxi drivers who
use gas-guzzling American clunkers from the 1950s or rusting cars from
former Eastern Bloc countries to ferry people along set routes to and
from work.

In most cases, the price they charge is set at 10 pesos (about 50
cents). Even before the price hikes, many complained that high fuel
costs meant it didn't pay to cruise the city looking for a fare.

Taxi drivers interviewed Monday said it would be even harder for them to
make ends meet if the government does not authorize higher fares,
particularly since they already pay a steep price for permission to drive.

"I already work just to pay the license fees," said Alexander Rodriguez,
a 39-year-old taxi driver waiting for a fare at a taxi stand in Old
Havana. He said he must pay the government 300 Cuban pesos a month -
about $15 - for the right to take passengers in his cherry-red 1955
Oldsmobile. "For a Cuban, this price hike is really tough."

The gas price hikes come as the government is seeking to transform its
socialist economy into a system that includes more private workers and
more reliance on prices to regulate supply and demand. Earlier this
month, Cuba announced it was laying off half a million workers - about
one-tenth of the work force - while allowing far more free enterprise.

On Friday, the government approved some 178 private business activities,
gave Cubans the right to employ people not related to them, and even
promised credit to entrepreneurs.

Among the new activities authorized by the government is the sale of
fruits and vegetables from roadside kiosks or homes, something many had
already done on the black market. On Monday, the government gave more
details of how the legal stands will work, saying a pilot program
allowing the stands in a few provinces will be expanded nationwide.

Those interested must register and pay taxes starting at 25 percent on
any profits, according to an article in Granma.

"The idea is to give order to what had been a raging river," the article
said, referring to the widespread illegal vegetable stands that have
existed until now.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/27/1844791/cuba-ups-gasoline-prices-about.html

España gasta más de 13 millones en colaboración bilateral con Cuba en 2010

España gasta más de 13 millones en colaboración bilateral con Cuba en 2010
* En esa cantidad no entran las aportaciones a organismos multilaterales
Europa Press | Madrid
Actualizado lunes 27/09/2010 19:00 horas

España habrá destinado unos 13,2 millones de euros en ayuda al
desarrollo con Cuba cuando termine 2010, según las previsiones del
Gobierno español, que sólo se refieren a la cooperación bilateral y
excluyen los fondos que llegan a la isla a través de aportaciones a
organismos multilaterales.

Así consta en una reciente respuesta escrita del Ejecutivo al diputado
del PP Gonzalo Robles y que recoge Europa Press. Los datos ofrecidos por
el Gobierno ponen de relieve el salto cuantitativo que ha experimentado
desde 2008 la ayuda al desarrollo dirigida a la isla.

Si entre 2004 y 2006 la ayuda bilateral se movía en un margen de entre
1,2 y 1,6 millones de euros por año, en 2007 ascendió a 2,7 millones de
euros. Fue precisamente ese año cuando España reactivó la cooperación
bilateral con la isla, a la que renunció La Habana tras las sanciones
diplomáticas que la UE adoptó en 2003 en respuesta a la oleada de
detenciones de disidentes.

En 2008, la ayuda al desarrollo de España hacia Cuba ascendió a los 14,8
millones de euros, mientras que los cálculos para 2009 (aún no se
dispone de cifras definitivas) se sitúan en los 11,4 millones de euros.

Desde 2007, los ejes prioritarios de la cooperación española con Cuba
tienen que ver con la gestión de los sectores productivos y de la
infraestructura, desarrollo social, promoción del tejido económico y
empresarial, medio ambiente, cooperación cultural y científica y género
y desarrollo.

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2010/09/27/espana/1285606815.html

Cuba recibe 1,76 millones de turistas internacionales hasta agosto

Cuba recibe 1,76 millones de turistas internacionales hasta agosto
LA HABANA (CUBA), 28 (EUROPA PRESS)

Cuba recibió un total de 1,76 millones de llegadas de visitantes
internacionales en los ocho primeros meses del año, lo que se traduce en
un incremento del 1,8% frente a los 1,73 millones que registró en el
mismo periodo del año anterior.

Según informa la Oficina Nacional de Estadística de Cuba, España
continúa siendo el cuarto mayor país emisor de turistas a la isla, un
4,1% del total, lo que representa un total de 72.027 visitantes, casi un
20% menos que en los ocho primeros meses de 2009.

Por su parte, el primer puesto a nivel emisor lo ocupa Canadá, con
700.019 turistas (el 39,6%), seguido de Inglaterra, con 116.722
visitantes (el 6,6%), e Italia, con 81.640 (4,6%).

Durante el mes de agosto, el país caribeño recibió 172.722 turistas, con
un incremento interanual del 5,4%, impulsado por el alza en el número de
visitantes procedentes de Canadá (49.198, un 9,6% más) e Inglaterra
(16.226, un 11,6% más).

Sin embargo, durante el pasado mes la llegada a Cuba de turistas
procedentes de España descendió en un 29,7%, hasta los 9.547 visitantes.

http://www.invertia.com/noticias/noticia.asp?subclasid=&clasid=&idNoticia=2406571

Vendedores agrícolas cubanos pagarán impuesto de 5% y 25% de seguro social

Vendedores agrícolas cubanos pagarán impuesto de 5% y 25% de seguro social
27 de Septiembre de 2010 • 14:58hs • actualizado 09:59hs

Los vendedores de productos agrícolas en kioscos de carretera deben
pagar un impuesto de 5% sobre las ventas y 25% sobre importes
progresivos que se seleccionen para la seguridad social, según el plan
de apertura a la pequeña iniciativa privada, precisó este lunes una
autoridad oficial."Estos vendedores tendrán que abonar (...) un impuesto
de 5% sobre las ventas que diariamente realicen", cuyo "importe
consignarán en una declaración jurada", dijo la viceministra de Finanzas
y Precios, Meisi Bolaños, citada por el diario oficial Granma.Los
"vendedores de camino", como se les conoce en la isla a los campesinos
que ofrecen en carretera productos de la huerta familiar, pagarán además
como contribución a la seguridad social un impuesto de 25% "sobre
importes progresivos que se seleccionen", añadió Bolaños.Destacó que la
apertura de licencias para esas ventas en kioscos -que no pueden ser
mayores de 25 m2- busca brindar "a la población una mayor variedad,
calidad y mejor presentación de los productos" y "eliminar el descontrol
persistente" en esa actividad.El gobierno legalizó en junio -como
trabajadores por cuenta propia- en las orientales provincias de Santiago
de Cuba y Guantánamo a los cubanos que vendían de forma furtiva los
frutos en las entradas de localidades, una experiencia que ahora se
extiende a toda la isla, según Bolaños.Ellos integran la categoría de
"vendedor de producciones agrícolas en puntos de venta o quioscos", en
la lista de 178 oficios que el gobierno publicó el pasado viernes, como
parte de su plan de eliminar 500.000 empleos estatales en los próximos
seis meses y ampliar la iniciativa privada.El gobierno cubano busca
también aumentar la insuficiente producción agrícola en la isla para
suplir compras de alimentos que realiza por 1.500 millones de dólares
anuales.
rd/mis/ja

http://economia.terra.com.co/noticias/noticia.aspx?idNoticia=201009271958_AFP_195800-TX-TJY83

Raúl Castro nombra a un militar al frente del CIMEX

Raúl Castro nombra a un militar al frente del CIMEX

La Corporación de Exportaciones e Importaciones (CIMEX) es la mayor
corporación comercial de la Isla

Agencias, Madrid | 28/09/2010

El presidente Raúl Castro puso a un militar al frente de la mayor
corporación comercial de Cuba, como parte de sus esfuerzos para aumentar
la eficiencia y reducir la corrupción en las principales empresas que
operan en divisas en el país.

El coronel Héctor Oroza llegó a las oficinas centrales de la Corporación
de Exportaciones e Importaciones (CIMEX) a principios de este mes para
reemplazar a su presidente de muchos años, Eduardo Bencomo, según varios
empleados de la empresa.

"Desde entonces ha habido muchos militares por aquí", dijo un empleado,
que pidió no ser identificado.

Desde que reemplazó en 2008 en la presidencia a su hermano Fidel, Raúl
Castro ha tomado medidas para estimular la deteriorada economía estatal,
aumentar la productividad y enfrentar la corrupción.

Castro pretende, al parecer, subordinar algunas de las compañías
independientes a ministerios y ve el proceso de consolidación ya
iniciado como el mejor camino a seguir.

En muchos casos Castro ha encomendado la tarea a militares, una
institución a la que comandó durante casi medio siglo como ministro de
Defensa de Cuba.

Al menos 10 militares ocupan cargos en su gabinete o como viceministros
y jefes de los organismos claves.

Oroza era el número dos del Grupo de Administración Empresarial (GAESA),
un poderoso holding militar que opera muchos negocios en moneda
extranjera, entre ellos el mayor operador de turismo y negocios
inmobiliarios, depósitos y tiendas de comercio minorista.

Uno de los yernos de Castro, el coronel Luis Alberto Rodríguez, es el
director ejecutivo de GAESA.

La nueva subdirectora de CIMEX es Ana María Ortega, quien ocupaba una
posición similar en la cadena de ventas minoristas de los militares,
TRD-Caribe, según fuentes de la empresa.

"No me sorprende. Sigue la tendencia que hemos visto bajo Raúl", dijo un
diplomático occidental en La Habana.

La designación de Oroza no fue anunciada, pese a las relaciones que la
corporación CIMEX sostiene con cientos de proveedores extranjeros y su
significativo papel en la vida de Cuba.

CIMEX, con ingresos anuales por más de 1.000 millones de dólares, es un
conglomerado estatal que opera exclusivamente en divisas y en una moneda
dura conocida como peso convertible, que cotiza a 1,08 dólares.

La corporación administra un banco y una naviera, procesa operaciones
con tarjetas de crédito, controla el millonario negocio de las
transferencias de remesas desde el extranjero, tiene una inmobiliaria y
opera la mayor agencia de viajes de Cuba.

CIMEX posee más de 2.500 tiendas minoristas, desde centros comerciales a
restaurantes de comida rápida y gasolineras.

Los cambios en la gerencia de CIMEX llegan tras la liquidación el año
pasado de CUBALSE, la segunda mayor corporación de Cuba en moneda
extranjera. Algunas de sus numerosas empresas fueron transferidas a
empresas militares y a CIMEX.

La disolución de CUBALSE, según explicaron autoridades cubanas, buscaba
reducir gastos, aumentar el poder de negociación, concentrar las
empresas de servicios y aumentar la eficiencia.

Cuando cayó la Unión Soviética, ex benefactor de Cuba, en la década de
1990, la Isla quedó desesperada por moneda dura y entonces Fidel Castro
abrió la puerta al turismo internacional y las inversiones extranjeras,
legalizando el dólar y creando más tarde el peso convertible.

También permitió la recepción de remesas de los cubanos residentes en el
extranjero.

Los militares, junto con CIMEX y CUBALSE, recibieron la misión de
absorber el flujo de efectivo mediante la creación de tiendas minoristas
y otros negocios que el Gobierno veía como un experimento en un sistema
de competencia entre entidades del Estado.

Pero Raúl Castro vería al parecer el modelo como redundante y carcomido
por la corrupción.

El robo en las gasolineras llega al 50%, según medios estatales, y buena
parte del prolífero mercado negro de Cuba es al parecer alimentado por
productos desviados de almacenes controlados por varias empresas.

Todavía no está claro qué ocurrirá con CIMEX, pero muchos creen que
algunas de sus operaciones serán fragmentadas y los negocios de turismo
podrían, por ejemplo, terminar en manos del Ministerio de Turismo.

También hay versiones de que el Gobierno podría unificar las tiendas de
comercio minorista en pesos convertibles en una sola cadena,
reemplazando el actual sistema de varios competidores estatales.

http://www.cubaencuentro.com/cuba/noticias/raul-castro-nombra-a-un-militar-al-frente-del-cimex-245795