Deserción de doctora cubana pone en entredicho programa de colaboración
médica en Brasil
Posted on 5 febrero, 2014
Por José Alberto Gutiérrez*
SÃO PAULO.- A menos de dos meses de su arribo a Brasil, la doctora
Ramona Matos Rodríguez abandonó la misión médica cubana y se convirtió
en el primer profesional de la isla que rompe con el programa Más
Médicos para pedir asilo en el país suramericano.
Matos, quien llegó a Brasil en diciembre del 2013, salió el sábado
pasado de la pequeña ciudad de Pacajá, en el estado de Pará, al norte de
Brasil, y arribó a la capital Brasilia, a más de 1,300 kilómetros de
distancia, donde pidió protección a diputados federales opositores al
gobierno de Dilma Rousseff.
El pasado martes la médica pasó la noche en las oficinas de la Cámara
Baja del Congreso brasileño, ocupadas por los líderes del partido de
centroderecha Demócratas. Bajo el amparo físico y jurídico de los
diputados, Matos ha presentado oficialmente un pedido de asilo político
ante el Consejo Nacional de Refugiados del Ministerio de Justicia.
Protección necesaria
Matos, de 51 años, sostiene que, de ser capturada por la policía federal
brasileña y deportada a Cuba, sería encarcelada a su arribo a la isla.
Según el Partido Demócratas, ya han iniciado diversas gestiones para
garantizar la protección de la médica cubana que afirma temer por su
seguridad. El diputado Mendonça Filho se habría reunido ya con el
Ministro de Justica José Eduardo Cardoso, hombre de confianza de la
presidenta Rousseff, para explicarle la situación de la profesional cubana.
"La policía brasileña no tiene el derecho de ir a buscar a ningún
extranjero que se encuentre legal en el país. Necesitamos garantizar el
derecho de ir y venir de todos", expresó Mendoça Filho.
La Orden de los Abogados de Brasil también fue informada del caso en
busca de apoyo al pedido de asilo a Matos .
El Partido Democratas también ha informado que comunicará al Ministerio
Público sobre lo que califican de "tratamiento discriminatorio" hacia
los galenos de Cuba que participan del programa Más Médicos en Brasil.
Trabajo esclavo
Matos declaró en rueda de prensa que lo que la motivó a salir del
programa Más Médicos fue el engaño que sintió al llegar a Brasil, cuando
pudo comparar los bajos salarios que reciben los médicos cubanos.
Mientras el gobierno brasileño paga algo más de $4,000 dólares a cada
médico extranjero que participa en el programa federal de salud, los
cubanos apenas reciben en Brasil el equivalente a $400 dólares, más
otros 600 depositados en una cuenta en Cuba para ser retirados tras el
"regreso exitoso" de la misión.
"Yo me sentí engañada con el Programa Más Médicos. En Cuba no dijeron
que teníamos un contrato de mil dólares, 400 dólares aquí y 600 dólares
allá, pero cuando llegué aquí y conversé con los colegas de Colombia,
Venezuela, que también trabajan en el programa, ellos me contaron que
ganan 10 mil reales [unos $4,000 dólares], y yo sé que también le pagan
por nosotros a Cuba esos 10 mil reales", dijo la doctora.
Matos dijo sentirse profundamente engañada: "Eso es un engaño, una
vergüenza…. Yo pienso que es un trabajo esclavo. Los esclavos trabajan
por nada o por poco", aseveró durante el encuentro con la prensa..
De acuerdo con ella, el gobierno también les había informado que los
médicos podrían traer familiares a Brasil, lo que según ella no ha
sucedido. "Hay gente tratando de traer parientes y no lo logran", comentó.
La doctora Matos es especialista en Medicina General Integral y vecina
del municipio Habana del Este, donde tiene una hija, también médica, y
una nieta. Tras su deserción, Matos ha revelado los detalles del
contrato al que se someten los médicos cubanos enrolados en el Programa
Más Médicos.
Puertas Abiertas
El documento, firmado entre los profesionales cubanos y la sociedad
mercantil Comercializadora de Servicios Médicos Cubanos S.A., ha causado
revuelo en el Congreso brasileño, pues revela el lado oscuro de la
contratación de los cubanos, que hasta el momento se creía regida por un
acuerdo entre el Ministerio de Salud de Brasil y la Organización
Panaméricana de Salud (OPAS), según había anunciado el gobierno de Rousseff.
Otro de los que brinda amparo a la doctora Matos, el diputado Ronaldo
Caiado, declaró que su gabinete estará abierto para todos los médicos
cubanos que deseen refugiarse.
"Es inaceptable que un país signatario de tratados internacionales de
derechos humanos sea cómplice de ese contrato con una sociedad anónima
[S.A.], pagando un valor diferente del anunciado por el gobierno
brasileño. Mientras el pueblo brasileño paga cerca de 4,500 dólares para
cada médico del programa, los cubanos reciben menos de 10% de ese
valor", observó el líder opositor.
Caiado consideró que el caso de los cubanos revela un tratamiento
discriminatorio en relación a los otros participantes del Más Médicos.
"Es una escándalo y nos hace cuestionar los verdaderos objetivos de ese
programa", aseveró el diputado.
El gobierno brasiLeño ha contratado ya unos 5,400 médicos cubanos y
planea aumentar la cifra en unos dos mil más en los próximos meses. La
misión pudiera reunir hasta 10 mil galenos enviados desde la isla.
*Periodista cubano y editor ejecutivo de Terra para América Latina y
Estados Unidos. Reside en São Paulo.
Source: Deserción de doctora cubana pone en entredicho programa de
colaboración médica en Brasil | Café Fuerte -
http://cafefuerte.com/cuba/11492-desercion-de-doctora-cubana-pone-en-entredicho-programa-de-colaboracion-en-brasil/
Monday, February 10, 2014
Acusa a Banco Metropolitano de robarle 2 mil 500 CUC
Acusa a Banco Metropolitano de robarle 2 mil 500 CUC
Cree que la malhechora es una trabajadora de la sucursal donde hizo el
depósito
jueves, febrero 6, 2014 | Calixto R. Martínez Arias
LA HABANA, Cuba, febrero- Gervasio Mena Montano, un habanero de 70 años
de edad, acusa al Banco Metropolitano por haberle "robado la suma de 2
mil 500 CUC", una moneda con paridad al dólar estadounidense, que él
había depositado en una sucursal de esa entidad estatal cubana.
Mena Montano, que reside en calle Manrique, número 73, entre Laguna y
San Lázaro, del municipio Centro Habana, refiere que el día 16 de
noviembre del año 2012 abrió una cuenta de ahorro por el valor de 2 mil
500 CUC, -equivalente a 62 mil 500 pesos en Moneda Nacional- en la
Sucursal, del Banco Metropolitano SA, ubicada en la intersección que
forman las calles Galiano y San José, en La Habana, y asegura que ese es
el peor error que ha cometido en su vida.
-El día 16 de noviembre fui al Banco para abrir una cuenta de ahorro y
la trabajadora que me atendió me convenció de que era mejor que lo
hiciera recibiendo el dinero a través de una tarjeta magnética, que me
entregó el cinco de diciembre cuando tuve que volver al Banco-, señaló
el hombre.
Dice Mena que el 20 de diciembre comprobó su saldo y estaba
correctamente; pero cuando volvió a un cajero automático, siete días
después, con la intención de extraer dinero, se llevó la desagradable
sorpresa de que su dinero había sido sustraído y sólo le habían dejado 5
CUC.
Según la víctima, inmediatamente se dirigió a la institución bancaria
para hacer una reclamación y luego formuló una denuncia en la Unidad de
la Policía Nacional Revolucionaria, conocida como Dragones, por estar
ubicada en esa calle, del municipio Centro Habana.
-Estoy seguro de que nadie pudo haber sacado dinero usando mi tarjeta y,
por eso, acuso a la trabajadora que me atendió en Galiano y San José,
como la responsable del robo-, manifiesta Mena en un video que será
difundido en internet.
Ante la falta de una respuesta convincente, tanto por el Banco como por
la Policía, el demandante escribió una queja el 25 de junio del 2013 al
Departamento de Estado, denunciando su caso al Presidente de la
República, General de Ejército Raúl Castro. Pero nada ha resuelto.
Directivos del Banco Metropolitano reconocen el depósito hecho por Mena
Montano en una de sus sucursales y la sustracción del dinero. Pero
alegan que: "No existe evidencia en los jornales de que el autor de las
operaciones no conociera la clave".
En un documento que el Banco le entregó el día 11 de febrero del 2013,
como respuesta a su reclamación, hacen saber que el dinero fue extraído
en cuatro operaciones hechas el 7 de diciembre de 2012 en el ATM (Cajero
Automático) 107, ubicado en la Sucursal Galiano y Reina; y tres el
siguiente día 13, en el ATM 247, ubicado en Belascoaín y Zanja.
Según el mismo documento, las extracciones del día 7 se realizaron entre
las 13:54 y 13:56 horas, por saldos de 200, 200, 300 y 400 CUC
consecutivamente. Mientras que las realizadas en el ATM 247 fueron de
600, 550 y 245 CUC.
-Ellos (los funcionarios del Banco) dicen que mi dinero fue extraído
entre los días 7 y 13, algo que no puede ser posible porque el día 20 yo
comprobé mi saldo y estaba bien-, enfatizó el damnificado.
No es la primera vez
No es la primera vez que clientes denuncian ante la prensa independiente
que el Banco Nacional de Cuba les "roba dinero".
En mayo del pasado año, Osbelgis Fábregas Ramos, un cuentapropista de la
provincia Camagüey, denunció el robo de 90 mil pesos en Moneda Nacional
que fue publicado en Cubanet bajo el título: Banco Nacional de Cuba roba
90 mil pesos a un cliente.
Mena asegura haber conocido en sus ajetreos de reclamaciones a más de
cincuenta personas que andan en sus mismos trámites, porque han sido
robadas por sucursales del Banco Metropolitano.
Gervasio Mena Montano es Combatiente de la Revolución, desmovilizado de
la Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (FAR). Fue Jefe de Armamento del
batallón 2426 de Bahía Honda, en la provincia Pinar del Río; en la
actualidad, con 70 años, ejerce de sastre como trabajador por cuenta
propia donde.
Source: Acusa a Banco Metropolitano de robarle 2 mil 500 CUC | Cubanet -
http://www.cubanet.org/actualidad/actualidad-destacados/acusa-a-banco-metropolitano-de-robarle-2-mil-500-cuc/
Cree que la malhechora es una trabajadora de la sucursal donde hizo el
depósito
jueves, febrero 6, 2014 | Calixto R. Martínez Arias
LA HABANA, Cuba, febrero- Gervasio Mena Montano, un habanero de 70 años
de edad, acusa al Banco Metropolitano por haberle "robado la suma de 2
mil 500 CUC", una moneda con paridad al dólar estadounidense, que él
había depositado en una sucursal de esa entidad estatal cubana.
Mena Montano, que reside en calle Manrique, número 73, entre Laguna y
San Lázaro, del municipio Centro Habana, refiere que el día 16 de
noviembre del año 2012 abrió una cuenta de ahorro por el valor de 2 mil
500 CUC, -equivalente a 62 mil 500 pesos en Moneda Nacional- en la
Sucursal, del Banco Metropolitano SA, ubicada en la intersección que
forman las calles Galiano y San José, en La Habana, y asegura que ese es
el peor error que ha cometido en su vida.
-El día 16 de noviembre fui al Banco para abrir una cuenta de ahorro y
la trabajadora que me atendió me convenció de que era mejor que lo
hiciera recibiendo el dinero a través de una tarjeta magnética, que me
entregó el cinco de diciembre cuando tuve que volver al Banco-, señaló
el hombre.
Dice Mena que el 20 de diciembre comprobó su saldo y estaba
correctamente; pero cuando volvió a un cajero automático, siete días
después, con la intención de extraer dinero, se llevó la desagradable
sorpresa de que su dinero había sido sustraído y sólo le habían dejado 5
CUC.
Según la víctima, inmediatamente se dirigió a la institución bancaria
para hacer una reclamación y luego formuló una denuncia en la Unidad de
la Policía Nacional Revolucionaria, conocida como Dragones, por estar
ubicada en esa calle, del municipio Centro Habana.
-Estoy seguro de que nadie pudo haber sacado dinero usando mi tarjeta y,
por eso, acuso a la trabajadora que me atendió en Galiano y San José,
como la responsable del robo-, manifiesta Mena en un video que será
difundido en internet.
Ante la falta de una respuesta convincente, tanto por el Banco como por
la Policía, el demandante escribió una queja el 25 de junio del 2013 al
Departamento de Estado, denunciando su caso al Presidente de la
República, General de Ejército Raúl Castro. Pero nada ha resuelto.
Directivos del Banco Metropolitano reconocen el depósito hecho por Mena
Montano en una de sus sucursales y la sustracción del dinero. Pero
alegan que: "No existe evidencia en los jornales de que el autor de las
operaciones no conociera la clave".
En un documento que el Banco le entregó el día 11 de febrero del 2013,
como respuesta a su reclamación, hacen saber que el dinero fue extraído
en cuatro operaciones hechas el 7 de diciembre de 2012 en el ATM (Cajero
Automático) 107, ubicado en la Sucursal Galiano y Reina; y tres el
siguiente día 13, en el ATM 247, ubicado en Belascoaín y Zanja.
Según el mismo documento, las extracciones del día 7 se realizaron entre
las 13:54 y 13:56 horas, por saldos de 200, 200, 300 y 400 CUC
consecutivamente. Mientras que las realizadas en el ATM 247 fueron de
600, 550 y 245 CUC.
-Ellos (los funcionarios del Banco) dicen que mi dinero fue extraído
entre los días 7 y 13, algo que no puede ser posible porque el día 20 yo
comprobé mi saldo y estaba bien-, enfatizó el damnificado.
No es la primera vez
No es la primera vez que clientes denuncian ante la prensa independiente
que el Banco Nacional de Cuba les "roba dinero".
En mayo del pasado año, Osbelgis Fábregas Ramos, un cuentapropista de la
provincia Camagüey, denunció el robo de 90 mil pesos en Moneda Nacional
que fue publicado en Cubanet bajo el título: Banco Nacional de Cuba roba
90 mil pesos a un cliente.
Mena asegura haber conocido en sus ajetreos de reclamaciones a más de
cincuenta personas que andan en sus mismos trámites, porque han sido
robadas por sucursales del Banco Metropolitano.
Gervasio Mena Montano es Combatiente de la Revolución, desmovilizado de
la Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (FAR). Fue Jefe de Armamento del
batallón 2426 de Bahía Honda, en la provincia Pinar del Río; en la
actualidad, con 70 años, ejerce de sastre como trabajador por cuenta
propia donde.
Source: Acusa a Banco Metropolitano de robarle 2 mil 500 CUC | Cubanet -
http://www.cubanet.org/actualidad/actualidad-destacados/acusa-a-banco-metropolitano-de-robarle-2-mil-500-cuc/
Médicos cubanos en Brasil, ni saben cuánto va a ganar
Médicos cubanos en Brasil, ni saben cuánto va a ganar
El gobierno cubano se queda con más del 75 por ciento de lo que paga
Brasilea, 3.100 dólares mensuales por facultativo
viernes, febrero 7, 2014 | CubaNet
Médicos cubanos recién llegados a Sao Paulo, Brasil, y que fueron
entrevistados el miércoles por el diario local Folha de Sao Paulo,
dijeron no saber cuánto van a recibir en concepto de salario mensual por
parte del gobierno de Cuba. Sólo uno de cientos de galenos cubanos
llegados a Brasil pudo responder. La Habana retiene más del 75% de los
10.000 reales al mes prometidos. Al año, son más de 275 millones de dólares.
El matutino precisa que los 700 cubanos hospedados en la capital
paulista, y en fase de evaluación, forman parte de la tercera etapa del
programa Más Médicos. El plan es implementado por el gobierno de Dilma
Rousseff para brindar atención médica en áreas remotas y marginales de
Brasil.
Inquietos por la presencia de reporteros, pocos cubanos accedieron a
hablar con Folha. La nota señala que a algunos les prohibieron hacerlo
sus propios colegas. Todos los entrevistados dijeron desconocer el valor
del salario mensual al que tienen derecho bajo el programa del
Ministerio de Salud.
Uno de ellos dijo que el acuerdo [entre los dos gobiernos a través de la
Organización Panamericana de la Salud] prevé una mensualidad de 5000
dólares, pero no pudo especificar si se quedaría con la totalidad de esa
suma o una parte de ella. La cantidad equivale a 12.000 reales
brasileños, superiores a los 10.000 reales que Brasilia paga a los
facultativos de otras nacionalidades.
Otro de los recién llegados intervino para asegurar que el pago es lo de
menos en una misión, y que lo importante es ayudar al pueblo brasileño,
necesitado de atención médica primaria. Preguntado por Folha, este
último doctor dijo no saber nada de la deserción de su colega cubana
Ramona Matos Rodríguez.
Antes de viajar a Brasil y ser asignada a una localidad amazónica, la
Dra Matos trabajó en el policlínico de Campo Florido, cerca de Santa
Cruz del Norte, al este de la capital cubana. En la web de ese
dispensario se dice que es diplomada en morfofisiología.
Matos ha explicado a Martí Noticias y otros medios de prensa que decidió
abandonar el programa brasileño después de darse cuenta de que el
salario mensual que les prometieron en Cuba (unos 1.000 dólares,
repartidos entre 400 a pagar en Brasil y 600 depositados en la isla),
estaba muy por debajo de los alrededor de 4.100 dólares (10.000 reales)
que reciben sus colegas de otras nacionalidades (En esta bolsa salarial
no se incluyen otros beneficios como los ajustes por el costo de vida
según la región, ni las horas extra).
Un cálculo aritmético simple indica que el gobierno cubano se quedaría
con más del 75 por ciento: 3.100 dólares mensuales por médico, al cambio
actual.
Ramona Matos Rodríguez, una de los 7.400 médicos cubanos que participan
en el programa del Gobierno brasileño.
Folha publica una gráfica sobre la proporción de profesionales cubanos y
de otras nacionalidades en el proyecto, y precisa que entre brasileños y
extranjeros se han inscrito 2.149, mientras que bajo el acuerdo
bilateral mediado por la OPS han sido seleccionados 7.400 médicos de la
isla.
Así, por la exportación de estos servicios a Brasil La Habana ingresaría
cerca de 23 millones de dólares mensuales, o más de 275 millones de
dólares anuales. El monto sería mayor si, como dijo uno de los médicos a
Folha de Sao Paulo, Brasilia estuviera pagando más por los galenos
cubanos de lo que retribuye a sus similares de otras procedencias.
Desde los años 90 la confiscación sistemática, por parte del gobierno
cubano, de hasta un 95 por ciento del salario devengado por sus
nacionales en empresas mixtas o prestando servicios en el exterior, ha
sido criticada por organizaciones internacionales laborales y de
derechos humanos. Dicha arbitrariedad ha contado a menudo con el
contubernio de las empresas o gobiernos extranjeros involucrados.
En la nueva Zona Especial de Desarrollo Mariel, diseñada para atraer la
inversión extranjera y construida en un 60 por ciento con créditos
brasileños, el gobierno de la isla ha prometido que los trabajadores
cubanos recibirán el 80 por ciento de lo que ganen y la agencia
empleadora sólo retendrá un 20 por ciento; pero también ha enfatizado
que Mariel es un caso aparte, para el cual se ha concebido un régimen
salarial especial.
Noticias Martí
Compartir:
Source: Médicos cubanos en Brasil, ni saben cuánto va a ganar | Cubanet
-
http://www.cubanet.org/internacionales/medicos-cubanos-en-brasil-ni-saben-cuanto-va-a-ganar/
El gobierno cubano se queda con más del 75 por ciento de lo que paga
Brasilea, 3.100 dólares mensuales por facultativo
viernes, febrero 7, 2014 | CubaNet
Médicos cubanos recién llegados a Sao Paulo, Brasil, y que fueron
entrevistados el miércoles por el diario local Folha de Sao Paulo,
dijeron no saber cuánto van a recibir en concepto de salario mensual por
parte del gobierno de Cuba. Sólo uno de cientos de galenos cubanos
llegados a Brasil pudo responder. La Habana retiene más del 75% de los
10.000 reales al mes prometidos. Al año, son más de 275 millones de dólares.
El matutino precisa que los 700 cubanos hospedados en la capital
paulista, y en fase de evaluación, forman parte de la tercera etapa del
programa Más Médicos. El plan es implementado por el gobierno de Dilma
Rousseff para brindar atención médica en áreas remotas y marginales de
Brasil.
Inquietos por la presencia de reporteros, pocos cubanos accedieron a
hablar con Folha. La nota señala que a algunos les prohibieron hacerlo
sus propios colegas. Todos los entrevistados dijeron desconocer el valor
del salario mensual al que tienen derecho bajo el programa del
Ministerio de Salud.
Uno de ellos dijo que el acuerdo [entre los dos gobiernos a través de la
Organización Panamericana de la Salud] prevé una mensualidad de 5000
dólares, pero no pudo especificar si se quedaría con la totalidad de esa
suma o una parte de ella. La cantidad equivale a 12.000 reales
brasileños, superiores a los 10.000 reales que Brasilia paga a los
facultativos de otras nacionalidades.
Otro de los recién llegados intervino para asegurar que el pago es lo de
menos en una misión, y que lo importante es ayudar al pueblo brasileño,
necesitado de atención médica primaria. Preguntado por Folha, este
último doctor dijo no saber nada de la deserción de su colega cubana
Ramona Matos Rodríguez.
Antes de viajar a Brasil y ser asignada a una localidad amazónica, la
Dra Matos trabajó en el policlínico de Campo Florido, cerca de Santa
Cruz del Norte, al este de la capital cubana. En la web de ese
dispensario se dice que es diplomada en morfofisiología.
Matos ha explicado a Martí Noticias y otros medios de prensa que decidió
abandonar el programa brasileño después de darse cuenta de que el
salario mensual que les prometieron en Cuba (unos 1.000 dólares,
repartidos entre 400 a pagar en Brasil y 600 depositados en la isla),
estaba muy por debajo de los alrededor de 4.100 dólares (10.000 reales)
que reciben sus colegas de otras nacionalidades (En esta bolsa salarial
no se incluyen otros beneficios como los ajustes por el costo de vida
según la región, ni las horas extra).
Un cálculo aritmético simple indica que el gobierno cubano se quedaría
con más del 75 por ciento: 3.100 dólares mensuales por médico, al cambio
actual.
Ramona Matos Rodríguez, una de los 7.400 médicos cubanos que participan
en el programa del Gobierno brasileño.
Folha publica una gráfica sobre la proporción de profesionales cubanos y
de otras nacionalidades en el proyecto, y precisa que entre brasileños y
extranjeros se han inscrito 2.149, mientras que bajo el acuerdo
bilateral mediado por la OPS han sido seleccionados 7.400 médicos de la
isla.
Así, por la exportación de estos servicios a Brasil La Habana ingresaría
cerca de 23 millones de dólares mensuales, o más de 275 millones de
dólares anuales. El monto sería mayor si, como dijo uno de los médicos a
Folha de Sao Paulo, Brasilia estuviera pagando más por los galenos
cubanos de lo que retribuye a sus similares de otras procedencias.
Desde los años 90 la confiscación sistemática, por parte del gobierno
cubano, de hasta un 95 por ciento del salario devengado por sus
nacionales en empresas mixtas o prestando servicios en el exterior, ha
sido criticada por organizaciones internacionales laborales y de
derechos humanos. Dicha arbitrariedad ha contado a menudo con el
contubernio de las empresas o gobiernos extranjeros involucrados.
En la nueva Zona Especial de Desarrollo Mariel, diseñada para atraer la
inversión extranjera y construida en un 60 por ciento con créditos
brasileños, el gobierno de la isla ha prometido que los trabajadores
cubanos recibirán el 80 por ciento de lo que ganen y la agencia
empleadora sólo retendrá un 20 por ciento; pero también ha enfatizado
que Mariel es un caso aparte, para el cual se ha concebido un régimen
salarial especial.
Noticias Martí
Compartir:
Source: Médicos cubanos en Brasil, ni saben cuánto va a ganar | Cubanet
-
http://www.cubanet.org/internacionales/medicos-cubanos-en-brasil-ni-saben-cuanto-va-a-ganar/
Raúl Castro en la cuerda floja
Raúl Castro en la cuerda floja
Tiene la disyuntiva de profundizar las aperturas o retroceder. En ambos
casos tendrá que enfrentar las consecuencias
martes, febrero 4, 2014 | Miriam Celaya
LA HABANA, Cuba, enero -Los siete años que ha cumplido el
General-Presidente, Castro II, al frente del gobierno han sido por su
propia voluntad expresa apenas un "período de experimentación", en que
se ha visto forzado a flexibilizar las legislaciones vigentes, en un
angustioso esfuerzo por "actualizar" –que no reformar– un modelo que
harto había demostrado su obsolescencia de origen.
A simple vista diríase que estamos en una fase de continuación del
experimento iniciado en enero de 1959, y que el lapso transcurrido entre
julio de 2006 y diciembre de 2013 es solo "más de lo mismo", tal como
gusta repetir a algunos. Pero existen ciertos detalles que cambian
dramáticamente el escenario a partir de la contradicción entre las
intenciones del plan oficial y los resultados de la experimentación.
Autodestrucción
El hecho es que en la fase "raulista" del experimento se renuncia a
todos los fundamentos sobre los que se erigió la revolución fidelista
(exceptuando, por supuesto, el poder de los históricos y mecanismos de
control social tales como el monopolio de prensa e información, y la
represión), colocándonos frente a un curioso proceso de autodestrucción
del sistema del cual, ulteriormente, emergería la misma clase en el
poder, pero en un sistema político diferente. Estaríamos asistiendo,
pues, a un "experimento" llamado a barrer los últimos despojos del
paradigma de aliento marxista por la misma clase que lo impuso, para
reinstaurar una economía de mercado, paradójicamente destinada a
eternizar el poder de los supuestos enemigos del capital.
La revolución cubana, caracterizada por una sucesión de improvisaciones
y campañas, no fundó una ideología que la sustentara teóricamente, ni
una economía que la sostuviera en la práctica, y al momento actual
parece avanzar hacia un escenario incoherente en el que convivirían la
cúpula gobernante, capitalista en la práctica, pero con un discurso
socialista; y los gobernados sobreviviendo bajo condiciones
"socialistas" en la práctica, pero con el capital como aspiración suprema.
En medio de ambos extremos, una "zona de amortiguación" estaría formada
por una casta gerencial, prescindible en caso necesario, aunque
privilegiada desde el poder con amplias ventajas económicas y
comprometida con éste, que estaría formada por administrativos de
sectores emergentes con acceso a beneficios monetarios y materiales
–como es el caso del turismo–; por ciertos empresarios que desde los
años 90 han estado creando un emporio gastronómico bajo la apariencia de
"sociedades", por ejemplo, algunos restaurantes del barrio chino y de
otras zonas; y por los nuevos ricos propietarios que han venido
emergiendo desde un sector elite de la cultura.
Economía en bancarrota
En retrospectiva, puede afirmarse que, para bien y para mal, la realidad
cubana ha cambiado más en los últimos siete años que en los 20
anteriores, por un cúmulo de factores que, pese a todo, no dependen
exactamente de la voluntad del gobierno y que parten de la necesidad
imperiosa de introducir cambios debido a la crisis estructural del
sistema con una economía en bancarrota. Estos cambios en alguna medida
quiebran el inmovilismo y monolitismo característicos de los regímenes
totalitarios y generan elementos que lo debilitan desde dentro.
Es el caso, por ejemplo, del programa oficial de despidos en numerosos
centros laborales del Estado, incapaz de mantener los subsidios y la
inflación de las plantillas, y la autorización y ampliación del mercado
laboral privado –eufemísticamente denominado "formas no estatales de
empleo", y de forma más generalizada "cuentapropismo"–, que ha sufrido
sucesivas modificaciones a partir de las limitaciones originales que las
autoridades se han visto forzadas a ajustar, entre avances y retrocesos,
debido a las presiones ejercidas por ese nuevo sector emergente y
autónomo que se reconoce a sí mismo como trabajadores que aportan a la
economía y al Estado pese al abusivo y controversial sistema tributario
y a las abundantes restricciones que frenan su prosperidad y desarrollo.
A pesar del lento ritmo del programa de "actualización" y de las
numerosas reformas que se han estado aplicando, como son la entrega de
tierras en usufructo a campesinos privados con sus sucesivas
concesiones; la compra-venta de viviendas, automóviles y otras
propiedades entre particulares; la libre contratación del servicio de
telefonía móvil; la autorización de venta de computadoras; la creación
de un servicio de conexión a Internet, aunque plagado de controles de
vigilancia y excesivamente caro; la aprobación de cooperativas no
agropecuarias; y más recientemente la reforma migratoria y la venta de
automóviles por el Estado a precios absurdamente altos, entre otras; el
General-Presidente no ha logrado detener la ruina ni avanzar en la
economía, como tampoco ha podido evitar el incipiente movimiento al
interior de la Isla, protagonizado por grupos de cuentapropistas que,
espontáneamente, han comenzado a reclamar sus derechos y a manifestar su
descontento por las limitaciones de las licencias y las medidas
represivas que restringen sus actividades.
Derechos cívicos
Durante el pasado año, 2013, y ya en el propio mes inicial del 2014, se
han estado produciendo pequeñas huelgas y manifestaciones en varias
localidades al interior de Cuba –como las huelgas de cocheros de Bayamo
y Santa Clara, en 2013 y las protestas de pequeños comerciantes, también
en Santa Clara y en la ciudad de Holguín–, así como en algunos
municipios de la capital, que constituyen un botón de muestra de las
potencialidades de un sector privado movido por intereses que rebasan
los marcos de los compromisos políticos e ideológicos para centrarse en
derechos eminentemente cívicos.
Así, 2014 podría resultar un escenario interesante desde muchos ángulos,
y tal vez decisivo. Se ha cerrado un ciclo tras el cual deberíamos
comenzar a percibir los frutos de la estrategia socioeconómica del
gobierno y disfrutar de algunos beneficios, pero todo indica que
ocurrirá lo contrario.
El gobierno tiene la disyuntiva de profundizar las aperturas e
implementar verdaderas reformas, o retroceder; en ambos casos tendrá que
enfrentar las consecuencias. Los sectores "liberados" que han comenzado
a moverse por sí mismos dentro de un espacio muy limitado tienen el reto
de empujar y ampliar la brecha. Mientras, en la sociedad crecen las
carencias, hay más represión y aumenta el descontento. Quizás el
General-Presidente deba considerar hacer una breve pausa para meditar
que sería saludable para todos un poco de prisa.
Source: Raúl Castro en la cuerda floja | Cubanet -
http://www.cubanet.org/opiniones/raul-castro-en-la-cuerda-floja/
Tiene la disyuntiva de profundizar las aperturas o retroceder. En ambos
casos tendrá que enfrentar las consecuencias
martes, febrero 4, 2014 | Miriam Celaya
LA HABANA, Cuba, enero -Los siete años que ha cumplido el
General-Presidente, Castro II, al frente del gobierno han sido por su
propia voluntad expresa apenas un "período de experimentación", en que
se ha visto forzado a flexibilizar las legislaciones vigentes, en un
angustioso esfuerzo por "actualizar" –que no reformar– un modelo que
harto había demostrado su obsolescencia de origen.
A simple vista diríase que estamos en una fase de continuación del
experimento iniciado en enero de 1959, y que el lapso transcurrido entre
julio de 2006 y diciembre de 2013 es solo "más de lo mismo", tal como
gusta repetir a algunos. Pero existen ciertos detalles que cambian
dramáticamente el escenario a partir de la contradicción entre las
intenciones del plan oficial y los resultados de la experimentación.
Autodestrucción
El hecho es que en la fase "raulista" del experimento se renuncia a
todos los fundamentos sobre los que se erigió la revolución fidelista
(exceptuando, por supuesto, el poder de los históricos y mecanismos de
control social tales como el monopolio de prensa e información, y la
represión), colocándonos frente a un curioso proceso de autodestrucción
del sistema del cual, ulteriormente, emergería la misma clase en el
poder, pero en un sistema político diferente. Estaríamos asistiendo,
pues, a un "experimento" llamado a barrer los últimos despojos del
paradigma de aliento marxista por la misma clase que lo impuso, para
reinstaurar una economía de mercado, paradójicamente destinada a
eternizar el poder de los supuestos enemigos del capital.
La revolución cubana, caracterizada por una sucesión de improvisaciones
y campañas, no fundó una ideología que la sustentara teóricamente, ni
una economía que la sostuviera en la práctica, y al momento actual
parece avanzar hacia un escenario incoherente en el que convivirían la
cúpula gobernante, capitalista en la práctica, pero con un discurso
socialista; y los gobernados sobreviviendo bajo condiciones
"socialistas" en la práctica, pero con el capital como aspiración suprema.
En medio de ambos extremos, una "zona de amortiguación" estaría formada
por una casta gerencial, prescindible en caso necesario, aunque
privilegiada desde el poder con amplias ventajas económicas y
comprometida con éste, que estaría formada por administrativos de
sectores emergentes con acceso a beneficios monetarios y materiales
–como es el caso del turismo–; por ciertos empresarios que desde los
años 90 han estado creando un emporio gastronómico bajo la apariencia de
"sociedades", por ejemplo, algunos restaurantes del barrio chino y de
otras zonas; y por los nuevos ricos propietarios que han venido
emergiendo desde un sector elite de la cultura.
Economía en bancarrota
En retrospectiva, puede afirmarse que, para bien y para mal, la realidad
cubana ha cambiado más en los últimos siete años que en los 20
anteriores, por un cúmulo de factores que, pese a todo, no dependen
exactamente de la voluntad del gobierno y que parten de la necesidad
imperiosa de introducir cambios debido a la crisis estructural del
sistema con una economía en bancarrota. Estos cambios en alguna medida
quiebran el inmovilismo y monolitismo característicos de los regímenes
totalitarios y generan elementos que lo debilitan desde dentro.
Es el caso, por ejemplo, del programa oficial de despidos en numerosos
centros laborales del Estado, incapaz de mantener los subsidios y la
inflación de las plantillas, y la autorización y ampliación del mercado
laboral privado –eufemísticamente denominado "formas no estatales de
empleo", y de forma más generalizada "cuentapropismo"–, que ha sufrido
sucesivas modificaciones a partir de las limitaciones originales que las
autoridades se han visto forzadas a ajustar, entre avances y retrocesos,
debido a las presiones ejercidas por ese nuevo sector emergente y
autónomo que se reconoce a sí mismo como trabajadores que aportan a la
economía y al Estado pese al abusivo y controversial sistema tributario
y a las abundantes restricciones que frenan su prosperidad y desarrollo.
A pesar del lento ritmo del programa de "actualización" y de las
numerosas reformas que se han estado aplicando, como son la entrega de
tierras en usufructo a campesinos privados con sus sucesivas
concesiones; la compra-venta de viviendas, automóviles y otras
propiedades entre particulares; la libre contratación del servicio de
telefonía móvil; la autorización de venta de computadoras; la creación
de un servicio de conexión a Internet, aunque plagado de controles de
vigilancia y excesivamente caro; la aprobación de cooperativas no
agropecuarias; y más recientemente la reforma migratoria y la venta de
automóviles por el Estado a precios absurdamente altos, entre otras; el
General-Presidente no ha logrado detener la ruina ni avanzar en la
economía, como tampoco ha podido evitar el incipiente movimiento al
interior de la Isla, protagonizado por grupos de cuentapropistas que,
espontáneamente, han comenzado a reclamar sus derechos y a manifestar su
descontento por las limitaciones de las licencias y las medidas
represivas que restringen sus actividades.
Derechos cívicos
Durante el pasado año, 2013, y ya en el propio mes inicial del 2014, se
han estado produciendo pequeñas huelgas y manifestaciones en varias
localidades al interior de Cuba –como las huelgas de cocheros de Bayamo
y Santa Clara, en 2013 y las protestas de pequeños comerciantes, también
en Santa Clara y en la ciudad de Holguín–, así como en algunos
municipios de la capital, que constituyen un botón de muestra de las
potencialidades de un sector privado movido por intereses que rebasan
los marcos de los compromisos políticos e ideológicos para centrarse en
derechos eminentemente cívicos.
Así, 2014 podría resultar un escenario interesante desde muchos ángulos,
y tal vez decisivo. Se ha cerrado un ciclo tras el cual deberíamos
comenzar a percibir los frutos de la estrategia socioeconómica del
gobierno y disfrutar de algunos beneficios, pero todo indica que
ocurrirá lo contrario.
El gobierno tiene la disyuntiva de profundizar las aperturas e
implementar verdaderas reformas, o retroceder; en ambos casos tendrá que
enfrentar las consecuencias. Los sectores "liberados" que han comenzado
a moverse por sí mismos dentro de un espacio muy limitado tienen el reto
de empujar y ampliar la brecha. Mientras, en la sociedad crecen las
carencias, hay más represión y aumenta el descontento. Quizás el
General-Presidente deba considerar hacer una breve pausa para meditar
que sería saludable para todos un poco de prisa.
Source: Raúl Castro en la cuerda floja | Cubanet -
http://www.cubanet.org/opiniones/raul-castro-en-la-cuerda-floja/
Adiós al trabajador por cuenta propia
Adiós al trabajador por cuenta propia
La cuesta de enero se hace cada vez más dura, especialmente ahora que
han cerrado muchos comercios
viernes, enero 31, 2014 | Gladys Linares
LA HABANA, Cuba, enero, www.cubanet.org -Para la mayoría de nosotros,
enero por lo general es un mes de privaciones. Hace décadas que es
frecuente escuchar a las personas lamentarse en los primeros días del
año sobre lo difícil de su situación, pero nunca como ahora. Este 2014,
según algunos, la escasez se ha hecho sentir más que otras veces.
Muchos opinan que esto se debe, en gran parte, a la arbitraria medida
aplicada a los trabajadores por cuenta propia, desde que el 2 de
noviembre de 2013 una nota informativa en el periódico Granma anunció la
prohibición de la venta de artículos importados o adquiridos en la red
comercial estatal. Además, se dio un breve plazo de 59 días (hasta el 31
de diciembre) para liquidar la mercancía. Esta ordenanza provocó la
quiebra de muchos cuentapropistas, pues a pesar de tener buena demanda
dentro de la población, el plazo no era suficiente.
Uno de los vendedores perjudicados –que no quiso identificarse- tenía
licencia de productor-vendedor de artículos varios para el hogar. Gran
parte de su mercancía la adquiría a través de un amigo que viaja a
Ecuador. Durante tres años lo visitaron inspectores, siempre buscando la
manera de encontrarle alguna falla, pero nunca le señalaron que no podía
vender artículos importados.
Otra perjudicada vendía ropa importada en la feria de la Virgen del
Camino, quien comentó –anónimamente- que aunque está sindicalizada, no
acudió al sindicato porque este responde al Gobierno. Además, agrega,
"si me pongo a reclamar me señalo; mejor sigo vendiendo puertas adentro".
Muchas veces, el Gobierno intentó culpar del desabastecimiento a los
cuentapropistas que "acaparaban" en las tiendas, al no contar con un
mercado mayorista. Sin embargo, en opinión de la gran mayoría, ahora la
falsedad de esta hipótesis ha quedado demostrada, pues luego de la nueva
prohibición los estantes de tiendas, quioscos y contenedores estatales
están más vacíos que antes.
Con el auge del trabajo por cuenta propia, La Habana cobró vida. Al
arreglar y pintar viviendas o fachadas y aprovechar los espacios ociosos
o subutilizados para las nuevas cafeterías, paladares, bazares o
quioscos, al colgar alegres carteles de todo tipo anunciando las ofertas
y provocando el ir y venir de curiosos y clientes, es indiscutible que
los que comenzaron a probar suerte cambiaron el paisaje urbano.
Entre estos nuevos lugares, la feria La Caridad llegó a ser una de las
más concurridas en Centro Habana. Está ubicada en la esquina de Dragones
y Galiano, en un terreno acondicionado por el Gobierno para arrendarlo a
cuentapropistas, pero que hoy se encuentra vacío puesto que la mayoría
de los stands estaban dedicados a la venta de artículos importados.
Pero no son los vendedores los únicos perjudicados con esta medida.
Estos cuentapropistas satisfacían muchas necesidades de la población,
que ahora no tiene a dónde acudir pues históricamente el Estado no ha
sido capaz de proveernos de determinados productos.
Uno de los clientes afectados es un vecino, quien necesitaba dos llaves
de agua, pero como en Lawton los vendedores de artículos de plomería
cerraron sus negocios, tuvo que ir a Centro Habana a ver si encontraba
alguna. Al regresar por la tarde, cansado de caminar y sin las llaves,
comentó: "Los comercios están vacíos, las tarimas y los quioscos,
'pelados'. Primero autorizaron a los cuentapropistas a vender y ahora
los prohibieron. En fin, como diría Cantiflas, 'hay momentos en la vida
que son verdaderamente momentáneos'".
Source: Adiós al trabajador por cuenta propia | Cubanet -
http://www.cubanet.org/actualidad/actualidad-destacados/adios-al-trabajador-por-cuenta-propia/
La cuesta de enero se hace cada vez más dura, especialmente ahora que
han cerrado muchos comercios
viernes, enero 31, 2014 | Gladys Linares
LA HABANA, Cuba, enero, www.cubanet.org -Para la mayoría de nosotros,
enero por lo general es un mes de privaciones. Hace décadas que es
frecuente escuchar a las personas lamentarse en los primeros días del
año sobre lo difícil de su situación, pero nunca como ahora. Este 2014,
según algunos, la escasez se ha hecho sentir más que otras veces.
Muchos opinan que esto se debe, en gran parte, a la arbitraria medida
aplicada a los trabajadores por cuenta propia, desde que el 2 de
noviembre de 2013 una nota informativa en el periódico Granma anunció la
prohibición de la venta de artículos importados o adquiridos en la red
comercial estatal. Además, se dio un breve plazo de 59 días (hasta el 31
de diciembre) para liquidar la mercancía. Esta ordenanza provocó la
quiebra de muchos cuentapropistas, pues a pesar de tener buena demanda
dentro de la población, el plazo no era suficiente.
Uno de los vendedores perjudicados –que no quiso identificarse- tenía
licencia de productor-vendedor de artículos varios para el hogar. Gran
parte de su mercancía la adquiría a través de un amigo que viaja a
Ecuador. Durante tres años lo visitaron inspectores, siempre buscando la
manera de encontrarle alguna falla, pero nunca le señalaron que no podía
vender artículos importados.
Otra perjudicada vendía ropa importada en la feria de la Virgen del
Camino, quien comentó –anónimamente- que aunque está sindicalizada, no
acudió al sindicato porque este responde al Gobierno. Además, agrega,
"si me pongo a reclamar me señalo; mejor sigo vendiendo puertas adentro".
Muchas veces, el Gobierno intentó culpar del desabastecimiento a los
cuentapropistas que "acaparaban" en las tiendas, al no contar con un
mercado mayorista. Sin embargo, en opinión de la gran mayoría, ahora la
falsedad de esta hipótesis ha quedado demostrada, pues luego de la nueva
prohibición los estantes de tiendas, quioscos y contenedores estatales
están más vacíos que antes.
Con el auge del trabajo por cuenta propia, La Habana cobró vida. Al
arreglar y pintar viviendas o fachadas y aprovechar los espacios ociosos
o subutilizados para las nuevas cafeterías, paladares, bazares o
quioscos, al colgar alegres carteles de todo tipo anunciando las ofertas
y provocando el ir y venir de curiosos y clientes, es indiscutible que
los que comenzaron a probar suerte cambiaron el paisaje urbano.
Entre estos nuevos lugares, la feria La Caridad llegó a ser una de las
más concurridas en Centro Habana. Está ubicada en la esquina de Dragones
y Galiano, en un terreno acondicionado por el Gobierno para arrendarlo a
cuentapropistas, pero que hoy se encuentra vacío puesto que la mayoría
de los stands estaban dedicados a la venta de artículos importados.
Pero no son los vendedores los únicos perjudicados con esta medida.
Estos cuentapropistas satisfacían muchas necesidades de la población,
que ahora no tiene a dónde acudir pues históricamente el Estado no ha
sido capaz de proveernos de determinados productos.
Uno de los clientes afectados es un vecino, quien necesitaba dos llaves
de agua, pero como en Lawton los vendedores de artículos de plomería
cerraron sus negocios, tuvo que ir a Centro Habana a ver si encontraba
alguna. Al regresar por la tarde, cansado de caminar y sin las llaves,
comentó: "Los comercios están vacíos, las tarimas y los quioscos,
'pelados'. Primero autorizaron a los cuentapropistas a vender y ahora
los prohibieron. En fin, como diría Cantiflas, 'hay momentos en la vida
que son verdaderamente momentáneos'".
Source: Adiós al trabajador por cuenta propia | Cubanet -
http://www.cubanet.org/actualidad/actualidad-destacados/adios-al-trabajador-por-cuenta-propia/
Cuba Has Its Sweet Dreams
Cuba Has Its Sweet Dreams
February 6, 2014
Fernando Ravsberg*
HAVANA TIMES — The news that Brazil is managing the 5 de septiembre
sugar refinery in Cuba's province of Cienfuegos appears to be stirring
up the passions and interests of Cubans living at either side of the
Strait of Florida.
This is the first time since the nationalizations of the 1960s that a
foreign company has been authorized to manage one of these sugar
refineries, part of an industry that was the country's economic
locomotive for a long period of time and is today a mere rear coach.
Though Cuba continues to be the proprietor of the mill, the whole affair
causes discomfort among those who regard these changes as ideological
threats and constantly alert us to the dangers of returning to a past
which, in their eyes, entails the loss of national sovereignty.
They had every opportunity to do things better themselves but, despite
this, it must be very frustrating for Cuban high agriculture officials
to see a "contractual clause which grants foreigners autonomy in terms
of management and prevents interference in administrative affairs."
Brazil can triple production at the 5 de septiembre refinery thanks to a
US $120 million investment, technological upgrading and the fact the new
managers can skirt all of the obstacles set down by a bureaucracy that
has the rest of the agricultural sector bound hand and foot.
Cuban high officials in the sector have been promising improved harvest
results and mechanically repeating self-criticisms for improvisation,
disorganization, inefficiency and indiscipline for decades, but have
consistently failed to increase yields.
The failure of the Stalinist agrarian model became evident long ago. In
the 1970s, Fidel Castro advised French Communist Party leader George
Marchais to never nationalize the countryside, lest they lose their
cheeses, wines and foigrass (1).
Protecting the "Back Yard"
Abroad, the move has also angered those who were once the owners of
Cuba's refineries and practically the entire country. They proudly
repeat that they produced millions of tons of sugar without the need to
call in any foreign managers.
Cuban-American sugar magnate Alfonso Fanjul put aside his anti-Castro
rhetoric and rushed to Cuba to explore the possibility of doing business
there. The US press is saying he wants to prevent Brazilians from
settling in his family's "back yard." (2)
Though it is true Cuba's sugar industry was extremely productive before
1959, it was only making life sweet for a handful of Cubans.
"Agricultural workers lived in sub-human conditions. Anyone can be
efficient that way," an economist tells me and suggests I read a survey
conducted in 1957 (3).
According to the Catholic Youth University group, more than 40% of Cuban
farmers were illiterate, 99% lived in hovels made of guano and wooden
boards, more than 90% lacked water and electricity, 80% didn't even have
a bathroom and only 8% had access to public health.
Despite this, Fanjul told the Washington Post: "Do I have a weak spot
for Cuba? Of course, it's my country." He does not, however, let this
weak spot get the better of him and immediately sets down conditions,
adding, "Particularly if the investment will be profitable and its
security is guaranteed." (4).
In 1957, 40% of Cuban farmers and farm workers were illiterate, 99%
lived in hovels, 90% lacked water and electricity, 80% had no bathrooms
and a mere 8% had access to public health.
Some time ago, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez told émigrés
living the United States: "I don't know how many Cubans you know who
could invest 200, 300, 500, 1,000 million dollars in Cuba. This is the
investment Cuba needs." It looks as though the first one's turned up.
It won't be easy to convince farmers to accept going back to the old
system of production, the same one endured by the sugar cane cutters of
the Dominican Republic, where some of these Cuban sugar magnates have
set up camp.
Cuban agriculture is still an unresolved issue, and the answers aren't
likely to come from the senseless "resolutions and circulars" issued by
a bureaucracy that would be able to ruin Argentina's livestock industry
and France's cheese production.
The problem, however, cannot be solved by returning to a past when the
sugar industry reaped efficiency by sowing human misery.
(1) 100 Hours with Fidel, Ignacio Ramonet
(2)
http://www.elmundo.es/internacional/2014/02/04/52f01fbfe2704efc2e8b458c.html
(3)
http://bibliotecavirtual.clacso.org.ar/ar/libros/cuba/cips/caudales06/fscommand/51T13.pdf
(4)
http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2014/02/03/actualidad/1391449872_553837.html
(*) A Havana Times translation of the original published in Spanish by
BBC Mundo.
Source: Cuba Has Its Sweet Dreams - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=101685
February 6, 2014
Fernando Ravsberg*
HAVANA TIMES — The news that Brazil is managing the 5 de septiembre
sugar refinery in Cuba's province of Cienfuegos appears to be stirring
up the passions and interests of Cubans living at either side of the
Strait of Florida.
This is the first time since the nationalizations of the 1960s that a
foreign company has been authorized to manage one of these sugar
refineries, part of an industry that was the country's economic
locomotive for a long period of time and is today a mere rear coach.
Though Cuba continues to be the proprietor of the mill, the whole affair
causes discomfort among those who regard these changes as ideological
threats and constantly alert us to the dangers of returning to a past
which, in their eyes, entails the loss of national sovereignty.
They had every opportunity to do things better themselves but, despite
this, it must be very frustrating for Cuban high agriculture officials
to see a "contractual clause which grants foreigners autonomy in terms
of management and prevents interference in administrative affairs."
Brazil can triple production at the 5 de septiembre refinery thanks to a
US $120 million investment, technological upgrading and the fact the new
managers can skirt all of the obstacles set down by a bureaucracy that
has the rest of the agricultural sector bound hand and foot.
Cuban high officials in the sector have been promising improved harvest
results and mechanically repeating self-criticisms for improvisation,
disorganization, inefficiency and indiscipline for decades, but have
consistently failed to increase yields.
The failure of the Stalinist agrarian model became evident long ago. In
the 1970s, Fidel Castro advised French Communist Party leader George
Marchais to never nationalize the countryside, lest they lose their
cheeses, wines and foigrass (1).
Protecting the "Back Yard"
Abroad, the move has also angered those who were once the owners of
Cuba's refineries and practically the entire country. They proudly
repeat that they produced millions of tons of sugar without the need to
call in any foreign managers.
Cuban-American sugar magnate Alfonso Fanjul put aside his anti-Castro
rhetoric and rushed to Cuba to explore the possibility of doing business
there. The US press is saying he wants to prevent Brazilians from
settling in his family's "back yard." (2)
Though it is true Cuba's sugar industry was extremely productive before
1959, it was only making life sweet for a handful of Cubans.
"Agricultural workers lived in sub-human conditions. Anyone can be
efficient that way," an economist tells me and suggests I read a survey
conducted in 1957 (3).
According to the Catholic Youth University group, more than 40% of Cuban
farmers were illiterate, 99% lived in hovels made of guano and wooden
boards, more than 90% lacked water and electricity, 80% didn't even have
a bathroom and only 8% had access to public health.
Despite this, Fanjul told the Washington Post: "Do I have a weak spot
for Cuba? Of course, it's my country." He does not, however, let this
weak spot get the better of him and immediately sets down conditions,
adding, "Particularly if the investment will be profitable and its
security is guaranteed." (4).
In 1957, 40% of Cuban farmers and farm workers were illiterate, 99%
lived in hovels, 90% lacked water and electricity, 80% had no bathrooms
and a mere 8% had access to public health.
Some time ago, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez told émigrés
living the United States: "I don't know how many Cubans you know who
could invest 200, 300, 500, 1,000 million dollars in Cuba. This is the
investment Cuba needs." It looks as though the first one's turned up.
It won't be easy to convince farmers to accept going back to the old
system of production, the same one endured by the sugar cane cutters of
the Dominican Republic, where some of these Cuban sugar magnates have
set up camp.
Cuban agriculture is still an unresolved issue, and the answers aren't
likely to come from the senseless "resolutions and circulars" issued by
a bureaucracy that would be able to ruin Argentina's livestock industry
and France's cheese production.
The problem, however, cannot be solved by returning to a past when the
sugar industry reaped efficiency by sowing human misery.
(1) 100 Hours with Fidel, Ignacio Ramonet
(2)
http://www.elmundo.es/internacional/2014/02/04/52f01fbfe2704efc2e8b458c.html
(3)
http://bibliotecavirtual.clacso.org.ar/ar/libros/cuba/cips/caudales06/fscommand/51T13.pdf
(4)
http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2014/02/03/actualidad/1391449872_553837.html
(*) A Havana Times translation of the original published in Spanish by
BBC Mundo.
Source: Cuba Has Its Sweet Dreams - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=101685
Caricom to open trade office in Cuba
Caricom to open trade office in Cuba
CUBA STANDARD — The Caribbean Community (Caricom) plans to open a trade
facilitation office in Cuba, which is not a member of the bloc.
The office in Havana, together with offices in the Dominican Republic,
Costa Rica, Colombia, and Venezuela, will be "key to the region taking
greater advantage of trade agreements with third countries," the
Guyana-based Caricom Secretariat said in a statement.
Caricom trade with Cuba and other nations in the region, which have
bilateral trade agreements with the bloc, has been "weak," according to
the bloc.
The Caricom secretariat is acting on the recommendation of a study by
BKP Research and Consulting in Germany. In particular the consultant
highlights the need for improved communication with and assistance for
regional exporters via trade facilitation offices. Senior trade
officials in the region will review the findings of the study in
mid-February.
The study notes that "the divergence in interests between Caricom
members, which is the result of vast differences in their economic
structures," is a major obstacle to overcome.
Full Caricom members are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize,
Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and
Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad &
Tobago. Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, and
Turks and Caicos have association agreements.
CUBA STANDARD — The Caribbean Community (Caricom) plans to open a trade
facilitation office in Cuba, which is not a member of the bloc.
The office in Havana, together with offices in the Dominican Republic,
Costa Rica, Colombia, and Venezuela, will be "key to the region taking
greater advantage of trade agreements with third countries," the
Guyana-based Caricom Secretariat said in a statement.
Caricom trade with Cuba and other nations in the region, which have
bilateral trade agreements with the bloc, has been "weak," according to
the bloc.
The Caricom secretariat is acting on the recommendation of a study by
BKP Research and Consulting in Germany. In particular the consultant
highlights the need for improved communication with and assistance for
regional exporters via trade facilitation offices. Senior trade
officials in the region will review the findings of the study in
mid-February.
The study notes that "the divergence in interests between Caricom
members, which is the result of vast differences in their economic
structures," is a major obstacle to overcome.
Full Caricom members are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize,
Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and
Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad &
Tobago. Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, and
Turks and Caicos have association agreements.
EU Seeking to Upgrade Bloc's Ties With Cuba
EU Seeking to Upgrade Bloc's Ties With Cuba
BRUSSELS February 6, 2014 (AP)
By JUERGEN BAETZ Associated Press
Europe is set to upgrade its ties with Cuba in a bid to broaden economic
cooperation and demand more progress on respecting human rights and
fundamental freedoms, a senior European Union official said Thursday.
The 28-nation bloc's foreign ministers will endorse a mandate to
negotiate a new, broad political agreement with Cuba at their upcoming
meeting Monday, the official said.
The agreement won't include facilitating trade relations or more
development aid for Cuba, but it will mark a crucial step in that
direction by broadening and regularizing the two sides' political
exchanges, he said.
The official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity ahead of
the decision's announcement, declined to detail what progress on human
rights the EU will specifically demand from Cuba, saying it would be
counterproductive to cite specific benchmarks at this point.
He insisted, however, that any progress on reaching the new political
framework will hinge on "developments on the island since the idea is to
accompany the process of reforms, modernization and further
strengthening of fundamental freedoms and human rights."
Should Cuba's progress stall, he suggested, then "the motivation to
engage frequently will be much less. Other priorities will get the upper
hand."
In Havana, Cuban officials did not immediately respond to a request for
comment about the forthcoming EU mandate.
The EU resumed low-level contacts with Cuba in 2008, two years after
Raul Castro became president and started granting Cubans some more
freedom, including lifting some travel restrictions, while also slowly
opening up the state-dominated economy to private businesses.
Washington's relations with Cuba are defined by the 52-year-old trade
embargo, but European nations have long traded with Cuba, and thousands
of sun-seeking Europeans flock to the islands' Caribbean beaches every year.
The EU official said the bloc's move comes in "full understanding with
Washington," noting that the U.S. position on Cuba also is experiencing
some relaxation. The U.S. and the EU are both hoping Cuba will implement
further reforms, "therefore this is not an issue where out paths
diverge," he added.
Cuba has received about 80 million ($110 million) in development aid
from the EU since 2008. While that sum is small, experts say the EU
would certainly be ready to provide more assistance, if the country took
further steps toward democratization and respect for fundamental freedoms.
The EU already is the Caribbean island nation's second most important
trading partner, trailing only Cuba's socialist ally Venezuela, and one
of the biggest sources of foreign direct investment. About one-fifth of
Cuba's imports currently come from Europe, according to EU figures.
———
Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz
———
AP writer Andrea Rodriguez in Havana contributed reporting.
Source: EU Seeking to Upgrade Bloc's Ties With Cuba - ABC News -
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eu-seeking-upgrade-blocs-ties-cuba-22389457
BRUSSELS February 6, 2014 (AP)
By JUERGEN BAETZ Associated Press
Europe is set to upgrade its ties with Cuba in a bid to broaden economic
cooperation and demand more progress on respecting human rights and
fundamental freedoms, a senior European Union official said Thursday.
The 28-nation bloc's foreign ministers will endorse a mandate to
negotiate a new, broad political agreement with Cuba at their upcoming
meeting Monday, the official said.
The agreement won't include facilitating trade relations or more
development aid for Cuba, but it will mark a crucial step in that
direction by broadening and regularizing the two sides' political
exchanges, he said.
The official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity ahead of
the decision's announcement, declined to detail what progress on human
rights the EU will specifically demand from Cuba, saying it would be
counterproductive to cite specific benchmarks at this point.
He insisted, however, that any progress on reaching the new political
framework will hinge on "developments on the island since the idea is to
accompany the process of reforms, modernization and further
strengthening of fundamental freedoms and human rights."
Should Cuba's progress stall, he suggested, then "the motivation to
engage frequently will be much less. Other priorities will get the upper
hand."
In Havana, Cuban officials did not immediately respond to a request for
comment about the forthcoming EU mandate.
The EU resumed low-level contacts with Cuba in 2008, two years after
Raul Castro became president and started granting Cubans some more
freedom, including lifting some travel restrictions, while also slowly
opening up the state-dominated economy to private businesses.
Washington's relations with Cuba are defined by the 52-year-old trade
embargo, but European nations have long traded with Cuba, and thousands
of sun-seeking Europeans flock to the islands' Caribbean beaches every year.
The EU official said the bloc's move comes in "full understanding with
Washington," noting that the U.S. position on Cuba also is experiencing
some relaxation. The U.S. and the EU are both hoping Cuba will implement
further reforms, "therefore this is not an issue where out paths
diverge," he added.
Cuba has received about 80 million ($110 million) in development aid
from the EU since 2008. While that sum is small, experts say the EU
would certainly be ready to provide more assistance, if the country took
further steps toward democratization and respect for fundamental freedoms.
The EU already is the Caribbean island nation's second most important
trading partner, trailing only Cuba's socialist ally Venezuela, and one
of the biggest sources of foreign direct investment. About one-fifth of
Cuba's imports currently come from Europe, according to EU figures.
———
Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz
———
AP writer Andrea Rodriguez in Havana contributed reporting.
Source: EU Seeking to Upgrade Bloc's Ties With Cuba - ABC News -
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eu-seeking-upgrade-blocs-ties-cuba-22389457
Cuban doctor defects in Brazil over pay, plans to seek asylum
Cuban doctor defects in Brazil over pay, plans to seek asylum
BRASILIA Wed Feb 5, 2014 9:32am EST
(Reuters) - A Cuban doctor working in Brazil has sought political asylum
in the office of a conservative party complaining that Cuba's communist
government takes too big a slice of her pay, a party official said on
Wednesday.
Ramona Rodriguez, 51, entered the office of the center-right Democratas
party leadership in the lower chamber of Brazil's Congress on Tuesday
afternoon and slept the night on a sofa, the official said.
Rodriguez is one of 7,400 Cubans in Brazil who work in a program that
hires foreign doctors to attend the sick in slums and remote rural
locations unattended by Brazilian physicians.
Under an agreement signed last year with Cuba through the Pan-American
Health Organization, or PAHO, the Cubans get only one fifth of the
10,000 reais ($4,100) a month that Brazil pays each physician in the
program. The rest goes to the Cuban state.
The Cubans get paid 800 reais in Brazil and 1,200 reais are deposited in
an account in Cuba for their families who are not allowed to accompany
them to Brazil.
Rodriguez arrived in Brazil in October and was working in Pacajá, in the
Amazon state of Pará, until she took off on the weekend and made her way
to the Brazilian capital. She told Brazilian media she felt cheated.
Lawmaker Ronaldo Caiado, leader of Democratas in the lower house, said
Rodriguez could stay in his office in Congress until Brazil's leftist
government agreed to grant her asylum.
Waving a copy of the PAHO contract in the air, Caiado accused President
Dilma Rousseff's government of exploiting the Cuban doctors like "slave
labor" in a speech to the chamber.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Stephen Powell)
Source: Cuban doctor defects in Brazil over pay, plans to seek asylum |
Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/05/us-brazil-cuba-defection-idUSBREA1412E20140205
BRASILIA Wed Feb 5, 2014 9:32am EST
(Reuters) - A Cuban doctor working in Brazil has sought political asylum
in the office of a conservative party complaining that Cuba's communist
government takes too big a slice of her pay, a party official said on
Wednesday.
Ramona Rodriguez, 51, entered the office of the center-right Democratas
party leadership in the lower chamber of Brazil's Congress on Tuesday
afternoon and slept the night on a sofa, the official said.
Rodriguez is one of 7,400 Cubans in Brazil who work in a program that
hires foreign doctors to attend the sick in slums and remote rural
locations unattended by Brazilian physicians.
Under an agreement signed last year with Cuba through the Pan-American
Health Organization, or PAHO, the Cubans get only one fifth of the
10,000 reais ($4,100) a month that Brazil pays each physician in the
program. The rest goes to the Cuban state.
The Cubans get paid 800 reais in Brazil and 1,200 reais are deposited in
an account in Cuba for their families who are not allowed to accompany
them to Brazil.
Rodriguez arrived in Brazil in October and was working in Pacajá, in the
Amazon state of Pará, until she took off on the weekend and made her way
to the Brazilian capital. She told Brazilian media she felt cheated.
Lawmaker Ronaldo Caiado, leader of Democratas in the lower house, said
Rodriguez could stay in his office in Congress until Brazil's leftist
government agreed to grant her asylum.
Waving a copy of the PAHO contract in the air, Caiado accused President
Dilma Rousseff's government of exploiting the Cuban doctors like "slave
labor" in a speech to the chamber.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Stephen Powell)
Source: Cuban doctor defects in Brazil over pay, plans to seek asylum |
Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/05/us-brazil-cuba-defection-idUSBREA1412E20140205
Street protest in Cuba draws at least 500, sparks clash with police
Posted on Wednesday, 01.22.14
Street protest in Cuba draws at least 500, sparks clash with police
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM
At least 500 Cubans staged a rare street protest and clash with police
in the eastern city of Holguin after municipal authorities confiscated
household goods being sold in an open-air market by the island's nascent
private business owners, according to witnesses.
"This has been something immense. In my 31 years, I never saw anything
like this," said Holguin business owner Wilian Zaldivar Perez, who added
that patrons in a restaurant near the protest also threw rocks at the
police during the confrontation Tuesday.
Communist-ruled Cuba has not seen street protests of any significant
size since 1994, when thousands of people rioted in downtown Havana amid
a false rumor that the ferry that takes people across Havana Bay would
take anyone to South Florida.
The protest Tuesday was the result of "the dissatisfaction that has been
accumulating" with the Raúl Castro regime and his halting economic
reforms, said Eduardo Cardet, an Holguin physician and member of the
opposition Christian Liberation Movement.
"It's no longer the opposition protesting. Now, it's the people," Cardet
said in a recorded statement posted on YouTube. Although many Cubans
have argued that protests achieve nothing, he added, the marchers in
Holguin "know that it's worth protesting."
Zaldivar said 50 to 60 of the small business owners known in Cuba as
"self-employed" and anywhere from 500 to 700 supporters marched Tuesday
for more than a half-mile to the offices of the municipal government,
demanding the right to work.
The protest was all the more daring because the offices are next door to
the local headquarters of the feared Interior Ministry, in charge of
domestic security. Its State Security agents are in charge of repressing
all forms of dissent.
Zaldivar and other witnesses said the protest started after uniformed
National Revolutionary Police officers and plainclothes State Security
agents raided Holguin's Central Plaza and confiscated household goods on
sale at several kiosks.
Castro has opened some spaces for the "self-employed" to launch 182
types of small-scale businesses. But authorities have been cracking down
on people who are licensed to sell household goods but obtain them at
state-run shops and sell them at much higher prices in what the
government considers to be illegal profiteering.
Zaldivar said police and municipal inspectors acting in a harsh manner
confiscated the goods at the Central Plaza, revoked the licenses of the
merchants and slapped them with fines of about $30 — a large sum in a
country where the average monthly wage officially stands at about $20.
Once the protest reached the municipal offices, some of the protesters
scuffled with police and plainclothes agents, he told El Nuevo Herald by
phone. Several protesters were arrested and he was detained for three
hours at a nearby police station but then released.
Another dissident, Zuleidy Pérez Velásquez, put the number of protesters
as high as 1,000 and reported "enormous beatings" of the marchers by
police, according to the Spain-based Web site Diario de Cuba.
A video of the Holguin protest showed a long but thin line of people
marching in the same direction, and then a large crowd jammed outside a
building, but the number of participants could not be established.
One dissident reported that places with public Internet access in
Holguin had been put under heavy guard after the confrontation,
apparently to keep word of the unrest from seeping out.
The kiosks had moved to the Central Plaza at the request of government
officials who wanted to move them out of their previous location, in
front of the local Lenin Hospital, according to the Diario de Cuba report.
Police and two truckloads of plainclothes agents returned to the Central
Plaza Wednesday and confiscated more of the household goods, "but today
the police acted more civilized," Zaldivar said in a telephone interview
from Holguin.
"Today, the situation is pretty tense," he added, but there were no
public protests on Wednesday because city residents believe that police
were ready to crack down harshly on any further disturbances.
Source: Street protest in Cuba draws at least 500, sparks clash with
police - Cuba - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/01/22/3886745/street-protest-in-cuba-draws-at.html
Street protest in Cuba draws at least 500, sparks clash with police
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM
At least 500 Cubans staged a rare street protest and clash with police
in the eastern city of Holguin after municipal authorities confiscated
household goods being sold in an open-air market by the island's nascent
private business owners, according to witnesses.
"This has been something immense. In my 31 years, I never saw anything
like this," said Holguin business owner Wilian Zaldivar Perez, who added
that patrons in a restaurant near the protest also threw rocks at the
police during the confrontation Tuesday.
Communist-ruled Cuba has not seen street protests of any significant
size since 1994, when thousands of people rioted in downtown Havana amid
a false rumor that the ferry that takes people across Havana Bay would
take anyone to South Florida.
The protest Tuesday was the result of "the dissatisfaction that has been
accumulating" with the Raúl Castro regime and his halting economic
reforms, said Eduardo Cardet, an Holguin physician and member of the
opposition Christian Liberation Movement.
"It's no longer the opposition protesting. Now, it's the people," Cardet
said in a recorded statement posted on YouTube. Although many Cubans
have argued that protests achieve nothing, he added, the marchers in
Holguin "know that it's worth protesting."
Zaldivar said 50 to 60 of the small business owners known in Cuba as
"self-employed" and anywhere from 500 to 700 supporters marched Tuesday
for more than a half-mile to the offices of the municipal government,
demanding the right to work.
The protest was all the more daring because the offices are next door to
the local headquarters of the feared Interior Ministry, in charge of
domestic security. Its State Security agents are in charge of repressing
all forms of dissent.
Zaldivar and other witnesses said the protest started after uniformed
National Revolutionary Police officers and plainclothes State Security
agents raided Holguin's Central Plaza and confiscated household goods on
sale at several kiosks.
Castro has opened some spaces for the "self-employed" to launch 182
types of small-scale businesses. But authorities have been cracking down
on people who are licensed to sell household goods but obtain them at
state-run shops and sell them at much higher prices in what the
government considers to be illegal profiteering.
Zaldivar said police and municipal inspectors acting in a harsh manner
confiscated the goods at the Central Plaza, revoked the licenses of the
merchants and slapped them with fines of about $30 — a large sum in a
country where the average monthly wage officially stands at about $20.
Once the protest reached the municipal offices, some of the protesters
scuffled with police and plainclothes agents, he told El Nuevo Herald by
phone. Several protesters were arrested and he was detained for three
hours at a nearby police station but then released.
Another dissident, Zuleidy Pérez Velásquez, put the number of protesters
as high as 1,000 and reported "enormous beatings" of the marchers by
police, according to the Spain-based Web site Diario de Cuba.
A video of the Holguin protest showed a long but thin line of people
marching in the same direction, and then a large crowd jammed outside a
building, but the number of participants could not be established.
One dissident reported that places with public Internet access in
Holguin had been put under heavy guard after the confrontation,
apparently to keep word of the unrest from seeping out.
The kiosks had moved to the Central Plaza at the request of government
officials who wanted to move them out of their previous location, in
front of the local Lenin Hospital, according to the Diario de Cuba report.
Police and two truckloads of plainclothes agents returned to the Central
Plaza Wednesday and confiscated more of the household goods, "but today
the police acted more civilized," Zaldivar said in a telephone interview
from Holguin.
"Today, the situation is pretty tense," he added, but there were no
public protests on Wednesday because city residents believe that police
were ready to crack down harshly on any further disturbances.
Source: Street protest in Cuba draws at least 500, sparks clash with
police - Cuba - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/01/22/3886745/street-protest-in-cuba-draws-at.html
Cuba to cut nickel plant output for major overhaul
Cuba to cut nickel plant output for major overhaul
Mon Feb 3, 2014 2:22pm EST
Feb 3 (Reuters) - Cuba will reduce production at one of its two nickel
plants this year so it can carry out maintenance and capital
improvements to make the plant competitive at low international prices.
A report on the evening government newscast on Sunday said the Ernesto
Che Guevara processing facility in eastern Holguin province would be
given a major overhaul.
The state-owned plant, built with Soviet technology and opened in 1986,
has a capacity of about 30,000 tonnes of unrefined nickel plus cobalt a
year at a cost of more than $12,000 a tonne.
Spot nickel prices on the London Metals Exchange opened at $13,695 a
tonne on Monday.
The broadcast quoted the plant's head of maintenance as saying it would
be the biggest overhaul in the plant's 28-year history and that workers
face the challenge of producing 14,700 tonnes of unrefined nickel plus
cobalt while it is taking place.
"2014 is a very complicated year for the Cuban economy ... and the world
economy and the cost of production has to be reduced," the maintenance
manager was quoted as saying.
Cuba's most important plant, the Pedro Soto Alba, also in Holguin,
remains open. The facility is a joint venture of Canadian mining company
Sherritt International and state monopoly Cubaniquel.
Output at the Soto Alba plant averages around 38,000 tonnes a year at a
cost of $5,000 to $7,000 a tonne.
Cubaniquel and Sherritt are also partners in a Canadian refinery to
which output from the Pedro Soto Alba plant is shipped. After refining,
the product is marketed by yet another joint venture.
China and Europe also purchase Cuban nickel products, which are the
country's most important export and one of its top foreign exchange
earners after technical services and tourism.
Cuban unrefined nickel plus cobalt production fell short of its
62,000-tonne target last year, the government said, without providing
details.
The Caribbean island is one of the world's largest nickel producers and
supplies 10 percent of the world's cobalt, according to the government.
Nickel is essential in the production of stainless steel and other
corrosion-resistant alloys. Cobalt is critical in production of super
alloys used for such products as aircraft engines.
Cuban nickel is considered to be Class II, with an average 90 percent
nickel content.
Cuba's National Minerals Resource Center says Holguin province accounts
for more than 30 percent of the world's known nickel reserves, with
lesser reserves in other parts of the country.
Source: Cuba to cut nickel plant output for major overhaul | Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/03/metals-cuba-nickel-idUSL2N0L812L20140203
Mon Feb 3, 2014 2:22pm EST
Feb 3 (Reuters) - Cuba will reduce production at one of its two nickel
plants this year so it can carry out maintenance and capital
improvements to make the plant competitive at low international prices.
A report on the evening government newscast on Sunday said the Ernesto
Che Guevara processing facility in eastern Holguin province would be
given a major overhaul.
The state-owned plant, built with Soviet technology and opened in 1986,
has a capacity of about 30,000 tonnes of unrefined nickel plus cobalt a
year at a cost of more than $12,000 a tonne.
Spot nickel prices on the London Metals Exchange opened at $13,695 a
tonne on Monday.
The broadcast quoted the plant's head of maintenance as saying it would
be the biggest overhaul in the plant's 28-year history and that workers
face the challenge of producing 14,700 tonnes of unrefined nickel plus
cobalt while it is taking place.
"2014 is a very complicated year for the Cuban economy ... and the world
economy and the cost of production has to be reduced," the maintenance
manager was quoted as saying.
Cuba's most important plant, the Pedro Soto Alba, also in Holguin,
remains open. The facility is a joint venture of Canadian mining company
Sherritt International and state monopoly Cubaniquel.
Output at the Soto Alba plant averages around 38,000 tonnes a year at a
cost of $5,000 to $7,000 a tonne.
Cubaniquel and Sherritt are also partners in a Canadian refinery to
which output from the Pedro Soto Alba plant is shipped. After refining,
the product is marketed by yet another joint venture.
China and Europe also purchase Cuban nickel products, which are the
country's most important export and one of its top foreign exchange
earners after technical services and tourism.
Cuban unrefined nickel plus cobalt production fell short of its
62,000-tonne target last year, the government said, without providing
details.
The Caribbean island is one of the world's largest nickel producers and
supplies 10 percent of the world's cobalt, according to the government.
Nickel is essential in the production of stainless steel and other
corrosion-resistant alloys. Cobalt is critical in production of super
alloys used for such products as aircraft engines.
Cuban nickel is considered to be Class II, with an average 90 percent
nickel content.
Cuba's National Minerals Resource Center says Holguin province accounts
for more than 30 percent of the world's known nickel reserves, with
lesser reserves in other parts of the country.
Source: Cuba to cut nickel plant output for major overhaul | Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/03/metals-cuba-nickel-idUSL2N0L812L20140203
Sugar tycoon Alfonso Fanjul now open to investing in Cuba under ‘right circumstances’
Sugar tycoon Alfonso Fanjul now open to investing in Cuba under 'right
circumstances'
By Peter Wallsten, Manuel Roig-Franzia and Tom Hamburger, Published:
February 2
Alfonso Fanjul fled Cuba as a young man, leaving behind his family's
mansions and vast sugar-cane fields as they were being wrested away by
the communist Castro regime.
In exile in the United States, he built an even larger sugar empire,
amassing one of North America's great fortunes and befriending members
of Congress and presidents who benefited from his largess. The sting of
his family's forced departure from Cuba led him to become one of the
principal funders of the U.S. anti-Castro movement.
Now, contrary to what almost anyone could have imagined, the 76-year-old
Fanjul has begun to reassess old grievances and tentatively eye Cuba as
a place for him and other U.S. businessmen to expand their enterprises.
Quietly, without fanfare, Fanjul has started visiting the island of his
birth and having conversations with top Cuban officials.
"If there is some way the family flag could be taken back to Cuba, then
I am happy to do that," Fanjul said in a rare interview, publicly
discussing his recent visits to the island for the first time.
Fanjul's about-face is a startling development for the exile network
that has held a grip on the politics of U.S.-Cuba relations for decades
and has played an outsize role in presidential campaigns. His trips
place him at the vanguard of a group of ultra-wealthy U.S. investors
with roots on the island whose economic interests and political clout
are pushing the two countries toward a thaw in their half-century standoff.
Fanjul, in the interview, said repeatedly that his primary motivation in
visiting Cuba has been a desire to "reunite the Cuban family," referring
broadly to the Cuban diaspora and those who remain on the island.
Business considerations could be explored only if there are political
and diplomatic advances, he said.
"The [Fanjul] family was in Cuba for 150 years, and, yes, at the end of
the day, I'd like to see our family back in Cuba, where we started. . .
. But it has to be under the right circumstances," said Fanjul, who is
best known by his nickname, "Alfy." "One day we hope that the United
States and Cuba would find a way so the whole Cuban community could be
able to live and work together."
Fanjul, who lives in Palm Beach, Fla., and whose family holdings include
Domino Sugar and refineries across the United States, Latin America and
Europe, has managed to maintain a remarkably low profile for a
politically connected tycoon. His access to the highest levels of power
was evident during the Monica Lewinsky scandal of the 1990s, when the
special prosecutor's report noted that President Bill Clinton received a
call from Fanjul during a private Oval Office moment with the intern.
Last week, the Fanjul family's influence over policymakers was on
display when the U.S. House passed a farm bill that would cut subsidies
to many agricultural products while leaving unscathed the controversial,
taxpayer-backed program that protects sugar profits.
Fanjul visited Cuba in April 2012 and again in February 2013 as part of
a delegation licensed through the Brookings Institution, the Washington
think tank that has produced recent papers criticizing U.S. policy and
calling on the Obama administration to further loosen sanctions. In
Havana, he lingered with tears in his eyes at his family's colonial-era
manse, now a museum, with its elegant columns, lush inner courtyard,
sparkling chandeliers and grand staircase.
He was so taken by the nostalgia and excitement of returning to the
familiar streets of his youth, a travel companion recalled, that Fanjul
enthusiastically chatted up random people of all ages as he walked
around. He also met with Cuba's foreign minister and toured state-run
farms and a sugar mill with Cuban agricultural officials.
Unlike most other Cuban Americans who travel to the island, Fanjul has
direct access to some of America's most important policymakers. After
returning from his first trip, Fanjul met with his good friend,
then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, to express his changing
views on Cuba. In November, Fanjul once again discussed his evolving
mind-set with Clinton and her husband at a Clinton Foundation fundraiser
in the Miami home of Cuban American businessman Paul Cejas, a former
U.S. ambassador to Belgium.
Many embargo supporters say U.S. policy should change only when certain
conditions are met, such as regime change or political reforms. Fanjul,
however, said he prefers not to answer the question of whether he would
require the fall of the Castro government or an end to communism before
doing business in Cuba — saying that he respects existing U.S. law.
"Right now there's no way for us to consider investing in Cuba. How can
you work a deal if you're not legally allowed to do it?" he said.
"Now, would we consider an investment at some later date?" continued
Fanjul, a permanent U.S. resident who maintains Spanish citizenship. "If
there's an arrangement within Cuba and the United States, and legally it
can be done and there's a proper framework set up and in place, then we
will look at that possibility. We have an open mind."
He said the Cuban government — which has business deals with companies
from countries such as Canada and Spain — would have to change its
economic structure to make it easier and safer for outside companies to
make money.
"Cuba has to presumably satisfy the requirements that investors need,
which are primarily a return on investment and security of the
investment, so they feel comfortable with what they're doing," he said.
"I personally would look at that in the same framework as any investor
would."
Evolving politics
The logistical, political and legal complexities involved in any
potential expansion of U.S.-based businesses onto Cuban soil are
staggering. Fanjul's willingness to hold meetings with the Castro
government puts him on a potential collision course with Senate Foreign
Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), a Cuban American
whose campaigns have been supported by Fanjul but who is an unwavering
advocate for the embargo and has the power to thwart any attempts to
lift it.
Trickier still would be the impact on presidential politics, with
Florida's Cuban American electorate still a significant factor in the
battle for that state's crucial electoral college votes.
Already, there have been signs that younger Cuban Americans,
particularly those born in the United States, are moving away from the
hard-line views of their parents and grandparents. Now, as Fanjul's
recent gestures show, even some of the most entrenched exiles are
evolving, and politicians accustomed to embracing the Cuba trade embargo
in their pursuit of Florida's large Cuban American electorate will have
to calibrate the risks and rewards of evolving along with them.
Hillary Clinton, the putative Democratic front-runner for president if
she chooses to run in 2016, spoke out in favor of the Obama
administration's actions relaxing restrictions on family travel and cash
flow to the island. Yet she, like many politicians in both parties, has
repeatedly expressed support for continued sanctions. She is close with
several key players, besides Fanjul, who have stated an openness to more
engagement with Cuba.
Fanjul, a longtime supporter of Bill Clinton's campaigns and causes,
would probably be a major donor, as well as a close adviser on
Cuba-related matters, to Hillary Clinton should she run. Virginia Gov.
Terry McAuliffe (D), a longtime Clinton confidant, traveled to Cuba for
a trade mission in recent years and held discussions with high-ranking
government officials there. And Cejas, whom Bill Clinton appointed
ambassador to Belgium, has expressed doubts about the U.S. trade embargo
against Cuba.
"I can tell you one thing that became very clear to me: The embargo is
really an embargo against America ourselves. Because Americans cannot do
business with Cuba, where there are incredible opportunities for
growth," said Cejas, who traveled to Cuba with Fanjul.
The issue could prove thornier for Republicans, such as Sen. Marco Rubio
(R-Fla.), a Cuban American widely seen as a possible 2016 presidential
candidate. A staunch supporter of sanctions who blasted President
Obama's loosening of some restrictions as an "enrichment of a Cuban
regime that routinely violates the basic human rights and dignity of its
people," Rubio has cited the Fanjul family as a crucial source of
campaign funds and political connections.
The family recently hosted another possible GOP presidential candidate,
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who headlined a Republican Governors
Association reception last month at the Palm Beach home of Fanjul's
nephew, Jose "Pepe" Fanjul Jr., just as a scandal was erupting around
Christie.
The Fanjuls' internal family politics — Alfy backs Democrats and brother
Pepe Sr. supports Republicans — reflect both the complexities of the
Cuban American experience and perhaps the shrewdness of a family dynasty
that knows how to hedge its bets.
Asked about his brother's trips to Cuba, Pepe, in an e-mailed statement
from his office, said he has "always held firm that when the time comes
and Cubans are reunited, I will return and help our fellow Cubans
rebuild my birthplace." But, he added: "As you know, I have yet to return."
An untapped market
In recent years, other prominent Cuban Americans have begun to talk more
about opening relations with the island. A number of these exiles see
Cuba, communist or not, as a potentially lucrative market that has been
closed off to American corporations by decades-old trade barriers they
helped erect. Now, some say, the long-standing embargo has failed. They
say increased foreign investment in Cuba and greater engagement with
people there could spur greater reforms.
But such suggestions have frequently been met with anger by the older
generation of Cuban exiles.
Miami businessman Carlos Saladrigas, for instance, said he has been
openly branded a traitor in some circles because of his visits to Cuba
and his interest in possibly changing U.S. policy.
"I used to be as hard-line as they come," said Saladrigas, a member of
corporate boards for firms such as Duke Energy and Advance Auto Parts.
But now he warns that U.S. businesses, without the ability to invest in
Cuba, could find themselves sidelined if the island begins to open up.
"Do we as Cuban Americans, or do we as Americans, want to be left out of
the picture?" he asked. "You can influence Cuba's future much more by
participating in Cuba's future than by staying away."
But the shift by Fanjul is far more significant. Not only do he and his
family control one of the largest sugar operations in the world, but
they also have been major donors to activist groups, such as the Cuban
American National Foundation and the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC, that have
been vocal advocates for trade sanctions.
Rumors of Fanjul's Cuba visit prompted Mauricio Claver-Carone, a
Washington-based board member of the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC, to
confront the sugar magnate during a recent private lunch in West Palm Beach.
Claver-Carone said that he told Fanjul his trips had served only to help
the Cuban regime. "I told him they were using him as a tool,"
Claver-Carone said, "and that with his stature comes responsibility."
Fanjul's trips followed policy shifts by the Cuban American National
Foundation, which has lost a number of its more conservative members
amid its support for loosening restrictions on travel and money as a way
to help Cubans living on the island. "Having known Alfy for 40 years, I
think we can trust him to do the right thing," said Pepe Hernandez,
president of the foundation.
Fanjul said repeatedly during multiple interviews that "this is a highly
sensitive issue." He said he needed to "stay at a high altitude" in
discussing potential changes in U.S. policies toward Cuba because of the
political challenges involved. "What I say can be taken in the wrong
context," he said.
An opening for foreigners
Fanjul's Brookings-organized trips coincided with calls by President
Raúl Castro to rapidly revive Cuba's moribund sugar industry. Castro has
begun permitting foreign companies to participate in sugar production
for the first time since the 1959 revolution, and Brazilian firms would
be likely candidates to seize new opportunities in Cuba.
Fanjul said his visits were unrelated to Castro's sugar initiative. He
said he has not met with Castro and held no specific discussions with
Cuban officials about investments in Cuban sugar. Yet experts say there
are many reasons that the Cubans would hope to entice the Fanjul family.
"The Cuban government can revive its sugar industry only with an
infusion of foreign investment," said American University professor
Philip Brenner, an expert on the Cuban economy and politics. "The old
Cuban mills are enormously inefficient, and the country needs
modernization and mechanization to increase productivity."
Investments by Brazilian sugar companies in Cuba put those companies in
the back yard of the Fanjuls' operations, which dominate the Dominican
Republic and Florida and have recently expanded into Mexico. Brenner,
who regularly meets with Cuban officials, thinks the Cuban government
may now "be willing to consider the possibility of permitting aging
sugar barons" from the United States to invest and participate.
Fanjul joined the Brookings board this past July and has donated at
least $200,000 to the think tank, which has hosted Cuban officials for
panel discussions geared toward encouraging greater communication and
loosened restrictions on doing business with Cuba. Ted Piccone,
Brookings' acting vice president and foreign policy program director,
wrote an open memo to Obama last month urging him to use his executive
authority to give direct aid to entrepreneurs on the island and expand
travel licenses.
The memo did not mention Fanjul, but it said, "These measures would draw
support from key political and business constituencies in the United
States (including Florida)."
The Fanjul trips to Cuba reflect a broader, though still subtle, easing
of Cold War-era tensions between the United States and the Castro
regime. In recent months, U.S. and Cuban officials have engaged in
small-scale diplomatic talks on issues such as immigration, drugs and
offshore oil drilling. And Obama drew attention to the relationship in
December when he shook hands with Castro at the memorial service for
Nelson Mandela in South Africa.
Obama hinted at a November fundraiser in Miami of more changes ahead
when he said U.S. policy toward Cuba should be "creative" and "thoughtful."
"Keep in mind that when Castro came to power, I was just born," he said.
"So the notion that the same policies that we put in place in 1961 would
somehow still be as effective as they are today in the age of the
Internet and Google and world travel doesn't make sense."
Fanjul's own travel to the island gave him insights not only about
business possibilities, he said, but other possibilities, too.
"Do I have a soft spot in my heart? Yes, that's my country. My interest
is finding a way to unite the Cuban family," he said. "When you talk
with people and hear them, it humanizes. Talking is the first step."
Alice Crites contributed to this report.
Source: Sugar tycoon Alfonso Fanjul now open to investing in Cuba under
'right circumstances' - The Washington Post -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sugar-tycoon-alfonso-fanjul-now-open-to-investing-in-cuba-under-right-circumstances/2014/02/02/4192b016-8708-11e3-a5bd-844629433ba3_story.html
circumstances'
By Peter Wallsten, Manuel Roig-Franzia and Tom Hamburger, Published:
February 2
Alfonso Fanjul fled Cuba as a young man, leaving behind his family's
mansions and vast sugar-cane fields as they were being wrested away by
the communist Castro regime.
In exile in the United States, he built an even larger sugar empire,
amassing one of North America's great fortunes and befriending members
of Congress and presidents who benefited from his largess. The sting of
his family's forced departure from Cuba led him to become one of the
principal funders of the U.S. anti-Castro movement.
Now, contrary to what almost anyone could have imagined, the 76-year-old
Fanjul has begun to reassess old grievances and tentatively eye Cuba as
a place for him and other U.S. businessmen to expand their enterprises.
Quietly, without fanfare, Fanjul has started visiting the island of his
birth and having conversations with top Cuban officials.
"If there is some way the family flag could be taken back to Cuba, then
I am happy to do that," Fanjul said in a rare interview, publicly
discussing his recent visits to the island for the first time.
Fanjul's about-face is a startling development for the exile network
that has held a grip on the politics of U.S.-Cuba relations for decades
and has played an outsize role in presidential campaigns. His trips
place him at the vanguard of a group of ultra-wealthy U.S. investors
with roots on the island whose economic interests and political clout
are pushing the two countries toward a thaw in their half-century standoff.
Fanjul, in the interview, said repeatedly that his primary motivation in
visiting Cuba has been a desire to "reunite the Cuban family," referring
broadly to the Cuban diaspora and those who remain on the island.
Business considerations could be explored only if there are political
and diplomatic advances, he said.
"The [Fanjul] family was in Cuba for 150 years, and, yes, at the end of
the day, I'd like to see our family back in Cuba, where we started. . .
. But it has to be under the right circumstances," said Fanjul, who is
best known by his nickname, "Alfy." "One day we hope that the United
States and Cuba would find a way so the whole Cuban community could be
able to live and work together."
Fanjul, who lives in Palm Beach, Fla., and whose family holdings include
Domino Sugar and refineries across the United States, Latin America and
Europe, has managed to maintain a remarkably low profile for a
politically connected tycoon. His access to the highest levels of power
was evident during the Monica Lewinsky scandal of the 1990s, when the
special prosecutor's report noted that President Bill Clinton received a
call from Fanjul during a private Oval Office moment with the intern.
Last week, the Fanjul family's influence over policymakers was on
display when the U.S. House passed a farm bill that would cut subsidies
to many agricultural products while leaving unscathed the controversial,
taxpayer-backed program that protects sugar profits.
Fanjul visited Cuba in April 2012 and again in February 2013 as part of
a delegation licensed through the Brookings Institution, the Washington
think tank that has produced recent papers criticizing U.S. policy and
calling on the Obama administration to further loosen sanctions. In
Havana, he lingered with tears in his eyes at his family's colonial-era
manse, now a museum, with its elegant columns, lush inner courtyard,
sparkling chandeliers and grand staircase.
He was so taken by the nostalgia and excitement of returning to the
familiar streets of his youth, a travel companion recalled, that Fanjul
enthusiastically chatted up random people of all ages as he walked
around. He also met with Cuba's foreign minister and toured state-run
farms and a sugar mill with Cuban agricultural officials.
Unlike most other Cuban Americans who travel to the island, Fanjul has
direct access to some of America's most important policymakers. After
returning from his first trip, Fanjul met with his good friend,
then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, to express his changing
views on Cuba. In November, Fanjul once again discussed his evolving
mind-set with Clinton and her husband at a Clinton Foundation fundraiser
in the Miami home of Cuban American businessman Paul Cejas, a former
U.S. ambassador to Belgium.
Many embargo supporters say U.S. policy should change only when certain
conditions are met, such as regime change or political reforms. Fanjul,
however, said he prefers not to answer the question of whether he would
require the fall of the Castro government or an end to communism before
doing business in Cuba — saying that he respects existing U.S. law.
"Right now there's no way for us to consider investing in Cuba. How can
you work a deal if you're not legally allowed to do it?" he said.
"Now, would we consider an investment at some later date?" continued
Fanjul, a permanent U.S. resident who maintains Spanish citizenship. "If
there's an arrangement within Cuba and the United States, and legally it
can be done and there's a proper framework set up and in place, then we
will look at that possibility. We have an open mind."
He said the Cuban government — which has business deals with companies
from countries such as Canada and Spain — would have to change its
economic structure to make it easier and safer for outside companies to
make money.
"Cuba has to presumably satisfy the requirements that investors need,
which are primarily a return on investment and security of the
investment, so they feel comfortable with what they're doing," he said.
"I personally would look at that in the same framework as any investor
would."
Evolving politics
The logistical, political and legal complexities involved in any
potential expansion of U.S.-based businesses onto Cuban soil are
staggering. Fanjul's willingness to hold meetings with the Castro
government puts him on a potential collision course with Senate Foreign
Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), a Cuban American
whose campaigns have been supported by Fanjul but who is an unwavering
advocate for the embargo and has the power to thwart any attempts to
lift it.
Trickier still would be the impact on presidential politics, with
Florida's Cuban American electorate still a significant factor in the
battle for that state's crucial electoral college votes.
Already, there have been signs that younger Cuban Americans,
particularly those born in the United States, are moving away from the
hard-line views of their parents and grandparents. Now, as Fanjul's
recent gestures show, even some of the most entrenched exiles are
evolving, and politicians accustomed to embracing the Cuba trade embargo
in their pursuit of Florida's large Cuban American electorate will have
to calibrate the risks and rewards of evolving along with them.
Hillary Clinton, the putative Democratic front-runner for president if
she chooses to run in 2016, spoke out in favor of the Obama
administration's actions relaxing restrictions on family travel and cash
flow to the island. Yet she, like many politicians in both parties, has
repeatedly expressed support for continued sanctions. She is close with
several key players, besides Fanjul, who have stated an openness to more
engagement with Cuba.
Fanjul, a longtime supporter of Bill Clinton's campaigns and causes,
would probably be a major donor, as well as a close adviser on
Cuba-related matters, to Hillary Clinton should she run. Virginia Gov.
Terry McAuliffe (D), a longtime Clinton confidant, traveled to Cuba for
a trade mission in recent years and held discussions with high-ranking
government officials there. And Cejas, whom Bill Clinton appointed
ambassador to Belgium, has expressed doubts about the U.S. trade embargo
against Cuba.
"I can tell you one thing that became very clear to me: The embargo is
really an embargo against America ourselves. Because Americans cannot do
business with Cuba, where there are incredible opportunities for
growth," said Cejas, who traveled to Cuba with Fanjul.
The issue could prove thornier for Republicans, such as Sen. Marco Rubio
(R-Fla.), a Cuban American widely seen as a possible 2016 presidential
candidate. A staunch supporter of sanctions who blasted President
Obama's loosening of some restrictions as an "enrichment of a Cuban
regime that routinely violates the basic human rights and dignity of its
people," Rubio has cited the Fanjul family as a crucial source of
campaign funds and political connections.
The family recently hosted another possible GOP presidential candidate,
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who headlined a Republican Governors
Association reception last month at the Palm Beach home of Fanjul's
nephew, Jose "Pepe" Fanjul Jr., just as a scandal was erupting around
Christie.
The Fanjuls' internal family politics — Alfy backs Democrats and brother
Pepe Sr. supports Republicans — reflect both the complexities of the
Cuban American experience and perhaps the shrewdness of a family dynasty
that knows how to hedge its bets.
Asked about his brother's trips to Cuba, Pepe, in an e-mailed statement
from his office, said he has "always held firm that when the time comes
and Cubans are reunited, I will return and help our fellow Cubans
rebuild my birthplace." But, he added: "As you know, I have yet to return."
An untapped market
In recent years, other prominent Cuban Americans have begun to talk more
about opening relations with the island. A number of these exiles see
Cuba, communist or not, as a potentially lucrative market that has been
closed off to American corporations by decades-old trade barriers they
helped erect. Now, some say, the long-standing embargo has failed. They
say increased foreign investment in Cuba and greater engagement with
people there could spur greater reforms.
But such suggestions have frequently been met with anger by the older
generation of Cuban exiles.
Miami businessman Carlos Saladrigas, for instance, said he has been
openly branded a traitor in some circles because of his visits to Cuba
and his interest in possibly changing U.S. policy.
"I used to be as hard-line as they come," said Saladrigas, a member of
corporate boards for firms such as Duke Energy and Advance Auto Parts.
But now he warns that U.S. businesses, without the ability to invest in
Cuba, could find themselves sidelined if the island begins to open up.
"Do we as Cuban Americans, or do we as Americans, want to be left out of
the picture?" he asked. "You can influence Cuba's future much more by
participating in Cuba's future than by staying away."
But the shift by Fanjul is far more significant. Not only do he and his
family control one of the largest sugar operations in the world, but
they also have been major donors to activist groups, such as the Cuban
American National Foundation and the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC, that have
been vocal advocates for trade sanctions.
Rumors of Fanjul's Cuba visit prompted Mauricio Claver-Carone, a
Washington-based board member of the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC, to
confront the sugar magnate during a recent private lunch in West Palm Beach.
Claver-Carone said that he told Fanjul his trips had served only to help
the Cuban regime. "I told him they were using him as a tool,"
Claver-Carone said, "and that with his stature comes responsibility."
Fanjul's trips followed policy shifts by the Cuban American National
Foundation, which has lost a number of its more conservative members
amid its support for loosening restrictions on travel and money as a way
to help Cubans living on the island. "Having known Alfy for 40 years, I
think we can trust him to do the right thing," said Pepe Hernandez,
president of the foundation.
Fanjul said repeatedly during multiple interviews that "this is a highly
sensitive issue." He said he needed to "stay at a high altitude" in
discussing potential changes in U.S. policies toward Cuba because of the
political challenges involved. "What I say can be taken in the wrong
context," he said.
An opening for foreigners
Fanjul's Brookings-organized trips coincided with calls by President
Raúl Castro to rapidly revive Cuba's moribund sugar industry. Castro has
begun permitting foreign companies to participate in sugar production
for the first time since the 1959 revolution, and Brazilian firms would
be likely candidates to seize new opportunities in Cuba.
Fanjul said his visits were unrelated to Castro's sugar initiative. He
said he has not met with Castro and held no specific discussions with
Cuban officials about investments in Cuban sugar. Yet experts say there
are many reasons that the Cubans would hope to entice the Fanjul family.
"The Cuban government can revive its sugar industry only with an
infusion of foreign investment," said American University professor
Philip Brenner, an expert on the Cuban economy and politics. "The old
Cuban mills are enormously inefficient, and the country needs
modernization and mechanization to increase productivity."
Investments by Brazilian sugar companies in Cuba put those companies in
the back yard of the Fanjuls' operations, which dominate the Dominican
Republic and Florida and have recently expanded into Mexico. Brenner,
who regularly meets with Cuban officials, thinks the Cuban government
may now "be willing to consider the possibility of permitting aging
sugar barons" from the United States to invest and participate.
Fanjul joined the Brookings board this past July and has donated at
least $200,000 to the think tank, which has hosted Cuban officials for
panel discussions geared toward encouraging greater communication and
loosened restrictions on doing business with Cuba. Ted Piccone,
Brookings' acting vice president and foreign policy program director,
wrote an open memo to Obama last month urging him to use his executive
authority to give direct aid to entrepreneurs on the island and expand
travel licenses.
The memo did not mention Fanjul, but it said, "These measures would draw
support from key political and business constituencies in the United
States (including Florida)."
The Fanjul trips to Cuba reflect a broader, though still subtle, easing
of Cold War-era tensions between the United States and the Castro
regime. In recent months, U.S. and Cuban officials have engaged in
small-scale diplomatic talks on issues such as immigration, drugs and
offshore oil drilling. And Obama drew attention to the relationship in
December when he shook hands with Castro at the memorial service for
Nelson Mandela in South Africa.
Obama hinted at a November fundraiser in Miami of more changes ahead
when he said U.S. policy toward Cuba should be "creative" and "thoughtful."
"Keep in mind that when Castro came to power, I was just born," he said.
"So the notion that the same policies that we put in place in 1961 would
somehow still be as effective as they are today in the age of the
Internet and Google and world travel doesn't make sense."
Fanjul's own travel to the island gave him insights not only about
business possibilities, he said, but other possibilities, too.
"Do I have a soft spot in my heart? Yes, that's my country. My interest
is finding a way to unite the Cuban family," he said. "When you talk
with people and hear them, it humanizes. Talking is the first step."
Alice Crites contributed to this report.
Source: Sugar tycoon Alfonso Fanjul now open to investing in Cuba under
'right circumstances' - The Washington Post -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sugar-tycoon-alfonso-fanjul-now-open-to-investing-in-cuba-under-right-circumstances/2014/02/02/4192b016-8708-11e3-a5bd-844629433ba3_story.html
Crist - End the Cuba embargo
Crist: End the Cuba embargo
Posted by CNN's Jason Seher
Washington (CNN) - Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist announced Friday
his support for lifting the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, a policy
shift that shows how far the former Republican has moved since switching
parties.
"The embargo has done nothing in more than 50 years to change the regime
in Cuba," Crist said in a statement. "If we want to bring democracy to
Cuba, we need to encourage American values and investment there."
Crist, who served as Florida's Republican governor from 2007 to 2011, is
running for his old job again, this time as a Democrat. He initially
announced his support for the change in policy on HBO's "Real Time with
Bill Maher."
When asked by Maher about the influential Cuban bloc of voters, most of
whom have historically opposed restoring normalcy with the country's
regime, Crist denounced the trade embargo as an ineffective relic.
"I don't think it worked," Crist said. "It is obvious we need to move
forward and get the embargo taken away."
Crist said lifting the 52-year-old embargo would be a boon for his state.
"As a Floridian, I'd like to see that happen because a lot of
construction would be required on the island, and South Florida could be
the launching pad for all of that and really create a lot of jobs," he said.
Crist's statements are a complete reversal of his previous position. At
a 2010 editorial board meeting with the Sun-Sentinel newspaper, Crist,
then running for the U.S. Senate, said he not only opposed removing the
trade embargo, but he also was against loosening travel restrictions to
Cuba.
He said he wouldn't support travel between the countries "until they
offer more freedoms to their people and demonstrate that they're serious
about it."
President Barack Obama eased travel restrictions to the island nation in
January 2011, but federal action on U.S.-Cuba trade policy is viewed as
a nonstarter in Congress.
In a statement Saturday, Crist's opponent in this year's gubernatorial
race, incumbent Rick Scott, called his rival's comments "insulting."
"The suggestion that Cuban Americans need to be 'stood up to' is
insulting," the statement said.
"Our nation is great because we were built on a foundation of freedom
and democracy. That is not true in Cuba and we should not pretend it is.
The importance of maintaining the embargo is that it stands for the
Cuban people's right to be free," he said.
Source: Crist: End the Cuba embargo – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com
Blogs -
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/08/crist-end-the-cuba-embargo/
Posted by CNN's Jason Seher
Washington (CNN) - Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist announced Friday
his support for lifting the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, a policy
shift that shows how far the former Republican has moved since switching
parties.
"The embargo has done nothing in more than 50 years to change the regime
in Cuba," Crist said in a statement. "If we want to bring democracy to
Cuba, we need to encourage American values and investment there."
Crist, who served as Florida's Republican governor from 2007 to 2011, is
running for his old job again, this time as a Democrat. He initially
announced his support for the change in policy on HBO's "Real Time with
Bill Maher."
When asked by Maher about the influential Cuban bloc of voters, most of
whom have historically opposed restoring normalcy with the country's
regime, Crist denounced the trade embargo as an ineffective relic.
"I don't think it worked," Crist said. "It is obvious we need to move
forward and get the embargo taken away."
Crist said lifting the 52-year-old embargo would be a boon for his state.
"As a Floridian, I'd like to see that happen because a lot of
construction would be required on the island, and South Florida could be
the launching pad for all of that and really create a lot of jobs," he said.
Crist's statements are a complete reversal of his previous position. At
a 2010 editorial board meeting with the Sun-Sentinel newspaper, Crist,
then running for the U.S. Senate, said he not only opposed removing the
trade embargo, but he also was against loosening travel restrictions to
Cuba.
He said he wouldn't support travel between the countries "until they
offer more freedoms to their people and demonstrate that they're serious
about it."
President Barack Obama eased travel restrictions to the island nation in
January 2011, but federal action on U.S.-Cuba trade policy is viewed as
a nonstarter in Congress.
In a statement Saturday, Crist's opponent in this year's gubernatorial
race, incumbent Rick Scott, called his rival's comments "insulting."
"The suggestion that Cuban Americans need to be 'stood up to' is
insulting," the statement said.
"Our nation is great because we were built on a foundation of freedom
and democracy. That is not true in Cuba and we should not pretend it is.
The importance of maintaining the embargo is that it stands for the
Cuban people's right to be free," he said.
Source: Crist: End the Cuba embargo – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com
Blogs -
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/08/crist-end-the-cuba-embargo/
Cuba near completion of biggest diesel power plant
Cuba near completion of biggest diesel power plant
CUBA STANDARD — State utility Unión Eléctrica (UNE) completed a trial
run of the largest new fuel-oil power plant on the island, official
media reported.
The new facility, near the nickel mining town of Moa in eastern Holguín
province, consists of 10 generators providing a total of 184 megawatt,
according to official media. It is part of the 'Energy Revolution'
program, which has deployed dozens of fuel-oil generator clusters on the
island, replacing Soviet-era, boiler-technology thermal power plants.
The Moa plant will provide enough power for the nickel industry in the
area, as well as for the municipalities of Moa and Baracoa.
According to official media, the Moa plant cost 273 million pesos CUP
($10.3 million) to build, not including purchases abroad. The project is
managed by a team from UNE's nearby Felton power plant.
Cuban media did not provide more detail. According to a supplier, the
engines were made by at least two different manufacturers — five by
Germany's MAN Diesel & Turbo, and four by Swedish-Swiss company ABB; the
origin of the tenth generator could not be verified by Cuba Standard.
The trial run was with the first of the 10 generators.
On Feb. 6, Vice President Ramiro Valdés and Energy and Minister Alfredo
López toured the power plant, which is close to 90% completed.
Faced with an electricity crisis caused by aging thermoelectric plants,
an obsolete grid and hurricane damages, Cuba in 2006 decided to
decentralize part of its electric system by deploying hundreds of
fuel-oil generators that run 24 hours a day, and thousands of backup
generators that kick in during peak hours or emergencies. The
decentralized approach — which is part of a larger program dubbed
"Energy Revolution" — helped Cuba eliminate extended blackouts in a
matter of months, at a relatively low cost, and made the system more
resilient to hurricane damage.
Other projects underway near Moa include a new power substation that
will replace two old substations, as well as a 12-kilometer oil pipeline
and a 10-km water line for nickel plants.
State company Cubaníquel is planning to reduce production at the nearby
Ernesto Che Guevara nickel processing plant this year for improvements
aimed at lowering its nickel production price. World nickel prices have
been dropping continuously since 2012.
Source: Cuba near completion of biggest diesel power plant « Cuba
Standard, your best source for Cuban business news -
http://www.cubastandard.com/2014/02/09/cuba-near-completion-of-biggest-diesel-power-plant/
CUBA STANDARD — State utility Unión Eléctrica (UNE) completed a trial
run of the largest new fuel-oil power plant on the island, official
media reported.
The new facility, near the nickel mining town of Moa in eastern Holguín
province, consists of 10 generators providing a total of 184 megawatt,
according to official media. It is part of the 'Energy Revolution'
program, which has deployed dozens of fuel-oil generator clusters on the
island, replacing Soviet-era, boiler-technology thermal power plants.
The Moa plant will provide enough power for the nickel industry in the
area, as well as for the municipalities of Moa and Baracoa.
According to official media, the Moa plant cost 273 million pesos CUP
($10.3 million) to build, not including purchases abroad. The project is
managed by a team from UNE's nearby Felton power plant.
Cuban media did not provide more detail. According to a supplier, the
engines were made by at least two different manufacturers — five by
Germany's MAN Diesel & Turbo, and four by Swedish-Swiss company ABB; the
origin of the tenth generator could not be verified by Cuba Standard.
The trial run was with the first of the 10 generators.
On Feb. 6, Vice President Ramiro Valdés and Energy and Minister Alfredo
López toured the power plant, which is close to 90% completed.
Faced with an electricity crisis caused by aging thermoelectric plants,
an obsolete grid and hurricane damages, Cuba in 2006 decided to
decentralize part of its electric system by deploying hundreds of
fuel-oil generators that run 24 hours a day, and thousands of backup
generators that kick in during peak hours or emergencies. The
decentralized approach — which is part of a larger program dubbed
"Energy Revolution" — helped Cuba eliminate extended blackouts in a
matter of months, at a relatively low cost, and made the system more
resilient to hurricane damage.
Other projects underway near Moa include a new power substation that
will replace two old substations, as well as a 12-kilometer oil pipeline
and a 10-km water line for nickel plants.
State company Cubaníquel is planning to reduce production at the nearby
Ernesto Che Guevara nickel processing plant this year for improvements
aimed at lowering its nickel production price. World nickel prices have
been dropping continuously since 2012.
Source: Cuba near completion of biggest diesel power plant « Cuba
Standard, your best source for Cuban business news -
http://www.cubastandard.com/2014/02/09/cuba-near-completion-of-biggest-diesel-power-plant/
Sunday, February 09, 2014
Aide to Cuba’s Ricardo Alarcon sentenced to 30 years for spying
Posted on Saturday, 02.08.14
CUBA
Aide to Cuba's Ricardo Alarcon sentenced to 30 years for spying
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM
A top aide to one of Cuba's veteran political figures, Ricardo Alarcón,
and the aide's wife, have been convicted of spying and sentenced to 30
and 15 years in prison, according to persons close to the case.
Miguel Alvarez and Mercedes Arce, both former Cuban intelligence
analysts in their 50s, were tried and convicted in December, the persons
said, 22 months after they were detained in Havana for interrogation on
March 3, 2012.
Alvarez was sentenced to 30 years on charges that he leaked secret
information to Arce, according to the sources. Arce got the lesser
sentence for allegedly using the information to write analytical reports
on Cuba that she sold to private companies in Mexico.
Alvarez is the most senior Cuban official known to have been convicted
of spying against the communist government in decades. At least three
other Cubans are imprisoned on the island for spying, including two
former Interior Ministry officials.
The Cuban government has repeatedly offered to swap U.S. government
subcontractor Alan Gross, imprisoned in Havana since 2009, for four
Havana spies held in U.S. prisons since 1998. But it has made no mention
of the spies held in Cuban prisons.
The island's state-controlled news media, which almost never reports on
politically sensitive crimes, has published nothing on the Alvarez-Arce
case. Relatives also have not commented publicly, hoping their silence
will lead to better treatment for the couple.
There has been no indication of the seriousness of the breach of
security allegedly created by Alvarez and Arce, but the Cuban government
jealously guards even routine information such as sugar harvest figures
and Fidel Castro's home address.
Alvarez was a senior advisor to Alarcón on international and political
affairs when Alarcón served as president of the legislative National
Assembly of People's Power, sitting in on many of his meetings with
foreign dignitaries and journalists.
Alarcón, 77, a veteran specialist on U.S. relations, headed the National
Assembly for 20 years but was replaced in February of last year, 11
months after the Alvarez and Arce arrests. corru
He is believed to remain a member of the powerful Political Bureau of
the Communist Party. Alarcón is seen in public now mostly pushing the
government campaign to free the four Cuban spies in U.S. prisons.
Former Florida International University professor Carlos Alvarez (no
relation to the Alarcón aide), who was convicted of spying for Havana,
described Arce in his confession as one of his Cuban intelligence
handlers. He and his wife, Elsa Prieto, were sentenced in 2007 to five
and three years in prison, respectively.
A biography published by the Cuban business magazine Futuros said Arce
was assigned to the Cuban mission to the United Nations as an analyst on
U.S. foreign policy from 1977 to 1983 -- about the same time her husband
was also working at the mission. Alarcón served as ambassador to the
U.N. from 1966 to 1978.
She later headed the Center for the Study of Alternative Politics at the
University of Havana, which hosted several seminars with foreign
academics on conflict resolution issues. Several defectors have said
Cuban intelligence agents used the Center to spot foreigners who might
be recruited to spy for Havana.
The biography says Arce has a doctorate from the University of Havana,
and a master's in psychology from the New School for Social Research in
New York. She also has worked for two Norwegian nongovernment
organizations active in Central America.
A Cuban academic who knows Alvarez and Arce said they worked in the
1970s and 1980s as analysts in the Intelligence Directorate of the
Interior Ministry. But they fell into disfavor after the 1992 dismissal
of Carlos Aldana, head of ideology for the Communist Party and a key
promoter of the Alternative Politics center.
Alarcón later hired Alvarez for his office while Arce went to Mexico,
teaching at a university there and writing reports on the Cuban economy
and politics that she sold to foreign companies, according to the
academic. He asked for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the
case.
Initial reports on the couple's arrests, indicating that they were under
investigation on charges of corruption, sparked speculation that they
had been targeted in order to bring down Alarcón.
At the height of his influence Alarcón was sometimes described as the
third most important official on the island after Fidel and Raúl Castro.
A skilled foreign policy operator who dealt often with Cuba's Cold War
enemies in Washington, he was elected to the Central Committee of the
Communist Party in 1980 and the Politburo in 1992.
Several El Nuevo Herald calls to the homes of Alarcón and Alvarez in
Havana went unanswered.
The Alvarez and Arce convictions bring to five the number of Cubans
known to be currently imprisoned on the island on charges of spying
Rolando Sarraf Trujillo, an expert on cryptography at the Interior
Ministry's Intelligence Directorate, was convicted in 1995 of passing
state secrets to the U.S. government. He is serving a 25-year sentence.
His family maintains he is innocent.
Ernesto Borges, 47, a captain in the Interior Ministry's Directorate of
Counter-Intelligence, was arrested in 1998 for trying to deliver secret
information to U.S. diplomats in Havana. He is serving a 30-year sentence.
José Antonio Torres, a Granma newspaper reporter, was arrested in 2011
for investigation on a charge of spying. He remains in prison, fellow
inmates say, but it's unclear whether he was ever convicted.
Friends say the spying charge was a fraud, drummed up by some of the
corrupt and inept government officials he wrote about in a 2010 report
on a badly mismanaged aqueduct construction project in the eastern
province of Santiago de Cuba.
Gross is serving a 15-year sentence for illegally providing Cuban Jews
with sophisticated communications equipment, paid for by the U.S.
government as part of its pro-democracy programs for the island. U.S.
officials have said they will not trade the Cuban spies in U.S. prisons
for Gross because he is not a spy.
The five Cubans were convicted in a Miami trial in 2001. Prosecutors
presented evidence the "Wasp Network" spied on U.S. military
installations, and Cuban exile groups, but Havana claims the "Five
Heroes" were trying to avert exile terror plots.
One of the five finished his sentence and is back in Cuba, and a second
is to be freed from prison Feb. 27. Two others are serving sentences of
22 and 30 years, and the fifth is serving a life term for the deaths of
four South Florida men shot down by Cuban MiGs in 1996.
Source: Aide to Cuba's Ricardo Alarcon sentenced to 30 years for spying
- Nation - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/08/3922766/aide-to-cubas-ricardo-alarcon.html
CUBA
Aide to Cuba's Ricardo Alarcon sentenced to 30 years for spying
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM
A top aide to one of Cuba's veteran political figures, Ricardo Alarcón,
and the aide's wife, have been convicted of spying and sentenced to 30
and 15 years in prison, according to persons close to the case.
Miguel Alvarez and Mercedes Arce, both former Cuban intelligence
analysts in their 50s, were tried and convicted in December, the persons
said, 22 months after they were detained in Havana for interrogation on
March 3, 2012.
Alvarez was sentenced to 30 years on charges that he leaked secret
information to Arce, according to the sources. Arce got the lesser
sentence for allegedly using the information to write analytical reports
on Cuba that she sold to private companies in Mexico.
Alvarez is the most senior Cuban official known to have been convicted
of spying against the communist government in decades. At least three
other Cubans are imprisoned on the island for spying, including two
former Interior Ministry officials.
The Cuban government has repeatedly offered to swap U.S. government
subcontractor Alan Gross, imprisoned in Havana since 2009, for four
Havana spies held in U.S. prisons since 1998. But it has made no mention
of the spies held in Cuban prisons.
The island's state-controlled news media, which almost never reports on
politically sensitive crimes, has published nothing on the Alvarez-Arce
case. Relatives also have not commented publicly, hoping their silence
will lead to better treatment for the couple.
There has been no indication of the seriousness of the breach of
security allegedly created by Alvarez and Arce, but the Cuban government
jealously guards even routine information such as sugar harvest figures
and Fidel Castro's home address.
Alvarez was a senior advisor to Alarcón on international and political
affairs when Alarcón served as president of the legislative National
Assembly of People's Power, sitting in on many of his meetings with
foreign dignitaries and journalists.
Alarcón, 77, a veteran specialist on U.S. relations, headed the National
Assembly for 20 years but was replaced in February of last year, 11
months after the Alvarez and Arce arrests. corru
He is believed to remain a member of the powerful Political Bureau of
the Communist Party. Alarcón is seen in public now mostly pushing the
government campaign to free the four Cuban spies in U.S. prisons.
Former Florida International University professor Carlos Alvarez (no
relation to the Alarcón aide), who was convicted of spying for Havana,
described Arce in his confession as one of his Cuban intelligence
handlers. He and his wife, Elsa Prieto, were sentenced in 2007 to five
and three years in prison, respectively.
A biography published by the Cuban business magazine Futuros said Arce
was assigned to the Cuban mission to the United Nations as an analyst on
U.S. foreign policy from 1977 to 1983 -- about the same time her husband
was also working at the mission. Alarcón served as ambassador to the
U.N. from 1966 to 1978.
She later headed the Center for the Study of Alternative Politics at the
University of Havana, which hosted several seminars with foreign
academics on conflict resolution issues. Several defectors have said
Cuban intelligence agents used the Center to spot foreigners who might
be recruited to spy for Havana.
The biography says Arce has a doctorate from the University of Havana,
and a master's in psychology from the New School for Social Research in
New York. She also has worked for two Norwegian nongovernment
organizations active in Central America.
A Cuban academic who knows Alvarez and Arce said they worked in the
1970s and 1980s as analysts in the Intelligence Directorate of the
Interior Ministry. But they fell into disfavor after the 1992 dismissal
of Carlos Aldana, head of ideology for the Communist Party and a key
promoter of the Alternative Politics center.
Alarcón later hired Alvarez for his office while Arce went to Mexico,
teaching at a university there and writing reports on the Cuban economy
and politics that she sold to foreign companies, according to the
academic. He asked for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the
case.
Initial reports on the couple's arrests, indicating that they were under
investigation on charges of corruption, sparked speculation that they
had been targeted in order to bring down Alarcón.
At the height of his influence Alarcón was sometimes described as the
third most important official on the island after Fidel and Raúl Castro.
A skilled foreign policy operator who dealt often with Cuba's Cold War
enemies in Washington, he was elected to the Central Committee of the
Communist Party in 1980 and the Politburo in 1992.
Several El Nuevo Herald calls to the homes of Alarcón and Alvarez in
Havana went unanswered.
The Alvarez and Arce convictions bring to five the number of Cubans
known to be currently imprisoned on the island on charges of spying
Rolando Sarraf Trujillo, an expert on cryptography at the Interior
Ministry's Intelligence Directorate, was convicted in 1995 of passing
state secrets to the U.S. government. He is serving a 25-year sentence.
His family maintains he is innocent.
Ernesto Borges, 47, a captain in the Interior Ministry's Directorate of
Counter-Intelligence, was arrested in 1998 for trying to deliver secret
information to U.S. diplomats in Havana. He is serving a 30-year sentence.
José Antonio Torres, a Granma newspaper reporter, was arrested in 2011
for investigation on a charge of spying. He remains in prison, fellow
inmates say, but it's unclear whether he was ever convicted.
Friends say the spying charge was a fraud, drummed up by some of the
corrupt and inept government officials he wrote about in a 2010 report
on a badly mismanaged aqueduct construction project in the eastern
province of Santiago de Cuba.
Gross is serving a 15-year sentence for illegally providing Cuban Jews
with sophisticated communications equipment, paid for by the U.S.
government as part of its pro-democracy programs for the island. U.S.
officials have said they will not trade the Cuban spies in U.S. prisons
for Gross because he is not a spy.
The five Cubans were convicted in a Miami trial in 2001. Prosecutors
presented evidence the "Wasp Network" spied on U.S. military
installations, and Cuban exile groups, but Havana claims the "Five
Heroes" were trying to avert exile terror plots.
One of the five finished his sentence and is back in Cuba, and a second
is to be freed from prison Feb. 27. Two others are serving sentences of
22 and 30 years, and the fifth is serving a life term for the deaths of
four South Florida men shot down by Cuban MiGs in 1996.
Source: Aide to Cuba's Ricardo Alarcon sentenced to 30 years for spying
- Nation - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/08/3922766/aide-to-cubas-ricardo-alarcon.html
Poverty in Cuba increases as government slashes social spending, expert says
Posted on Saturday, 02.08.14
Poverty in Cuba increases as government slashes social spending, expert
says
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM
The reforms pushed by Cuban ruler Raúl Castro are necessary to fix the
country's economy, but are eroding social services and have not led to
increased productivity, economist Carmelo Mesa-Lago said Saturday.
Social services accounted for 55 percent of the government budget and 37
percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2007-2008, one of the
highest levels in Latin America but one "that could not be sustained,"
Mesa-Lago said.
The latest official figures show social spending – essentially health,
education and welfare – dropped to about 30 percent of GDP, said the
professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh, who is considered
the leading expert on the Cuban economy.
"The result of all of this is that there's more poverty," he added,
estimating the poverty rate in the communist-ruled country of 11.2
million people at about 26 percent.
The combination of "zigzagging" reforms and cuts in social spending
"cannot end well," he told a seminar at the Ermita de la Caridad in
Miami organized by the church as part of Catholic Social Week.
Cuban officials have estimated that state payrolls have a surplus of up
to 1.8 million workers, he said. Yet Castro's hopes to expand the
private sector so that it can take in laid-off state workers have not
come through. By the end of 2012, there were only 365,000 workers in the
non-state sector.
The purchasing power of salaries plunged by 73 percent since 1989 – when
the Soviet Union began halting its massive subsidies to the island –
while the prices of food and utilities have been rising, Mesa-Lago said.
Trying to improve incomes, Castro five years ago abolished salary caps,
ordered that salaries be tied to productivity and made it legal to
receive extra payments in hard currency and hold more than one job. Yet
those changes have shown "no results at all," he added.
Cuba's public health system was once the best in Latin America, the
economist said. But cuts in government spending have led to the closure
of hospitals and clinics, reductions in diagnostic tests, shortages of
medicines and long waits for surgeries.
The 1.8 million pensioners get an average of $10 a month, equal to about
3 percent of the GDP. With the country's population growing older as
youths leave and birth rates remain low, "that problem has no solution
in the long run," Mesa-Lago said.
Spending on public education also has been cut, but the impact has not
been too harsh because there are fewer youths to enroll in schools and
the government shut down costly operations, such as university classes
offered at the municipal levels, he said.
Housing is the country's worst problem, the economist added, with a
shortage of about one million dwellings due to lack of maintenance, a
growing population and damaging hurricanes. About 111,400 units were
built in 2006, but only 21,000 last year.
Source: Poverty in Cuba increases as government slashes social spending,
expert says - Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/08/3921652/poverty-in-cuba-increases-as-government.html
Poverty in Cuba increases as government slashes social spending, expert
says
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM
The reforms pushed by Cuban ruler Raúl Castro are necessary to fix the
country's economy, but are eroding social services and have not led to
increased productivity, economist Carmelo Mesa-Lago said Saturday.
Social services accounted for 55 percent of the government budget and 37
percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2007-2008, one of the
highest levels in Latin America but one "that could not be sustained,"
Mesa-Lago said.
The latest official figures show social spending – essentially health,
education and welfare – dropped to about 30 percent of GDP, said the
professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh, who is considered
the leading expert on the Cuban economy.
"The result of all of this is that there's more poverty," he added,
estimating the poverty rate in the communist-ruled country of 11.2
million people at about 26 percent.
The combination of "zigzagging" reforms and cuts in social spending
"cannot end well," he told a seminar at the Ermita de la Caridad in
Miami organized by the church as part of Catholic Social Week.
Cuban officials have estimated that state payrolls have a surplus of up
to 1.8 million workers, he said. Yet Castro's hopes to expand the
private sector so that it can take in laid-off state workers have not
come through. By the end of 2012, there were only 365,000 workers in the
non-state sector.
The purchasing power of salaries plunged by 73 percent since 1989 – when
the Soviet Union began halting its massive subsidies to the island –
while the prices of food and utilities have been rising, Mesa-Lago said.
Trying to improve incomes, Castro five years ago abolished salary caps,
ordered that salaries be tied to productivity and made it legal to
receive extra payments in hard currency and hold more than one job. Yet
those changes have shown "no results at all," he added.
Cuba's public health system was once the best in Latin America, the
economist said. But cuts in government spending have led to the closure
of hospitals and clinics, reductions in diagnostic tests, shortages of
medicines and long waits for surgeries.
The 1.8 million pensioners get an average of $10 a month, equal to about
3 percent of the GDP. With the country's population growing older as
youths leave and birth rates remain low, "that problem has no solution
in the long run," Mesa-Lago said.
Spending on public education also has been cut, but the impact has not
been too harsh because there are fewer youths to enroll in schools and
the government shut down costly operations, such as university classes
offered at the municipal levels, he said.
Housing is the country's worst problem, the economist added, with a
shortage of about one million dwellings due to lack of maintenance, a
growing population and damaging hurricanes. About 111,400 units were
built in 2006, but only 21,000 last year.
Source: Poverty in Cuba increases as government slashes social spending,
expert says - Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/08/3921652/poverty-in-cuba-increases-as-government.html
Cuba frees jailed Canadian businessman
Posted on Saturday, 02.08.14
Cuba frees jailed Canadian businessman
BY CHARMAINE NORONHA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TORONTO -- A Canadian businessman who served 2 1/2 years of a 9-year
prison sentence in Cuba for corruption has abruptly returned to Canada.
Sarkis Yacoubian, president of Tri-Star Caribbean import company, said
Saturday that he's extremely happy and excited to be home in Toronto.
However, he says he is still adjusting after he was given only 24 to 48
hours' notice before his release.
Yacoubian was arrested in 2011 by Cuban authorities but was not formally
charged until April 2013 with bribery, tax evasion and "activities
damaging to the economy." He said that because he was expelled from
Cuba, he is not subject to transfer conditions that would require him to
serve the rest of his sentence in Canada.
"I can't discuss on what grounds I was expelled," said the 53-year-old
Yacoubian. "When somebody goes to jail, most of them claim that they
were innocent. It's not only the facts that support this for me, but
official recognition that supports this," he said.
"I'm still confused. They released me, 24-48 hours' notice, I still
don't know exactly how this whole thing happened. I'm trying to figure
out what happened, who had interest behind it, which were the
organizations or companies that did what they did to me. So it's just 48
hours. The decision, nobody knew that. They just said we're going to let
you out," Yacoubian told The Associated Press from his mother's home in
Toronto.
He said that he is willing to share his story but wants to consult with
his lawyers, who he said are currently on vacation, before he provides
further details about what he calls a "very interesting, exciting story."
"I want to be properly vindicated on the highest level once the facts
are there. I've already been officially vindicated, but I just can't
tell you how, but it'll come out in the next two weeks," he said.
Yacoubian, who is Armenian, was born in Lebanon, where he studied
international relations before coming to Montreal to earn his MBA at
McGill University. He then ventured to Cuba, where he spent about 20
years. There, he partnered with the Cuban government on multiple ventures.
"(I developed) probably the third or fourth largest company (in Cuba). I
started with $3,000 and that's where I got millions of dollars of credit
from factories, and all my money was confiscated, so there's a story
behind the story," he said.
Two months after Yacoubian's arrest, authorities raided another
Canadian-run company, the Tokmakjian Group, one of the largest foreign
operations in Cuba. Cy Tokmaakjian, 73, was arrested September 2011. He
remains in Cuba's La Condesa prison with no charges filed.
Peter Kent, Tokmakjian's Member of Parliament, told The Toronto Star
that Yacoubian's release had been expected, but that the news that he
was back in Canada came as a relief.
Kent said that his greater concern was for Tokmakjian, who has spent two
years imprisoned and in frail health. Kent said that Canadian government
representatives "have on a number of occasions asked the Cuban
authorities to either take him to court, lay charges or release him. And
that continues to be our position . . . and that hasn't happened."
President Raul Castro has said that rooting out rampant corruption is
one of the country's most important challenges.
Dozens of Cuban government officials and state company executives have
been imprisoned for graft, while more than 150 foreign businesspeople
and scores of small foreign companies have been kicked out of the country.
Source: TORONTO: Cuba frees jailed Canadian businessman - Business
Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/08/3921545/cuba-frees-jailed-canadian-businessman.html
Cuba frees jailed Canadian businessman
BY CHARMAINE NORONHA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TORONTO -- A Canadian businessman who served 2 1/2 years of a 9-year
prison sentence in Cuba for corruption has abruptly returned to Canada.
Sarkis Yacoubian, president of Tri-Star Caribbean import company, said
Saturday that he's extremely happy and excited to be home in Toronto.
However, he says he is still adjusting after he was given only 24 to 48
hours' notice before his release.
Yacoubian was arrested in 2011 by Cuban authorities but was not formally
charged until April 2013 with bribery, tax evasion and "activities
damaging to the economy." He said that because he was expelled from
Cuba, he is not subject to transfer conditions that would require him to
serve the rest of his sentence in Canada.
"I can't discuss on what grounds I was expelled," said the 53-year-old
Yacoubian. "When somebody goes to jail, most of them claim that they
were innocent. It's not only the facts that support this for me, but
official recognition that supports this," he said.
"I'm still confused. They released me, 24-48 hours' notice, I still
don't know exactly how this whole thing happened. I'm trying to figure
out what happened, who had interest behind it, which were the
organizations or companies that did what they did to me. So it's just 48
hours. The decision, nobody knew that. They just said we're going to let
you out," Yacoubian told The Associated Press from his mother's home in
Toronto.
He said that he is willing to share his story but wants to consult with
his lawyers, who he said are currently on vacation, before he provides
further details about what he calls a "very interesting, exciting story."
"I want to be properly vindicated on the highest level once the facts
are there. I've already been officially vindicated, but I just can't
tell you how, but it'll come out in the next two weeks," he said.
Yacoubian, who is Armenian, was born in Lebanon, where he studied
international relations before coming to Montreal to earn his MBA at
McGill University. He then ventured to Cuba, where he spent about 20
years. There, he partnered with the Cuban government on multiple ventures.
"(I developed) probably the third or fourth largest company (in Cuba). I
started with $3,000 and that's where I got millions of dollars of credit
from factories, and all my money was confiscated, so there's a story
behind the story," he said.
Two months after Yacoubian's arrest, authorities raided another
Canadian-run company, the Tokmakjian Group, one of the largest foreign
operations in Cuba. Cy Tokmaakjian, 73, was arrested September 2011. He
remains in Cuba's La Condesa prison with no charges filed.
Peter Kent, Tokmakjian's Member of Parliament, told The Toronto Star
that Yacoubian's release had been expected, but that the news that he
was back in Canada came as a relief.
Kent said that his greater concern was for Tokmakjian, who has spent two
years imprisoned and in frail health. Kent said that Canadian government
representatives "have on a number of occasions asked the Cuban
authorities to either take him to court, lay charges or release him. And
that continues to be our position . . . and that hasn't happened."
President Raul Castro has said that rooting out rampant corruption is
one of the country's most important challenges.
Dozens of Cuban government officials and state company executives have
been imprisoned for graft, while more than 150 foreign businesspeople
and scores of small foreign companies have been kicked out of the country.
Source: TORONTO: Cuba frees jailed Canadian businessman - Business
Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/08/3921545/cuba-frees-jailed-canadian-businessman.html
Among exile elite, a shift over Cuba-US policy
Posted on Saturday, 02.08.14
Among exile elite, a shift over Cuba-US policy
BY LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI -- When Miami's new art museum opened in December, namesake Jorge
Perez spoke easily about a once-taboo topic among Cuban-American
powerbrokers: his desire to increase artistic exchanges with those on
the communist island.
Then, this week, billionaire sugar baron Alfonso Fanjul — whose family's
business was seized by Fidel Castro in 1959 — spoke publicly for the
first time about investing back in Cuba.
Both men are among a growing number of powerful South Florida
Cuban-American business, civic and political leaders breaking the
long-held public line on U.S. relations with Cuba and the Castro
government. For all the talk of changing attitudes among
second-generation Cuban-Americans and newer Cuban arrivals, older
powerbrokers have remained the guardians of the U.S government's
five-decade economic and travel embargo against Cuba and have for years
used their political influence to block any major changes.
"If you set a policy in place to seek a certain set of objectives. After
a while, if those objectives are not achieved, you either changed your
policies or you change your objectives, "said businessman and former
Ambassador to Belgium, Paul Cejas, who also left Cuba shortly after the
revolution. "Diplomacy is a tool of policy. It's a tool of engagement.
It's used with even the most bitter of our enemies,"
Fanjul's comments were a bombshell among the elite Cuban exiles in South
Florida, even though he did not advocate an end to the decades old U.S.
Embargo. In an interview with The Washington Post, the CEO of Fanjul
Corp., who has long opposed the Cuban government, spoke of his recent
trips to the island and his interest in bringing the family's vast sugar
holdings back there. He wouldn't say whether that would be contingent on
the deaths of President Raul Castro and brother Fidel Castro or on the
end of the island nation's communist system. Fanjul declined to be
interviewed by The Associated Press.
For his part, Perez, an avowed capitalist and a major force behind
Miami's revitalization, is unapologetic about his desire to see Cuban
art in the Perez Art Museum Miami. Perez acknowledged that some artists
may have ties to the Castro government but said the exchanges do more
good than a unilateral policy against the island.
"Just like I am really anti-communist, I am also really
anti-imperialist," he said.
On Friday, former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running for the
office again, this time as a Democrat, said on Bill Maher's HBO show
that he doesn't think the embargo has worked and agreed with Maher that
Cuban Americans need to stand up to the Cuban regime.
Current Republican Gov. Rick Scott said Crist's statements were insulting.
He said: "Our Cuban community needs to be stood up for...The importance
of maintaining the embargo is that it stands for the Cuban people's
right to be free."
Pepe Hernandez is head of the Cuban American National Foundation, once
the leading exile lobby against dialogue with those on the island. In
recent years it has encouraged more exchanges, creating something of a
rift in the community, but the group is now expanding and will soon open
new offices in the heart of Little Havana.
"We are finally bridging the generation gap — a gap that all exile
communities have," Hernandez said.
Despite some support for Fanjul after his Post interview, the response
from several Cuban exile political leaders was swift and harsh: "I am
outraged by reports that a fellow Cuban-American, who has witnessed the
atrocities inflicted by the Castro regime, has apparently chosen
short-term profit over standing with the Cuban people," said South
Florida Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, whose family also fled the
revolution.
Fellow GOP representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen posted on Twitter: "Talked
about #Fanjul's pathetic idea of investing in the #Castro regime while
#Cubans suffer."
But U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia, a Democrat and the son of Cuban exiles, said
Fanjul was simply voicing the issues many Cuban-Americans wrestle with.
Since the embargo's imposition in the early 1960s, shortly after Fidel
Castro's communist revolution overthrew a pro-U.S. military
dictatorship, the policy has prohibited U.S. companies and citizens from
conducting most trade with the island and, with some exceptions,
visiting it. Until recently, politicians and business leaders who
advocated for the embargo's elimination, or even loosening, incurred the
wrath of the Cuban-American community, which had the money and power to
make its views stick.
In 2000, a small bipartisan group of Cuban exile business leaders,
including Cejas, began to rethink their position. Their ranks have grown
as they've pushed for shifts in U.S. policy that, with changes in
Havana, now allow hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans to visit the
island annually and send money to relatives there. Travel restrictions
also have been loosened, making visits easier for Americans not of Cuban
descent.
Although Congress is unlikely to eliminate the embargo anytime soon, the
Obama administration or its successor could go further and allow Cuba to
buy U.S. imports with cash, let non-Cubans invest in businesses on the
island, and ease travel even more for non-Cubans, ideas that Fanjul
appears to support.
Still, South Florida's older exile community largely remained united in
public, even as privately more powerbrokers began to break with the
orthodoxy. Some quietly visited the island, such as during Pope Benedict
XVI's 2012 trip to Cuba. Others became open to business opportunities.
In the Post interview, Fanjul said his primary desire was to reconnect
with his roots. But he also seemed to be appealing to the U.S.
government. Fanjul is close to former President Bill Clinton and his
wife, Hillary, who is considering a White House run in 2016.
"Right now there's no way for us to consider investing in Cuba. How can
you work a deal if you're not legally allowed to do it?" he told the
paper. "If there's an arrangement within Cuba and the United States, and
legally it can be done and there's a proper framework set up and in
place, then we will look at that possibility."
He also sent a note of caution to communist leaders: "Cuba has to
presumably satisfy the requirements that investors need, which are
primarily a return on investment and security of the investment, so they
feel comfortable with what they're doing."
Mauricio Claver-Carone, who serves on the board of the anti-Castro
U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC, which opposes people-to-people travel, said he
stills views Fanjul as an exception and suggested any move by Fanjul to
do business with the island would backfire. "Alfy Fanjul needs our
community more than the community needs him," Claver-Carone said.
But the PAC may still need the Fanjuls. In the past five years, the
family and top employees have given the PAC more than $40,000.
Source: MIAMI: Among exile elite, a shift over Cuba-US policy - Business
Wires - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/08/3921346/among-exile-elite-a-shift-over.html
Among exile elite, a shift over Cuba-US policy
BY LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI -- When Miami's new art museum opened in December, namesake Jorge
Perez spoke easily about a once-taboo topic among Cuban-American
powerbrokers: his desire to increase artistic exchanges with those on
the communist island.
Then, this week, billionaire sugar baron Alfonso Fanjul — whose family's
business was seized by Fidel Castro in 1959 — spoke publicly for the
first time about investing back in Cuba.
Both men are among a growing number of powerful South Florida
Cuban-American business, civic and political leaders breaking the
long-held public line on U.S. relations with Cuba and the Castro
government. For all the talk of changing attitudes among
second-generation Cuban-Americans and newer Cuban arrivals, older
powerbrokers have remained the guardians of the U.S government's
five-decade economic and travel embargo against Cuba and have for years
used their political influence to block any major changes.
"If you set a policy in place to seek a certain set of objectives. After
a while, if those objectives are not achieved, you either changed your
policies or you change your objectives, "said businessman and former
Ambassador to Belgium, Paul Cejas, who also left Cuba shortly after the
revolution. "Diplomacy is a tool of policy. It's a tool of engagement.
It's used with even the most bitter of our enemies,"
Fanjul's comments were a bombshell among the elite Cuban exiles in South
Florida, even though he did not advocate an end to the decades old U.S.
Embargo. In an interview with The Washington Post, the CEO of Fanjul
Corp., who has long opposed the Cuban government, spoke of his recent
trips to the island and his interest in bringing the family's vast sugar
holdings back there. He wouldn't say whether that would be contingent on
the deaths of President Raul Castro and brother Fidel Castro or on the
end of the island nation's communist system. Fanjul declined to be
interviewed by The Associated Press.
For his part, Perez, an avowed capitalist and a major force behind
Miami's revitalization, is unapologetic about his desire to see Cuban
art in the Perez Art Museum Miami. Perez acknowledged that some artists
may have ties to the Castro government but said the exchanges do more
good than a unilateral policy against the island.
"Just like I am really anti-communist, I am also really
anti-imperialist," he said.
On Friday, former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running for the
office again, this time as a Democrat, said on Bill Maher's HBO show
that he doesn't think the embargo has worked and agreed with Maher that
Cuban Americans need to stand up to the Cuban regime.
Current Republican Gov. Rick Scott said Crist's statements were insulting.
He said: "Our Cuban community needs to be stood up for...The importance
of maintaining the embargo is that it stands for the Cuban people's
right to be free."
Pepe Hernandez is head of the Cuban American National Foundation, once
the leading exile lobby against dialogue with those on the island. In
recent years it has encouraged more exchanges, creating something of a
rift in the community, but the group is now expanding and will soon open
new offices in the heart of Little Havana.
"We are finally bridging the generation gap — a gap that all exile
communities have," Hernandez said.
Despite some support for Fanjul after his Post interview, the response
from several Cuban exile political leaders was swift and harsh: "I am
outraged by reports that a fellow Cuban-American, who has witnessed the
atrocities inflicted by the Castro regime, has apparently chosen
short-term profit over standing with the Cuban people," said South
Florida Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, whose family also fled the
revolution.
Fellow GOP representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen posted on Twitter: "Talked
about #Fanjul's pathetic idea of investing in the #Castro regime while
#Cubans suffer."
But U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia, a Democrat and the son of Cuban exiles, said
Fanjul was simply voicing the issues many Cuban-Americans wrestle with.
Since the embargo's imposition in the early 1960s, shortly after Fidel
Castro's communist revolution overthrew a pro-U.S. military
dictatorship, the policy has prohibited U.S. companies and citizens from
conducting most trade with the island and, with some exceptions,
visiting it. Until recently, politicians and business leaders who
advocated for the embargo's elimination, or even loosening, incurred the
wrath of the Cuban-American community, which had the money and power to
make its views stick.
In 2000, a small bipartisan group of Cuban exile business leaders,
including Cejas, began to rethink their position. Their ranks have grown
as they've pushed for shifts in U.S. policy that, with changes in
Havana, now allow hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans to visit the
island annually and send money to relatives there. Travel restrictions
also have been loosened, making visits easier for Americans not of Cuban
descent.
Although Congress is unlikely to eliminate the embargo anytime soon, the
Obama administration or its successor could go further and allow Cuba to
buy U.S. imports with cash, let non-Cubans invest in businesses on the
island, and ease travel even more for non-Cubans, ideas that Fanjul
appears to support.
Still, South Florida's older exile community largely remained united in
public, even as privately more powerbrokers began to break with the
orthodoxy. Some quietly visited the island, such as during Pope Benedict
XVI's 2012 trip to Cuba. Others became open to business opportunities.
In the Post interview, Fanjul said his primary desire was to reconnect
with his roots. But he also seemed to be appealing to the U.S.
government. Fanjul is close to former President Bill Clinton and his
wife, Hillary, who is considering a White House run in 2016.
"Right now there's no way for us to consider investing in Cuba. How can
you work a deal if you're not legally allowed to do it?" he told the
paper. "If there's an arrangement within Cuba and the United States, and
legally it can be done and there's a proper framework set up and in
place, then we will look at that possibility."
He also sent a note of caution to communist leaders: "Cuba has to
presumably satisfy the requirements that investors need, which are
primarily a return on investment and security of the investment, so they
feel comfortable with what they're doing."
Mauricio Claver-Carone, who serves on the board of the anti-Castro
U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC, which opposes people-to-people travel, said he
stills views Fanjul as an exception and suggested any move by Fanjul to
do business with the island would backfire. "Alfy Fanjul needs our
community more than the community needs him," Claver-Carone said.
But the PAC may still need the Fanjuls. In the past five years, the
family and top employees have given the PAC more than $40,000.
Source: MIAMI: Among exile elite, a shift over Cuba-US policy - Business
Wires - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/08/3921346/among-exile-elite-a-shift-over.html
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