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June 19, 2002
Cuba announces victory in its signature gathering drive in support of
'untouchable' socialism
Tue Jun 18, 9:11 PM ET
HAVANA - Claiming a resounding political victory, Fidel Castro's government
says nearly 99 percent of legal voters have signed a petition declaring that the
island's socialist system cannot be changed.
Preliminary results showed that about 8.1 million of Cuba's 8.2 million
registered voters had signed the document, Pedro Ross Leal, head of the
Confederation of Cuban Workers, told an evening government television show late
Tuesday. Cuba has a population of about 11 million.
Cuba's mass organizations, which are inextricably tied to the government and
the ruling Communist Party, carried out the signature gathering drive that began
Saturday morning and wrapped up at noon Tuesday.
The document citizens were asked to sign expressed support for a
constitutional amendment declaring that Cuba's economic, political and social
system is "untouchable."
The signature gathering campaign at more than 120,000 neighborhood sites
nationwide was carried out mostly by the Committees for the Defense of the
Revolution, local vigilance groups organized literally block by block.
Castro has said the effort was in response to U.S. President George W. Bush
( news - web sites)'s Cuba policy speech on May 20. Bush said he would not ease
American trade or travel restrictions against the island unless Cuba embraces
democratic reforms, including competitive elections.
Opposition leaders said the effort was a response to their own signature
drive, known as the Varela
Project.
Activists last month submitted more than 11,000 signatures to the National
Assembly seeking a referendum to ask voters whether they favor civil liberties
such as freedom of speech and assembly, the right to own a business, electoral
reform and amnesty for political prisoners.
Cuba reducing industrial production of sugar by half
Tue Jun 18, 3:52 PM ET
HAVANA - Cuba is slicing its once-crucial sugar production by about half in
the face of a glut of sugar and falling prices on the world market, Sugar
Minister Ulises Rosales del Toro said Tuesday.
"We have to redefine our dimensions," Rosales told a news
conference.
Still, Cuba "will not stop being a sugar producer," said Rosales,
whose cabinet level post is a reminder of the key role that sugar has played in
Cuba's economy over the centuries. Tourism has overtaken sugar as Cuba's No. 1
source of hard currency in recent years.
Rosales offered few specifics, and declined to say exactly how many of
Cuba's sugar mills had been closed during an ongoing restructuring of the
industry.
Although Cuba's sugar industry had the capacity to handle up to 10 million
metric tons of sugar annually, the last two annual harvests yielded between 3.5
and 3.6 million metric tons. The average world price for sugar has fallen from 8
or 9 U.S. cents a pound (nearly 1/2 kilogram) last year to 7 cents a pound this
year, Rosales said.
Peter Baron, executive director of the London-based International Sugar
Organization, congratulated Cuban authorities and wished them luck in their
decision to restructure, which he said "was necessary."
"It isn't easy, but I am sure they will find the way," said Baron,
who accompanied Rosales at the news conference.
Baron is in Havana for an international conference on sugar and cane
derivatives. He has long been familiar with Cuba's sugar industry.
Rosales said that much of the land long used for growing cane will be
converted to other uses, especially for raising livestock to meet domestic food
needs. This island nation currently imports about dlrs 800 million in food
annually. | 
