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U.S. Execs to Discuss Cuban Oil Reserves

By Julie Watson, Associated Press Writer, February 1, 2006.

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- In the two years since oil reservoirs were discovered off Cuba's coast, Canadian, Chinese, Indian and Norwegian companies have lined up to explore the potentially lucrative Caribbean waters.

U.S. corporations have watched the activity less than 60 miles south of Florida's coastline with their hands tied. U.S. oil exploration in Cuban waters -- along with most U.S. trade -- is prohibited under a 45-year-old U.S. embargo designed to undermine Fidel Castro's communist government.

"Right on our own border, there is going to be substantial activity in what is probably the last unexplored deposits in the world," said Kirby Jones, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade Association.

This week, American energy executives meet their Cuban counterparts in the first private-sector oil summit between the two countries. Cubans hope to inform the businessmen of their country's oil potential while undermining the embargo, which has often frustrated American corporations.

The three-day meeting, which starts Thursday, is sponsored by the U.S.-Cuba Trade Association, along with Valero Energy Corp., the United States' biggest oil refiner, as well as the Louisiana Department of Economic Development and the Texas Port of Corpus Christi, among others.

Representatives from major U.S. oil companies are also expected to attend, Jones said.

Cuba's delegation is to be led by Fidel Rivero Prieto, president of the state oil company, CubaPetroleo. Officials from the Cuban Ministry of Basic Industries and Cuba's ministries of foreign trade, foreign investment and foreign relations will also be present, Jones said.

Aided by Canada's Sherritt International Corp., Cuba has steadily increased output of low-quality heavy crude and now produces 75,000 barrels daily, about half of what it needs. It imports the rest, much of it on favorable terms from political ally Venezuela.

It also has turned to other foreign companies to explore further. In 2004, the Spanish petrochemicals company Repsol-YPF SA announced it had found petroleum reservoirs off Cuba's coast. The first well was not considered commercially viable, but the company recently announced it will conduct a second exploration.

This time, however, Repsol will join up with China's largest offshore oil producer, CNOOC Ltd.; Norway's industrial company Norsk Hydro ASA, and India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp., ONGC.

The group will explore seven deep-water blocks estimated to contain more than 4 billion barrels in oil and gas reserves. Earlier explorations, however, turned up only modest discoveries.

The petroleum reservoirs have fueled the Cuban government's hopes of increased self-sufficiency amid tightened U.S. sanctions.

Since 2004, Cuba has pumped $1.7 billion into its energy sector with help from Canada, Europe and Latin America, Rivero Prieto said in a letter to the summit's organizers.

He said Cuba would welcome U.S. companies, adding, "Unfortunately that is not possible now."

"But we can begin the process to get to know each other, exchange contact information. ... In this way, both of us will be prepared to discuss real business opportunities as soon as that becomes possible," he said.

Mike Olivier, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, agreed.

"Nobody wants to be left out, and the potential business in this new market for Louisiana companies is significant," Olivier said. "This meeting will allow companies from our state to meet Cuban counterparts and get in on the ground floor."

Jones said he would like to see the U.S. government relax its sanctions for the energy sector as it did for food and agricultural products under a 2000 law allowing sales to Cuba on a cash basis.

Cuban officials say they have contracted to buy $1.5 billion in American food since Castro's government began taking advantage of the change in 2001.

Cuba was almost wholly dependent on oil imports and imported most of its supply on extremely favorable terms from the former Soviet Union. It stepped up its own exploration after the collapse of the Soviet bloc.

Hugo Chavez Denies Oil Deals a Giveaway

By Ian James, Associated Press, February 1, 2006.

CARACAS, Venezuela - A candidate challenging Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez for the presidency said his top campaign issue will be what he calls a massive waste of billions of dollars through generous oil deals for friendly countries.

Chavez, leading strongly in the polls, denied the accusations by candidate Julio Borges on Tuesday night, calling his challenger a "frijolito" - or "small fry" - and expressing confidence in an easy re-election victory in December.

Borges said earlier Tuesday that his party, Justice First, calculates Chavez's government has committed more than $16 billion to unprofitable international oil deals or humanitarian donations.

"We aren't giving gifts to anyone," Chavez insisted in a speech. He argued the oil is sold at market prices, though with special financing arrangements.

Borges' Web site alleges that Chavez has "given away" more than $5 billion to Cuba, ranging from an electricity project to oil sales exchanged partially for the services of thousands of Cuban doctors.

Borges lists $4.5 billion for Brazil, including plans for an oil refinery. He includes more than $200 million for the United States, including sales of discounted home heating oil to low-income Americans in the Northeast.

"They're all programs in which Venezuela gives money or gasoline or oil and receives nothing proportional in exchange," Borges told The Associated Press, adding that he will make the issue his "No. 1 point" in the campaign.

Chavez, who celebrates his seventh year in office Thursday, said many of the oil deals merely allow long-term, low-cost financing for part of the bill. Some countries also can pay partly in goods or services, such as bananas, beans or the work of some 20,000 Cuban doctors now treating Venezuela's poor without charge.

"How much do 20,000 doctors cost? Add it up," Chavez urged his listeners. "Look how foolish these people from the opposition are."

Venezuela last years signed the "Petrocaribe" agreement with 13 Caribbean countries, allowing them to pay 60 percent of their bill up front and pay off the rest as a 25-year loan with a 1 percent interest rate.

Chavez, a vocal critic of President Bush, says such oil deals are a step away from U.S. dominance and toward greater regional integration.

Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter, with $48 billion in oil export revenues last year.

"The ones who used to govern the country are the ones who gave it away," Chavez said, arguing past governments sold out to U.S. interests and transnational oil companies. "We're rescuing the country."

As he looks to the elections in December, Chavez said he is urging his Cabinet to plan for another six-year term in office.

"I'm going to leave here someday, but when I leave I'm going to hand over the government to a revolutionary, and surely someone more revolutionary than I am," said Chavez, who envisions a long-term shift toward socialism. "The revolution ... has arrived to stay though all of this century, and past the 22nd century."

Borges said Chavez is tossing money around while neglecting poverty at home. Chavez argued that government statistics show his social programs have cut poverty at home from 48 percent of the population in 1997 to 37 percent today.

Meanwhile, Chavez recently signed contracts with newly elected leftist President Evo Morales of Bolivia to sell his government up to 200,000 barrels of Venezuelan diesel a month, while accepting 75 percent of the payment in agricultural products - largely soybeans - and allowing the remaining 25 percent to be paid over 15 years at 2 percent interest.

Chavez also said Venezuela will donate $30 million to Morales' government to help start up social programs.

Cuba Selects 60 Baseball Players to Train

AP, February 1, 2006.

Cuba selected 60 players to train for the World Baseball Classic, with pitcher Pedro Luis Lazo among 26 pitchers on the roster.

All the players are "technically excellent and versatile," said Cuban Baseball Federation president Carlos Rodriguez, who announced the names late Monday.

Pitchers include Danny Betancourt, Adiel Palma as well as young talent such as Maikel Folch and Luis Borroto.

The offense includes current leaders in the island's National Series: Michel Enriquez (.442 batting average), Osmani Urrutia (.439), Yulieski Gouriell (16 homers) and Vismay Santos (16 homers).

Catchers include Ariel Pestano, Eriel Sanchez and Roger Machado, all known for batting power. Veteran players include Carlos Tabares, Yoandri Urgelles, Frederich Cepeda, Alexei Ramirez and Eduardo Paret, the current captain.

In New York, the commissioner's office said it had not yet received Cuba's 60-man preliminary roster. Teams must cut to 30 players five days before their openers in the tournament, to be played from March 3-20.

Cuba willing to share film-making experience with Malaysia

Asian Pulse, Wednesday February 1, 2006.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 Asia Pulse - Cuba wants to further enhance its ties with Malaysia, particularly in the film-making industry, which it believes will help forge a better understanding among the people of both countries.

Sergio Corrieri Hernandez, President of Cuban Institute of Friendship of the People, said Cuba was willing to share its vast experience in producing documentary films with Malaysia.

Realising that Malaysia was not producing many documentary movies, he said this could be one of the areas of cooperation which could be explored between the two countries in the near future.

For a start, he extended invitation to Malaysian film makers to visit the Latin America Film Festival in Havana in December.

"We will try to bring a Malaysian delegation of film producers to Havana in December. It's very important to see how the Latin American film industry works.

It will be a very good experience for friends in Malaysia," said Hernandez, also a movie director, at the end of his five-day visit to Malaysia.

Hernandez also spoke of the possibility of providing scholarships for Malaysians keen to study film-making in Cuba.

Meanwhile, Cuban Ambassador Pedro Monzon Barata said Friends of the Cuban Association here played a big role in developing the good relationship between the people in both countries.

"We have a very good relationship in economy, politics and biotech, but we need to go further to develop this strong ties in many aspects of life but first, we have to know each other better," he added.

Puerto Rico Invited to Play in Cuba

AP, Saturday January 28, 2006.

Cuba invited Puerto Rico to play exhibition games on the island ahead of the World Baseball Classic.

Puerto Rican baseball federation president Israel Roldan said Friday that the warmup games were a good idea.

"It's not decided yet," Roldan said at the Havana airport. "I approve, but it needs to be coordinated with the major leagues."

Cuba is to play its first-round games of the tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Classic will run March 3-20 in the United States, Puerto Rico and Japan.

Roldan said he was meeting with top Cuban baseball officials to "finalize details for the tournament."

Cuban President Fidel Castro confirmed Wednesday that his country would play in the Classic in the island's first official reaction to the U.S. government's decision allowing the communist country to participate.

Cuban Film Reaches Universal Audience

By Vanessa Arrington, Associated Press Writer Fri Jan 27, 2006.

HAVANA - Cuban film director Juan Carlos Cremata's new movie is about a young girl who runs away from home because her mother plans to leave Fidel Castro's Cuba and she doesn't want to go.

But "Viva Cuba" isn't a political film - it's a human one.

"It's not that the girl wants to stay in Cuba because of the Revolution," Cremata told the Associated Press in a recent interview. She wants to stay, he said, because Cuba "is where her friends are, where her school is, and above all, where her beloved grandmother is buried."

Depoliticizing the subject of Cuban exiles is about as easy as taking the fruit out of an apple pie, but judging from the international reaction, Cremata has succeeded in moving beyond nationalism to reach a universal audience.

The film has swept awards in countries as politically and culturally varied as Guatemala, Germany, Taiwan and France, including the Grand Prix Ecrans Juniors from a panel of child judges at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

Now, the buzz is it could grab a nomination for a foreign-language Academy Award in the most anti-Castro country of all - the United States.

The Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday, with awards presented March 5. "Viva Cuba" is among a record 58 entries in the foreign-language category - just five will be nominated.

Cremata loves his country, but does not consider himself a communist. He took great care to avoid all political references in the film.

It is never made clear what country the girl, who appears to be about 12, is supposed to move to. Her mother, separated from her father, simply spends much of her time on the phone with "a foreigner" complaining about everyday problems on the island. When young Malu overhears her making plans to leave, she runs away with her best friend, Jorge, heading to the remote eastern tip of Cuba, where her father works at a lighthouse.

The movie chronicles the pair's adventures as they flee authorities across the island, from fancy beach resorts to provincial towns to the rural mountains. They sing, they fight, they get lost, they make up. They finally arrive at the lighthouse, but once there they realize they have nowhere else to run.

Cuban migration is in the director's face daily: he lives near the American mission in Havana and sees his countrymen lining up every morning hoping to get U.S. visas.

But the issue is a global one for Cremata, who has lived in cities across the world, including New York for a year on a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship.

"The predicament of whether to leave or not to leave is not an exclusively Cuban problem," he said. "It exists all over the world."

Cremata himself chose his own country, returning to Cuba after his 1996 stint in the United States.

"It was this year, living in the center of New York, with lots of money and everything, that I realized all I wanted was to return to Cuba and make Cuban films," he said.

The director's first full-length film was "Nada," or "Nothing," a 2001 comedy that also revolves around the issue of emigration. The movie is the first in a trilogy, but Cremata is still looking for funding for the next two installations: "Nadie," or "Nobody," and "Nunca," or "Never."

"Nada" received international recognition, but Cuba's official film institute was far from crazy about the movie, said the outspoken and sincere Cremata. When launching the "Viva Cuba" project, he said he faced closed doors, leading him to take an independent route, filming the entire movie with a small digital camera and 15-member staff.

"The whole process was very difficult, because no one wanted to help us on this film," he said. "I had no idea where the film would take us. The only thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to make Cuba's first-ever children's movie."

The project became a family affair. Cremata pulled child actors from his brother's internationally known theater group and tapped into his mother's decades of experience in children's television programming. Iraida Malberti, his mother, served as co-director of "Viva Cuba."

Cremata even used his own grandmother to play the role of Malu's grandmother, who dies near the beginning of the film after a comic scene in which the girl paints the elderly woman's face with makeup.

The young actors preferred to work without a script, lending to the natural, confident tone throughout the movie. The small camera actually helped them relax, Cremata said.

"The kids played, they expressed themselves," he said. "There were no problems working with them. Adult actors are themselves like children - only more spoiled."

Cremata said he also resists adulthood at times. The 44-year-old director even dressed up as a uniformed Cuban schoolboy when presenting the movie at Havana's international film festival in December.

The island's film institute eventually warmed up to Cremata's project - especially when it won the Cannes award, he said. "Now everyone in officialdom loves me," he said.

Cremata grew up playing in the television studios where his mother worked, a world of "confusion between reality and fantasy."

At 13, he lost his father in a 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner.

Hardship helps breed creativity, Cremata said.

"In the third world, and of course in my country, the conditions of life are so difficult that imagination is beyond necessary - it's urgent," he said. "One needs to travel to another world to be able to endure the world in which he or she is living."

Cremata, who loves silent movies and foreign films from countries like Iran, said he likes very little coming out of Hollywood, movies he finds "plastic" and predictable. The wealth and convenience of the United States seems to have obliterated the country's originality, he said.

That's why, perhaps, he has always returned home to Cuba, never joining the millions of Cubans living elsewhere.

"I believe that this country, with all of its problems, is still much richer in imagination, much richer in human warmth, than any developed country in the world," he said.

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