CUBA
NEWS
Yahoo!
Montreal company offers $300 rebate
for bringing goods into Cuba
MONTREAL, 27 (CP) - A Quebec travel agency
is offering clients a $300 discount on its
travel packages to Cuba in exchange for
taking a suitcase full of personal items
into the country.
The company says it is simply acting as
a middleman for expatriate Cubans wishing
to send hard-to-find everyday items to Cuba.
Montreal-based Antillas Express offers
clients a rebate if they take a suitcase
past Cuban customs.
A spokesperson who did not want to be identified
said the practice is legal and that the
company assumes full responsibility for
what's inside the luggage.
"We check all the merchandise because
it's in our interests that it reaches its
destination," the spokesperson told
The Canadian Press. "It's not in our
interest that the merchandise be confiscated
at the Cuban border."
She said relatives often use the service
to send such items as Aspirin, clothing
and pens to family members back home.
Company representatives pick up the suitcase
at the airport, and then deliver the items
to their intended recipients.
"This way, you can send more (goods
to Cuba) and for cheaper prices than (through)
the mail," the spokesperson said.
A U.S. embargo against the Communist island
country has long restricted what can be
sent there from the United States, and forbids
exporting products to Cuba through third
countries.
The embargo, which has been in place since
1963, was tightened again in 2004, forcing
ex-pats to find new ways for sending gifts
back home.
Number of foreign firms in Cuba declined
in 2006
HAVANA, Jan 29 (Agencies) - The number
of foreign companies operating in Cuba has
continued to decline and a new investment
expected from China has not materialized,
a Cuban cabinet minister said on Monday,
reported Reuters.
"We ended the year with 236,"
she said after a meeting with Prime Minister
Aristides Gomes of Guinea Bissau.
Joint ventures between Cuba's communist
state and foreign investors fell to 236
at the end of 2006, down from 258 a year
ago, Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation
Minister Marta Lomas told Reuters.
Since 2004, Cuba has given priority to
partnerships with major foreign investors
in key sectors such as energy and mining,
and it has looked to its main allies Venezuela
and China for investment.
China's state-owned Minmetals agreed in
November 2004 to invest $500 million in
Cuba's nickel industry. Cuba expected a
joint venture to produce 68,000 tonnes a
year of ferro-nickel would come on stream
in 28 months.
But Lomas said the project was not going
ahead. "The Chinese are not continuing"
she said, and that they would continue it
with Venezuela instead.
Cuba and Venezuela last week announced
16 new joint ventures including a fiber
optics cable plan to bypass a U.S. trade
embargo.
The largest two ventures, with a $1.1 billion
investment, are a plan to build a steelworks
in Venezuela and a ferro-nickel plant at
Camariocas in western Cuba's nickel producing
area.
Major foreign investors in Cuba include
Canada's Sherritt International in nickel,
oil and gas, French spirits giant Pernod
Ricard in rum, Spanish-French tobacco group
Altadis , Swiss food giant Nestle in bottled
water and soft drinks, and Sol Melia in
hotels.
Pernod Ricard joint venture Havana Club
International last month opened a $66 million
distillery for dark rum to increase production
to 5 million cases a year by 2013.
Sherritt is expanding its nickel production
joint venture by $500 million to raise output
from 32,000 to 48,000 tonnes a year.
US, Fidel both sidelined on Cuba policy:
experts
Antonio Rodriguez Sun Jan
28, 2007.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States has
refused to budge from its five-decade Cuba
policy during Raul Castro's six months in
power, despite world pressure and momentum
in Congress for dialogue, experts say.
"Everything is on hold awaiting the
death of Fidel and what whatever happens
afterward," said Mark Falcoff, of the
American Enterprise Institute, a conservative
Washington think tank, to justify the unchanging
US policy since July 31, when Raul Castro
took the reigns from Fidel, who underwent
intestinal surgery.
However, a European familiar with the US-Cuban
rift said, "The United is awaiting
initiatives from the island.
"Here, as well as there, slow-motion
change does not favor openness, but the
opposite. There is clearly a logjam,"
said the European diplomat on condition
of anonymity.
As a condition for modifying its policy,
the United States demands first the beginnings
of a democratic transition in Cuba, where
Fidel, 80, has ruled for nearly 50 years
and is the only leader most Cubans have
ever known.
The US government even rejected two public
calls for talks from Raul Castro since taking
power, clinging to US policy that Cuba must
first make steps toward change.
Meanwhile, the United States failed to
find the international backing Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice has sought since
July 31 to demand democratic transition
on the island. Only Costa Rica and Eastern
European countries such as the Czech Republic
joined Washington.
"The United States finds itself isolated
when in search of voices to condemn Cuba,
but it is used to that," the European
diplomat said, alluding to repeated UN condemnations
of the four-decade US economic embargo against
Cuba.
"Moreover, they want to avoid Cuba
becoming unmanageable," unstable and
send an exodus of refugees to the coasts
of Florida, the diplomat said.
The result is a "wait and see"
US policy, which surprises Peter Hakim,
president of the Inter American Dialogue,
a Washington based think tank.
"For almost 50 years we in Washington
have talked about what would happen when
Fidel Castro left power and now that this
has happened, it looks like the United States
has neither strategy nor any idea how to
act," he said.
Some members of the US Congress have shown
a will to change, although it remains to
be seen if they have the votes.
A delegation of 10 House of Representatives
members traveled to Havana in December,
lead by Democrat Bill Delahunt and Republican
Jeff Flake (news, bio, voting record).
"Fidel's step-down is stimulating
a re-evaluation of US policy," said
Ian Vasquez, of the Washington libertarian
Cato Institute, saying Delahunt's proposal
is to remove restrictions on travel of Cuban
Americans to the island and to hold hearings
on US Cuba policy in Washigton.
Both lawmakers warned this week that the
United States is losing influence in Havana
by rejecting the call for talks.
"We are very much on the sidelines
while this transition is taking place, at
a time that we should be up front and that's
what most frustrates us," said Flake.
Dialogue "would be good for the Cuban
people and something that would motivate
and would drive the government there toward
reform and not away from it," he added.
Six months on, Castro still convalescing
away from prying eyes
Patrick Moser, Jan 27, 2007.
HAVANA (AFP) - Six months after Fidel Castro
underwent intestinal surgery, his exact
condition and location remain state secrets,
though authorities insist his recovery is
going very well.
And daily business has continued as usual
since the 80-year-old communist president
"provisionally" handed over power
to his brother Raul, Cuba's defense minister
and longtime number two.
But in the absence of official news on
his location and exact condition, or even
pictures of the bearded leader, Cuba is
awash with rumors further fueled by speculation
from abroad.
Authorities initially released photographs
and video footage of the ailing president,
but no image of Castro has been seen since
October 28.
"We are anxious. The whole of Cuba
wants him to appear on the stage,"
said Osvaldo Garcia, 43, interviewed in
a Havana street.
A few days after his July 27 surgery, Castro
announced, in a statement read on his behalf,
that his health had to remain a state secret.
Such secrecy is of paramount importance
here, as the island's communist authorities
insist that ever since Castro led the 1959
revolution, Cuba has been under constant
threat from the US "empire." The
veteran revolutionary, who has defied 10
US presidents, has also survived several
assassination attempts.
US authorities have suggested that Castro
has cancer and may have only days to live,
while Spain's El Pais daily said recently
he had suffered intestinal hemorrhaging
and a severe infection caused by inflammation
of the large intestine last year.
Cuba's parliamentary president Ricardo
Alarcon ridiculed the speculation but pointed
out that "even those who are inventing
the news" admit Cuba has stayed the
course and maintained stability over the
past several months.
The official line, echoed by Castro's Venezuelan
friend and ally, President Hugo Chavez,
is that the Cuban leader's recovery is going
"very well."
While authorities initially insisted the
president would return to power after his
convalescence, Alarcon simply said this
would be subject to his further "post-operation
progress."
A number of Cuba watchers doubt Castro
would be able to fully return to the power
he firmly held for 48 years.
"Six months after Fidel Castro yielded
power, it seems clear that Cuba's 48-year
saga of charismatic caudillo leadership
has ended ... and that Raul Castro, for
now at least, is firmly in charge,"
US analyst Brian Latell said in his latest
monthly report on Cuba.
In one of the few speeches he delivered
since being named acting president, Raul
Castro, 75, said the time had come to gradually
hand over to younger generations.
Raul Castro, who has headed the Cuban armed
forces since the 1959 overthrow of dictator
Fulgencio Batista, also suggested dialogue
with the United States, which Washington
insisted would only be possible if the regime
takes steps toward democratic reform.
While the acting president has invited
public criticism, he has also made it clear
the communist government would remain faithful
to its revolutionary ideals.
But contrary to earlier predictions by
Castro foes, the transfer of power to the
younger Castro did not lead to a popular
clamor within Cuba for swift reforms.
"There has been no evidence of tension,
instability or challenges to his pre-eminence
within the leadership," said Latell.
Cuban Marriage Process Difficult; Help
Available for Canadians
Toronto, ON (PRWeb) January 29, 2007 --
When you think about Cuba words like cigars,
warm weather, beaches come to mind; but
marriage? A growing number of Canadian vacationers
are not only finding rest and relaxation
in the Caribbean island but have also ended
up finding their true love. These couples
fall in love, have a long distance relationship,
and end up getting their marriage in Cuba.
In most cases, if not all, the couple will
end up living in Canada. The process for
a Cuban marriage is, unfortunately, a tough
and lengthy process. The Cuban government
imposes strict requirements on foreigners
if they wish to marry a Cuban citizen. Furthermore,
getting a hold of the Cuban authorities
in Canada is very difficult and if you do
get a hold of the authorities, it can be
quite confusing to understand all the rules
and fees. For any Canadian marrying a Cuban
and wishing for their spouse to immigrate
to Canada, the process does not end there.
For a Cuban to travel abroad, it is easier
said than done. The nature of the Cuban
regime makes it difficult, if not almost
impossible, for ordinary Cubans to obtain
a visa to leave the country. This is why,
for any Canadian wishing to bring their
partner or spouse to Canada, it is recommended
that they sponsor them for a visitor's visa
or for permanent residence if they want
their spouse to live with them in Canada.
For the sponsorship process many documents
must be submitted and this can lengthy.
Anyone trying to do these processes by themselves
could be overwhelmed or simply get frustrated
and give up.
Is there any help? Yes, there is. Immigroup
Immigration Services (www.immigroup.com/marriageabroad/marriage_to_Cuban.php)
offers Canadians (and Americans) who have
met their true love in Cuba help with this
entire process. They will help you gather
all the documents that are needed, review
the application process, and file the application
for you.
Venezuela, Cuba Firms to Search for
Oil
Venezuela, Cuba Companies
to Search for Oil in Orinoco River Belt,
Part of Gulf of Mexico
By Fabiola Sanchez, Associated
Press Writer.
CARACAS, Venezuela, 26 (AP) -- The state
oil companies of Venezuela and Cuba will
join in hunting petroleum in Venezuela's
Orinoco River belt as well as Cuba's part
of the Gulf of Mexico, the government announced
on Friday.
The deal between Petroleos de Venezuela
S.A., or PDVSA, and Cubapetroleo, or Cupet,
appears to bolster a growing oil industry
in Cuba, where a lack of petroleum caused
dire hardships following the collapse of
Soviet aid in the early 1990s.
It also further expands President Hugo
Chavez's relationship with President Fidel
Castro's communist government in Cuba. The
deal was one of 16 agreements signed by
Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage during
a trip this week to Caracas.
Under the announced accord, PDVSA and Cupet
will jointly explore in the Orinoco's Boyaca
Norte block in Venezuela, as well as in
blocks N53, N54, N58 y N59 in Cuba's part
of the Gulf of Mexico.
Venezuela already has been selling Cuba
almost 100,000 barrels of oil a day under
preferential terms, while Cuba has thousands
of volunteer doctors to Venezuela who offer
free care to the poor.
PDVSA last year also signed an agreement
to revive Cuba's Cienfuegos refinery.
Cuba's own oil production has increased
steadily over the past 15 years, aided by
companies from Canada, Spain and other nations.
Oil specialists believe Cuba's waters in
the Gulf of Mexico could contain large quantities
of crude, although explorations so far have
turned up only modest discoveries.
In September, Cuba signed a deal giving
ONGC Videsh Ltd., of India's Oil and Natural
Gas Corp., exploration rights to other blocks
in the Gulf of Mexico.
ONGC Videsh also is cooperating with Spanish-Argentine
Repsol YPF and Norway-based Norsk Hydro
ASA in other exploration efforts in Cuban
waters.
The U.S. government embargo of Cuba blocks
U.S. companies from participating in such
exploration.
|
