Yahoo! August 4, 2000
Cuba Says Economy Grew 7.7 Percent
By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer.
HAVANA, 4 (AP) - Cuba's arduous recovery from a financial crisis set off by the collapse of the Soviet Union a decade ago continued during the first half of 2000 with the economy growing 7.7 percent, the government said.
Vice President Carlos Lage credited the nation's moves toward economic independence and diversification for the recovery in an unusual hour-long interview broadcast on state television late Thursday.
``Economic efficiency is better,'' said Lage, who was the architect of modest reforms in the early 1990s that allowed Cubans for the first time under the communist government to possess U.S. dollars. They also permitted a limited number of Cubans to run their own small businesses.
``The structure of the country has changed,'' added Lage, who is a vice president of the government's powerful Council of State, overseen by President Fidel Castro.
Just as important as the economic indicators are statistics that show that the growth is improving Cubans' lives, Lage said.
During the past five years, he said, Cuba has increased its production of petroleum for domestic consumption by 32 percent and its production of vegetables and root crops by 25 percent.
Before the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, Cuba had been dependent on its socialist allies for petroleum and much of its food.
Basic services across the island also improved from 1995 to 2000, Lage said. About a million more people now receive water via new aqueducts in rural areas, and gas and telephone service has been expanded.
At the same time, he said, blackouts caused by fuel shortages have diminished significantly while food distribution has improved.
Among the modest economic reforms approved in the early 1990s was the creation of farmers' markets, allowing Cubans to add fresh fruits and vegetables to their diets of government-rationed rice, dried legumes, eggs and small amounts of pork and other meat. Lage said the prices at the farmers'
markets fell over five years, but allowed that fresh produce still remains expensive for many Cubans.
While Cuba continues to suffer from a severe housing shortage, about 40,000 to 50,000 new homes have been constructed annually during the ongoing economic recovery, said Lage.
In employment, the vice president said, about 60 percent of the nation's government workers now earn wages linked to productivity. The concept was once unheard of in this socialist country, where the late revolutionary hero Ernesto ``Che'' Guevara had encouraged ``moral incentives'' for workers.
7 Killed in Cuba Home Gas Blast
HAVANA, 3 (AP) - A gas explosion at a home in the Cuban capital killed seven people, including two children, state television reported Thursday evening.
One person suffered burn injuries. A home was destroyed and two others were damaged, the regular nightly news program said.
Authorities were trying to determine the exact cause of the accident in Havana. A preliminary investigation found evidence of ``imprudence'' in the storage and handling of the gas, the program said. | 