Yahoo! February 26, 2001
The travails of Cuban 'doggie diplomacy'
By Andrew Chang ABCNEWS.com. February 26, 2001
American diplomats in Cuba are used to the mixed messages of the Castro
regime but getting kicked out of a kennel club was not one of them.
First, "ping-pong diplomacy" helped open up China. Then "soccer
diplomacy" brightened ties between North and South Korea. But "doggie
diplomacy" taking place in the world's other remaining communist state,
Cuba, may have a ways to go.
Last month, the top U.S. diplomat based in Havana, Vicki Huddleston, and her
prized Afghan hound, aptly named Havana, received a "dishonorable discharge"
from the local dog club.
It was a major blow, since the 14-month-old dog has already proved herself a
champion on the local dog show circuit.
Nevertheless, the president of Cuba's National Association of Afghan Hounds,
said in a letter she was "morally obligated" to throw Havana and her
diplomat-owner out because of America's "40 years of subversive activity"
on the island.
The president of the club, Amalia Castro - no relation to the country's
president - said although the club was a nongovernmental organization, it was
sympathetically and ideologically aligned with the government.
Castro's letter also criticized Huddleston for inviting human rights
activists to her house for lunch (calling them "counterrevolutionaries")
and took her to task for other "activities too numerous to mention."
But Huddleston thinks there might have been another reason for the
discharge. "I suspect this lady who had Afghans wanted to get rid of the
competition," she said.
Presidential Pardons
The situation, however, has gotten brighter.
Last week, Huddleston received another letter from the club specifying that
the discharge applied only to her, and not the dog.
The correspondence did not explain how the dog could actually participate in
Cuban dog shows without her owner. Havana, her dog, got a reprieve, Huddleston
said - "but I'm still in the doghouse."
The exemption means Havana will be able to attend dog shows, but Huddleston
will have to apply for special permission to go with her dog.
There were even rumors that the pardon for Havana came down from Castro
himself - Cuban President Fidel, that is.
"Some people in the [United] States say presidential pardons have gone
to the dogs," Huddleston joked. "Here they really have gone to the
dogs."
A Natural Performer
Meanwhile, the story has taken on a life of its own in the close island
community.
The state-run media hasn't said much of the incident, Huddleston says, but
it's well-known to locals living near the American diplomatic compound who
continue to support Havana and her somewhat amused owner.
Huddleston says one gardener said to her: "Isn't it this too bad people
can't get along as well as dogs?"
Huddleston says there's even been a joke circulating about her dog and the
notoriously watchful Cuban government: They say the government has hidden a
microphone on Havana so they can hear what the dog has to say.
Havana, for her part, is "enjoying all this publicity very much,"
Huddleston said.
It may only be a sign of things to come. Huddleston says she named her dog
Havana because "she's like the city Havana, she's a very beautiful woman."
And Huddleston says, "both Havanas are going to have a wonderful
future."
USC and Cuba Chart New Territory: MBA Students to Explore Business
Practices in Havana
Monday February 26, 8:15 am Eastern Time. Press Release
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 26, 2001--The Marshall School of
Business, at the University of Southern California, announced that Dean Randolph
W. Westerfield and 50 business professionals enrolled in its part-time MBA
program will travel to Mexico City and Havana, Cuba, to study business practices
and strategies employed for foreign investment on March 9-18.
Cuba's willingness to host students in USC's MBA for Professionals and
Managers Program (MBA.PM) is further evidence of its interests in opening the
country and improving its economy by attracting foreign investment.
The trip was arranged in cooperation with Cuba's Centro de Promocion de
Inversiones (CPI), part of the Ministry for Foreign Investment and Economic
Cooperation (MINVEC) that oversees foreign investment for the embargoed
Caribbean nation, and with the approval of the U.S. Treasury Department.
Said Dean Westerfield: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for
Americans to observe firsthand the unique economic and business dynamics at work
in Cuba. The Marshall School is committed to finding the most appropriate method
for teaching. When it comes to international business, the right method is to be
there.''
Students traveling with Dean Westerfield are all fully employed executives,
many with major corporations in Southern California. The trip, called PM.GLOBE,
exposes students to a mix of executive/expert presentations and company
site-visits, typically in Shanghai, Tokyo and Mexico City.
Said Carl Voigt, Marshall Associate Dean of Executive MBA & MBA.PM
Programs and associate professor of management and organization, "Because
of what is happening in Cuba and Mexico today, it is likely our students will be
doing business with these countries in the future, or with international
companies pursuing business in Cuba. Our graduate students must be well-prepared
for the many possible business environments they may face in the new century.''
In Mexico City, students will meet with Mexican business leaders and
American businesspersons working in the country. Supermarket chain Gigante,
beverage exporters Gupo Modelo, residential developers Grupo Sadasi and mortgage
lender Su Casita will be among companies making presentations to USC business
students during a three-day stay.
The Dean will join MBA.PM students continuing to Havana for three days,
during which time they will tour the international Free Zone, Cuba's Center for
Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, and meet with officials in state tourism
agencies, the Ministry of Economics, and CPI, as well as foreign nationals in
partnership with the country.
Negotiations to include Havana as a study location were first initiated last
fall when Marshall School real estate professor David Dale-Johnson traveled to
Cuba and proposed the trip to authorities there. Dale-Johnson serves as faculty
advisor for the PM.GLOBE trip, specializing in Mexico and Latin America.
"Typically, academic travel to Havana is arranged in cooperation with
Cuban education authorities or third-party entities,'' said Dale-Johnson. "Working
with its foreign investment office suggests Cuba views our trip as a distinct
business excursion. Travel by other American schools has been more clearly
cultural or academic in nature.''
The PM.GLOBE trip is the culmination of classes in macroeconomics and
intensive country-specific training taught in the nationally seventh-ranked
graduate program (U.S. News & World Report, 2000). "With PM.GLOBE, we
are interested in finding learning laboratories that take our students outside
their comfort zone,'' said Voigt, "They have to rely on their full
abilities of analysis and see how business translates across cultures.''
About the USC Marshall School of Business
Founded in 1920, the Marshall School of Business, with its several major
research centers and Leventhal School of Accounting, offers world-class teaching
and expertise. The oldest accredited business school in Southern California,
Marshall emphasizes the advancement of business practices and preparing
graduates for the challenges of a global marketplace.
Contact:
The Marshall School of Business
Barbara Roberts/Douglass
Gore, 213/740-6411
Cigar Lovers Head to Cuban Festival
By Vivian Sequera, Associated Press Writer
HAVANA, 23 (AP) - Cigar aficionados from around the world descended on Cuba
this week, visiting tobacco farms and factories and savoring new cigar brands
during an annual celebration of the island nation's world-famous stogies.
The yearly Habanos Festival wrapped up Friday evening with an elegant "cigar
dinner'' at the Tropicana nightclub, where a selection of some of Cuba's finest
hand-rolled cigars accompanied the meal.
Cuban cigars "are perfect,'' Iranian businessman Manoucher Houshmand
said with a smile. On his first visit to the Caribbean island, the 70-year-old
is among about 500 foreigners who traveled here for the festival that began
Monday.
"Still, after decades of smoking them I do not see the difference''
between brands such as Romeo y Julieta and Partagas - two of 34 brands sold by
Cuba's state-operated cigar company Habanos S.A.
Cigar enthusiasts from other countries who live in Cuba confirm that the
distinctions between the brands are not as great as they used to be because of
some deterioration in quality since the 1980s. Demand for Cuban cigars has
increased, and older tobacco rolling experts are being replaced by less
experienced people.
The growing demand for Cuban tobacco also has resulted in more cigar
counterfeiting; illegal cigars are made from Cuban tobacco and sold to tourists
and exporters as original Cohibas or other brands.
The counterfeits "aren't necessarily bad'' because they are made with
Cuban tobacco, said Jean-Ives Martinez, a French journalist and cigar smoker who
has lived here 15 years. But they are not the same quality as the originals.
Manuel Garcia, vice president of Habanos S.A., which organized the festival,
said all Cuban-grown tobacco is good and insisted the crop has maintained its
quality over the years. "We produce the best tobacco, there is no doubt,''
Garcia said.
But he did admit a growing problem with falsification of his company's
products, as well as the counterfeiting of high-quality cigars from Honduras and
the Dominican Republic.
To help foreign cigar smokers learn the differences in taste, smell and
color of Cuba's best brands, Martinez in 1997 helped found "Habanos
Folies,'' a club of 18 men who meet at least once a month to try new cigar
brands.
But for those who are not connoisseurs, it is easy to be tempted by
whispered offers in the street of cheap Cohibas - probably Cuba's best-known
cigar brand. On the 35th anniversary of the brand this year, Cohiba remains the
most frequently counterfeited.
The cigar preferred by President Fidel Castro (news - web sites) before he
kicked the habit in 1986, a box of Cohibas is the most coveted gift for
distinguished foreign visitors. A box of 25 Cohibas here costs about $500, while
the price ranges between $800 and $1,000 in Europe, said Garcia.
"It's like Rolex, Vuitton, Chanel ... Cohiba is technically perfect,''
said Remy Madelin, a French businessman who belongs to the Habanos Folies
smokers' group.
Because of its high cost, however, Cohiba's production and sales are not the
highest among the various Cuban brands. Last year, just 6 percent of the Cuban
cigars exported last year were Cohibas.
Habanos S.A. is hoping for a comeback by all its brands this year following
a drop in exports during 2000 due to drought. Because of the dryness, many of
the large wrapper leaves used to finish the cigars were too brittle for use,
causing a drop in production.
Cuba exported 148 million cigars in 1999, but only 118 million last year,
Garcia said. Habanos S.A. expects to export 150 million individual cigars by the
end of this year.
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