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Castro tightens grip amid boomlet
By Corey Sabourin, Contributor
to The Christian Science Monitor, Jun 10,
2005.
HAVANA - FDR promised a chicken in every
pot. For Fidel Castro, it's a pot for every
chicken.
Since announcing the distribution of subsidized
rice steamers and pressure cookers in a
speech delivered on International Women's
Day in March, the arrocera and olla de presión
have become Cuba's newest ideological icons
- and small signs of long-overdue modernization.
"Those of you who would like rice
steamers, raise your hand," said the
78-year-old president in front of an audience
of hundreds of women, sounding a bit like
Monty Hall. All the women left with one,
and 3 million more are on their way to households
across the island. Preliminary distribution
of pressure cookers, which, like the rice
steamers, come from China, has also begun.
The handouts are more than just populist
politics. They're a symbol of an economic
uptick under way in Cuba. The communist
country's economy grew 3 percent last year,
and is projected to grow more than 4 percent
in each of the next two years, according
to the Economist Intelligence Unit, a research
group based in London. This growth - driven
by cheap Venezuelan oil, a $500 million
investment by China, and a rebounding tourist
industry - has emboldened Mr. Castro to
curb the market reforms he reluctantly introduced
in the 1990s, allowing him to tighten his
socialist grip.
The appliance rollout is possible because
Cuba's economy is "on a roll,"
says Kirby Jones, a consultant in Washington
who for 30 years has advised US companies
working in Cuba. "I've never seen it
so favorable as it's been in the last few
months."
And not a moment too soon. The government
has been feeling the heat since last summer's
failure of a major electrical plant. The
more energy-efficient steamers and cookers
are an effort to mitigate continuing blackouts
in advance of summer's increased power demands.
The frequent outages are reminiscent of
the "Special Period," those tough
years in the 1990s after Soviet aid and
oil ended. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez,
a close friend of Mr. Castro, has partially
filled that void, selling oil to the island
at preferential rates. Venezuela ships up
to 90,000 barrels of oil a day here and
in return, Cuba sends thousands of healthcare
workers and sports educators to the South
American nation. In April, Mr. Chávez
visited Cuba for a ribbon-cutting ceremony
of the first branch of PdVSA, Venezuela's
state-run oil company, to open here.
Castro has also boosted economic ties with
China, inking the deal to extract nickel
from Cuba, which he said will give the country
a "push."
But critics say the reversals of market-based
policies far outweigh the deals with China
and Venezuela. Beginning in 2001, the party
leadership began to dismantle reforms it
had permitted to help bootstrap the collapsed
economy. Castro began limiting the numbers
of Cubans legally licensed to work for themselves
- computer programmers, used-book sellers,
locksmiths, and even magicians, among others.
"There's an ideological element to
some of it," says Philip Peters of
the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va.
"There wasn't a threat from having
locksmiths, but the state supplies employment,
and the government never felt comfortable
with the erosion of its place as employer."
Still, he says, "They haven't abandoned
reforms, it's just not the track they're
emphasizing."
Still, many companies that came to Cuba
when it opened its doors following the collapse
of the Soviet Union have been asked to leave.
According to the Financial Times, three
foreign ventures have shuttered each week
since 2000, when there were 700, and only
half the homes rented to expatriates are
occupied.
But cash deals paid in advance for US agricultural
products continue. A two-day "National
Summit on Cuba," starting Friday in
Mobile, Ala., brings together Cuba experts,
representatives of southeastern ports and
agriculture, and, via satellite, Cuban officials
to discuss trade and other issues, including
the US embargo of Cuba. According to summit
spokeswoman Lissa Weinmann, Cuba has purchased
$800 million worth of goods from the US
since 2001.
Ironically, the market reforms that allowed
Cuba to grow during the past decade have
also contributed to a two-tiered economy.
Cuba is divided between those who can't
afford a rice steamer and those who, whether
because of jobs that pay hard currency,
tips earned in the tourist sector, or remittances
sent by family living abroad, can buy nongovernment
ones from the "dollar" store.
So rice steamers, recentralization of the
economy, and the doubling of the minimum
wage that went into effect last month show
that Mr. Castro isn't going to allow an
underclass, whether or not these moves are
economically sustainable.
That sustainability could hinge on what
Mr. Jones says would be a "quantum
political shift in Latin America":
the discovery of oil off Cuban shores. Venezuela,
China, Canada, Brazil, and Spain are in
the initial stages of oil prospecting in
Cuban waters in the Gulf of Mexico. No gushers
have been discovered yet, but if they are,
Cuba's fortune could be made in a hurry.
"Cuba's great dream of all dreams
would be to find a lot of oil in their part
of the Gulf," Jones says.
Arlene Drenches Cuba, Bears Down on
Gulf
By BILL KACZOR, Associated
Press Writer, Jun 10, 2005.
PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. - A strengthening
Tropical Storm Arlene soaked parts of Florida
as its center moved toward the northern
Gulf Coast, stirring memories of last year's
devastating hurricane season.
Forecasters said Arlene, the Atlantic hurricane
season's first named tropical storm, could
become a weak hurricane before making landfall
in the Deep South late Saturday, with the
worst weather arriving east of the storm's
center.
Arlene was then expected to move along
the Mississippi-Alabama line, possibly reaching
Tennessee by Sunday afternoon.
Tropical storm warnings and hurricane watches
were posted from Florida to Louisiana, as
Arlene's top sustained winds reached 60
mph, up from 45 mph earlier in the day.
The wind speed was likely to increase, but
forecasters said the biggest impact would
be heavy rain.
Residents in flood-prone areas along the
Gulf Coast were urged to move to higher
ground. In the vulnerable marshes south
of New Orleans, bulldozers were moved into
place in case water from a storm surge breaks
through a levee.
In Pensacola Beach, where many residents
are still living in government trailers
because of damage from last year's Hurricane
Ivan, residents eyed the forecast warily.
Margie Wassner, 57, said she planned to
ride out Arlene with friends inland in Pensacola.
"It's pretty scary to me. I just kept
hoping that we wouldn't have anything, but
I don't know. It's awfully early in the
year to be having this," she said.
Jeff Jackson, a real estate agent in Gulf
Shores, Ala., worried that Arlene's rain
could undo some of the beach erosion repairs
under way in his town since February.
"Coming so close to Ivan, it's got
people a little edgy," he said.
Arlene passed Cuba's westernmost tip early
Friday, bringing heavy rain, gusty winds
and rough seas to the region. A Russian
exchange student died after being pulled
from the rolling waves off Miami Beach early
Friday, officials said.
At 5 p.m. EDT, Arlene's poorly defined
center was about 345 miles south-southeast
of Pensacola. The storm was moving north
at about 17 mph, the National Hurricane
Center said. Wind and rain extended 150
miles to the north and east from the storm's
center.
The Florida Panhandle was battered last
year by Ivan, one of the four hurricanes
to strike the state within a few weeks.
Florida was also struck by Charley, Frances
and Jeanne, and together the four storms
caused about 130 deaths in the United States
and were blamed for $22 billion in insured
damage.
Hurricane season began June 1 and ends
Nov. 30.
On the Net: National Hurricane Center:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
Southern Leaders Discuss the Importance
of Cuba to South's Economy as Another Congressional
Showdown on Cuba Looms This Month
Friday June 10, 3:13 pm
ET.
MOBILE, Ala., June 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Business
leaders and current and former elected officials
from throughout the South gathered at the
Mobile Convention Center today to attend
the 2005 National Summit on Cuba in Mobile,
Alabama. The Summit focused primarily on
the economic impact of the U.S.-Cuba estrangement
on the American South.
Dr. Seemon Chang, Director of the Center
for Business and Economic Research at the
University of South Alabama, who presented
on the economic impact of U.S. policy toward
Cuba on the American South said, "Southern
states stand to gain the most if trade with
Cuba were opened. We estimate the South
would capture 60,000 new jobs if trade with
Cuba resumed."
Winthrop M. Hallett III, spokesperson for
the Gulf Coast Regional Chamber Coalition,
comprised of five chambers of Commerce:
Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Mississippi Gulf
Coast, Mobile-area and Pensacola said that
"It is natural that Gulf Coast communities
seek to access and pursue opportunities
with a developing nation of 11 million people
just off our shores. Before the embargo,
trade and exchange with Cuba was an important
part of our economy, and it could be again."
Recent changes in regulations governing
Cuba mandating a stricter interpretation
of 'cash in advance' payments trade sparked
discussion among the speakers. Michael Olivier,
Secretary of Economic Development for Louisiana
added, "Cuba was Louisiana's largest
trading partner until 1960. We are actively
seeking to fulfill the $15 million commitment
from ALIMPORT. The more stringent interpretation
of the payment in advance mechanism certainly
makes accomplishing that task much more
challenging." Olivier referred to the
Bush Administration's 'cash in advance'
change to the regulations that had been
guiding Cuba sales for the past three years,
a change that Summit speakers said is already
hurting their sales."
"Our Cuba policy is deconstructive
to our relationships throughout the hemisphere,"
declared The Honorable William D. Rogers,
former Assistant Secretary of State for
Inter-American Affairs, Vice Chair, Kissinger
Associates.
In a welcoming letter to summit attendees,
Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC) said, "The
South Carolina Secretary of Commerce and
I both recognize the important of building
ties with Cuba, and there is a good deal
of interest in pursuing commercial and cultural
relationships with Cuba."
"Current Cuba sales have resulted
in a total impact of $300 million for the
state of Alabama. U.S. poultry sales alone
have jumped 330% due to current Cuba trade
and 40% of the poultry industry is in our
state." said Ron Sparks, Alabama Secretary
of Agriculture.
In his remarks, Tim Lynch, PhD, Director
of the Center for Economic Forecasting and
Analysis at Florida State University predicted
that, "Florida, the fourth largest
state in the union (soon to be third) and
closet to Cuba, could gain almost 30,000
jobs and increase state output by almost
$2.3 billion in growing productivity over
the next three decades if normalization
of trade with Cuba were to begin this year
according to current model estimates."
Congressman Jeff Flake spoke about the
showdown expected later in June when his
legislation, that would lift the Administration's
funding to enforce the restrictions on US
citizens ability to go to Cuba, will come
up for a fight on the Treasury Appropriations
bill. He said, "The House and Senate
have both supported lifting travel restrictions
to Cuba in the past, only to have the language
struck in conference committee. I think
there will be a greater possibility of actual
passage this year."
Other speakers included Alabama Secretary
of Agriculture Ron Sparks; Louisiana Secretary
of Economic Development Mike Olivier who
had recently traveled to Cuba with Louisiana
Governor Kathleen Blanco; U.S. Representative
Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and other local and U.S.
elected officials, corporate representatives.
Sponsors included the City of Mobile, the
Alabama State Port Authority, the Gulf Coast
Chamber of Commerce Coalition (which includes
local chambers of commerce from Baton Rouge,
New Orleans, Mississippi, Mobile and Pensacola),
Thomspon CAT /Caterpillar Inc., Port of
Corpus Christi, AlaCaribe Initiative, South
Carolina-based Maybank Shipping, Tampa-based
A.R. Savage, among others. The World Policy
Institute at New School University in New
York is the coordinating cosponsor of all
National Summit on Cuba events. A full agenda
for Mobile and the Summit archives can be
viewed at http://www.nationalsummitoncuba.org
The Summit was attended by over 300 people.
A second day of programming at historic
Mobile's historic Spring Hill College on
Saturday, June 11 will explore the human
dimensions of U.S. Cuba relations, starting
with morning panels on religion in Cuba
and how politics impacts the free exchange
and expression of faith. Afternoon panels
will present experts on the rich history
of relations between the U.S. South and
Cuba.
http://www.nationalsummitoncuba.org.
CONTACT: Lissa Weinmann
(917) 239-8743 or (917) 239-8743
John Loggia (212) 229-5808 x 4268
Source: World Policy Institute National
Summit On Cuba
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