CUBA
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Cuban Militant Wants Hearing Moved To
Miami
WPLG Click10.com, June 14,
2005.
Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles wants
his deportation hearing moved to Miami.
The 77-year-old is being held at a detention
center in El Paso, Texas.
His attorneys also want to prove that Posada
never gave up his U.S. residency. Prosecutors
questioned if his residency was canceled
when he became a Venezuelan citizen.
A judge has yet to make a ruling on the
change of venue request.
Monday, a group outside a federal courthouse
in El Paso staged a protest demanding Posada
be deported. Protestors held signs calling
him a terrorist.
Posada is accused of planning the bombing
of a Cuban airliner in 1976 in which 73
people were killed. He denies any involvement.
Cuba to Spend $412M on Venezuela Products
CARACAS, Venezuela, 14 (AP) -- The Cuban
government will spend at least US$412 million
(euro340 million) on products made in Venezuela
under a trade agreement signed between the
two nations, according to terms of the deal
published Tuesday.
Cuba will purchase foodstuffs including
canned sardines, gelatin, and condensed
milk as well as work clothes and boots "for
an initial sum of US$412 million,"
according to the Official Gazette, a government
publication listing the details of recently
approved diplomatic deals and legislation.
The Venezuelan goods exported to the communist-led
island will be "exonerated of all taxes"
and "given preferential treatment within
the policy of economic and social development"
in Cuba, stated the Gazette.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez signed
the trade agreement with Cuban President
Fidel Castro during a visit to Cuba in late
April.
During the visit, Venezuela announced that
the 53,000 barrels of oil it began selling
to Cuba on preferential terms in 2000 had
risen to 90,000 barrels daily.
Cuba, in turn, agreed to increase the number
of its doctors working in Venezuela to 30,000
by the end of 2005. Cuba will also help
train 40,000 new Venezuelan doctors.
Officials said other deals included cooperation
in maritime transport and civil aviation.
A shipping accord is to make it easier for
shipping companies from both nations to
do business in each other's territories.
Chavez, a self-proclaimed "revolutionary,"
is an ally and close friend of Castro. Chavez
has repeatedly railed against capitalism
and has defied the United States as he strengthens
relations with Cuba.
Castro tightens grip amid boomlet
By Corey Sabourin, Contributor
to The Christian Science Monitor. Fri 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.
Cuban Militant Wants Hearing Moved To Miami
WPLG
Click10.com, June
14, 2005.
Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles wants
his deportation hearing moved to Miami.
The 77-year-old is being held at a detention
center in El Paso, Texas.
His attorneys also want to prove that Posada
never gave up his U.S. residency. Prosecutors
questioned if his residency was canceled
when he became a Venezuelan citizen.
A judge has yet to make a ruling on the
change of venue request.
Monday, a group outside a federal courthouse
in El Paso staged a protest demanding Posada
be deported. Protestors held signs calling
him a terrorist.
Posada is accused of planning the bombing
of a Cuban airliner in 1976 in which 73
people were killed. He denies any involvement.
Cuba to Spend $412M on Venezuela Products
CARACAS, Venezuela, 14 (AP) -- The Cuban
government will spend at least US$412 million
(euro340 million) on products made in Venezuela
under a trade agreement signed between the
two nations, according to terms of the deal
published Tuesday.
Cuba will purchase foodstuffs including
canned sardines, gelatin, and condensed
milk as well as work clothes and boots "for
an initial sum of US$412 million,"
according to the Official Gazette, a government
publication listing the details of recently
approved diplomatic deals and legislation.
The Venezuelan goods exported to the communist-led
island will be "exonerated of all taxes"
and "given preferential treatment within
the policy of economic and social development"
in Cuba, stated the Gazette.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez signed
the trade agreement with Cuban President
Fidel Castro during a visit to Cuba in late
April.
During the visit, Venezuela announced that
the 53,000 barrels of oil it began selling
to Cuba on preferential terms in 2000 had
risen to 90,000 barrels daily.
Cuba, in turn, agreed to increase the number
of its doctors working in Venezuela to 30,000
by the end of 2005. Cuba will also help
train 40,000 new Venezuelan doctors.
Officials said other deals included cooperation
in maritime transport and civil aviation.
A shipping accord is to make it easier for
shipping companies from both nations to
do business in each other's territories.
Chavez, a self-proclaimed "revolutionary,"
is an ally and close friend of Castro. Chavez
has repeatedly railed against capitalism
and has defied the United States as he strengthens
relations with Cuba.
Castro tightens grip amid boomlet
By Corey Sabourin, Contributor
to The Christian Science Monitor. Fri 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.
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