Havana – DTC – The First Sol Meliá Cuba Golf Cup concluded with a call to hold the second event in October next year. The Spanish hotel group Sol Meliá is the sponsor of the competition, which is held at the Meliá Las Américas Hotel in Varadero beach. The meeting was attended by 99 players from 13 countries, including Panama, Italy, Bulgaria, Spain, Japan, Mexico, Cuba, France, Korea, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Canada and Colombia. In the men’s contest, Canada’s Pierre Le Sieur won the prizes to the best male player and closest to the pin, while Argentina’s Antonio Fernández won the best gross prize. In the women’s competition, Colombia’s Jacqueline Berger was the best female player, while Canada’s Lynn Crete and Marlin Price won the gross and closest to the pin prizes, respectively.
NOTE: The Second Annual Montecristo Cup and Esencia Cup for 2010 will be held April 23rd and 24th, at the Varadero Golf Club in Varadero, Cuba. The exciting two-day event will include:
• Friday April 23rd:
- The Montecristo Cup event – a Pro-Am competition
• Saturday April 24th:
- The Esencia Cup event – a Team-play Competition
- Spanish golfer Alvaro Quiros is scheduled to appear at both events and play an exhibition match against another world class golfer
- Closing event – a Saturday evening gala prize giving dinner at the DuPont family Mansion, Xanadu
The event is being hosted by the Varadero Golf Club and Palmares SA in association with Esencia Hotels and Resorts. The Montecristo Cup is being sponsored by Habanos, the purveyors of the world´s finest cigars. Additional information and regular updates are available at http://www.themontecristocup.com
The Georgia Straight – Vancouver – Cuban music can sometimes seem mired in its own illustrious history, but Cuba’s music is unabashedly innovative—so long as it’s Alex Cuba we’re talking about. The Smithers, B.C., resident is steeped in the rhythmic lore of the Caribbean island where he was born, but he’s also got major electric-guitar abilities and some serious pop smarts, too—as he demonstrated by co-writing a good chunk of Nelly Furtado’s Mi Plan. Cuba releases his own third solo effort, the eponymous Alex Cuba, at the Biltmore in Vancouver on Tuesday (November 10), and it’s a good chance to discover that there’s more to Latin rock than that old hippy Carlos Santana.
The Victoria Times Colonist – What with co-writing most of pop star Nelly Furtado’s new album, one might think Alex Cuba would be, well … rich. Furtado’s Spanish-language album, titled Mi Plan, has done well. On the phone, Cuba rattled off its chart-topping trajectory. It was No. 1 for five straight weeks on Billboard’s Hot Latin Tracks chart. “And it hit No. 1 in Germany, in Italy, top five in Spain, No. 1 in Venezuela, Colombia, Chile. You name it,” he added. Successful indeed. So, has Cuba acquired a new Bentley and an Armani suit? “I’m not a hip-hop artist,” he said, laughing. “We’ve been very successful. Let’s just put it that way.”
Born Alexis Puentes in Cuba, the Juno-winning singer-songwriter lived in Victoria before moving to Smithers. He has just released his own eponymous solo album, a genre-hopping effort that — while rooted in the music of his homeland — also dips into funk, rock and soul. Perhaps the biggest surprise on Alex Cuba is the song If You Give Me Love. A retro-sounding slice of pop-funk peppered with horn shots, it wouldn’t sound out of place on a Tower of Power record. It’s the sole English language track on the disc, and the first song Cuba has ever recorded in English. The decision wasn’t made lightly. Cuba, who moved to Canada in 1995, said he wanted to get a better handle on the language before writing and singing lyrics in English. “Time has to go by before you can totally get poetry happening, you know,” he said.
Most of the album was recorded in Victoria with producer Joby Baker, who also played drums and keyboards. Cuba said he loves working with Baker. It’s partly his speedy and efficient approach — he recalled Baker mixing tunes as Cuba was playing them. As well, the pair are musical soul-mates, able to communicate often with a mere exchange of glances. “We share the same passion for music,” Cuba said. “We have the same heroes. We feel music pretty much the same way.” Making the album was especially challenging because of Cuba’s chock-a-block schedule. While it took only five weeks to record, this was broken into three sessions scattered throughout 2009. Cuba said he found it tough to regain his focus after leaving the project.
The recording schedule was chopped up partly because of Cuba’s songwriting collaboration with Furtado. The pair met through a mutual musician friend. Furtado enjoyed Cuba’s contributions so much, she kept asking him to do additional sessions. He ended up co-writing seven of the nine songs on Mi Plan. “My experience with her was beautiful,” he said. “We realized right away the chemistry was natural between us.”
Cuba was particularly impressed to see Furtado’s enthusiasm for music-making. If the pair hit on a winning melody or song concept, she was thrilled — and didn’t mind showing it. “She’d be jumping up and down. She’s managed to stay with it all these years. To see someone so excited by music and so driven by it, that is very inspiring.” Furtado and Cuba will continue to make beautiful music together in 2010. “She wants to take me on the road to open for her when she starts touring next year. That’ll be lovely to do a few shows, eh?”
Havana – DTC – The attractions of Varadero beach, Cuba’s major coastal resort, are complimented by facilities to play golf. The Varadero Golf Club, which has an excellent 18-hole course, can host high-level international competitions. It is near the hotels Sol Palmeras, Las Américas and Meliá Varadero, which are run by the Spanish chain Sol Meliá. Some 35,000 rounds of golf have been played there over the past year, a record in the history of the club, where more than 250,000 rounds have been played since it was founded a decade ago. According to experts, the Varadero Golf Club has been visited by world-known figures from political, social, sports and cultural sectors. The Varadero Golf Club is a major attraction for visitors, who can practice that sport while on vacation in Cuba.
HAVANA, Cuba – (ACN) – Companies from Cuba and Spain penned, within the framework of Havana’s 27th International Trade Fair, a letter of intent to improve the quality of the sanitation products made at the Ironwork Plant in Havana. The accord was signed by José Tomas Vázquez García, director of the island’s Industrial Ironwork Enterprise and Teodoro Bastida, president of the Miesa Enterprise. Vazquez told ACN that the agreement will guarantee the necessary capital for the construction of a modern line for the superficial nickel-chrome treatment of products. The accord also includes the building of a plant for sewage disposal, which will contribute to environmental protection. Investment is estimated at 1.4 million dollars and its execution has been scheduled for the first semester of 2010. The Ironwork Plant produces iron fittings for bathroom, carpentry and locksmith works; economic and luxury bathrooms fixtures; and constructs and repairs ornamental pieces.
MinnPost – HAVANA, Cuba — The sharks, sea turtles and other miscellaneous underwater creatures that roam the Gulf of Mexico could care less about the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, or the island’s one-party communist state. So why should such terrestrial concerns get in the way of marine research? That appears to be the logic behind a growing partnership between scientists in the U.S., Cuba, and Mexico working on a multinational plan to protect the gulf’s underwater ecosystems. This week, a delegation of about 30 U.S. researchers and ocean advocates have been in Havana for meetings with their Cuban and Mexican counterparts, and trip organizers said they’re aiming to create a regional protection strategy that all three countries would enforce.
Similar collaborations exist between the U.S. and Cuba for hurricane tracking and research, but participants said this was the most significant marine science partnership between the countries to date. The effort is another small but significant example of improving ties between the U.S. and Cuba on matters of mutual concern — in this case a single, shared marine ecosystem. “We know our countries have different administrations and points of view, but there’s only one atmosphere and one ocean,” said Alberto Vazquez de la Cerda, an oceanographer and retired vice admiral of the Mexican Navy, who hosted two previous meetings for U.S. and Cuba scientists in Mexico. “Mother nature doesn’t care about borders or politics,” he said.
The meetings have identified several priorities for the three countries, including research and conservation of coral reefs, sharks, sea turtles and dolphins, as well as the better management of fisheries. Unlike other parts of the globe where large stretches of open international waters can make enforcement difficult, the Gulf of Mexico is divided almost entirely among the three countries, improving the chances for protection, scientists said.
Politics remain an obstacle to the partnership. Cuban authorities have traditionally been wary of U.S. scientists seeking to visit remote areas of the island for research purposes out of concern over espionage. And the U.S. government has routinely denied visas for Cuban marine researchers seeking to travel to the U.S., though the Obama administration has shown more flexibility lately in granting academic and research visas, according to conference participants. “Because of the political relationship between our countries, it takes some stamina to work here,” said David Guggenheim, the marine scientist who led the U.S. delegation, speaking at Cuba’s National Aquarium in Havana, where the meetings were held.
A comprehensive effort to study marine ecosystems in the gulf and advocate for their protection is likely to cost tens of millions of dollars, Guggenheim said. “Eventually this is going to require the support of governments, and multiple government agencies.” One factor potentially complicating such a partnership is that Cuba is looking to develop deep water petroleum reserves in its portion of the gulf, having signed exploration deals with nearly a dozen foreign oil companies in recent years. The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated Cuba’s potential oil deposits at 5 billion barrels — on par with some of the region’s biggest suppliers — while Cuban officials claim up to 20 billion barrels lie beneath the ocean floor.
No offshore drilling operations are currently underway, but if Cuba and its partners do strike oil, it would present a serious new environmental hazard for the region. Prevailing currents would likely push an oil spill into the Florida Keys and up the U.S. eastern seaboard, scientists say, but they recognize Cuba is too pressed for cash to forgo lucrative energy development in favor of strict environmental protection. That’s a reason U.S. scientists say they want to form partnerships now — to advocate for the safest and most sensitive drilling practices.
American scientists also said they’re eager to explore Cuba’s marine ecosystems, which include some of the region’s most extensive and intact coral reefs. Cuba has excellent scientists, U.S. researchers said, but the country has lacked the financial resources to gather much data in recent years. “Cuba is the least known corner of the Gulf of Mexico,” said Guggenheim, director of the Washington-based advocacy group 1planet1ocean.org. “For marine researchers in Flordia, Cuba is a very romantic place,” said Robert Hueter, director of the Center for Shark Research at MOTE Marine Laboratory in Sarasota. “We’ve often looked south to Cuba from the shores of the Florida Keys and thought ‘why can’t we go there to extend our studies?’”
Hueter said the species he studies travel back and forth between the U.S. and Cuba, and that shark populations in the region have declined 50 to 75 percent since industrial fishing for the animals began 30 years ago. For some species, the decline is more than 90 percent. That underlines the need for multinational protection, said Hueter. While he recognizes there are political reasons that make closer cooperation difficult, “from a scientific basis, it just doesn’t make sense for us to treat this area of the ocean as if it doesn’t exist.”
Examiner.com – Iran has agreed to increase its existing line of credit to Cuba from 200 million euros to 500 euros, the equivalent of a $445 million increase, said Iran’s minister of Industries and Mines Ali-Akbar Mehrabian. According to PressTV, the additional credit is meant to finance quick-return projects. The Memorandum of Understanding that detailed the credit extension was signed between Cuban and Iranian officials at the end of their 14th joint economic cooperation committee meeting in Havana. Mehrabian says the line of credit will also provide Cuba with facilities for buying Iranian goods and engineering services. He says Tehran is ready to expand its economic ties with Havana.
Cuba’s economy is in even more dire straits than usual, due to the global economic crisis. The island’s government recently reported its exports had declined by 36 percent in the last year. Cuba has also been denied credit by several countries and international organizations like the World Bank because of its historical inability to repay loans. Economic cooperation between Cuba and Iran has been growing steadily in the last few years, adding to the fears of observers who are concerned over Iran’s growing footprint in the Western Hemisphere.
Many others believe Cuba—and other countries in the region with ties to Iran—should be free to engage in agreements with any country in the world, free of international criticism. Media reports did not indicate what kinds of Iranian goods Cuba might buy with the credit. Engineering services would likely take the form of assistance in repairing Cuba’s crumbling infrastructure. Reports also did not say what the terms of repayment would be.
Havana – DTC – The Cuba division of the Spanish hotel chain Sol Meliá has offered tourists the possibility of visiting the keys of the Cuban archipelago. The company provides information about the Caribbean island’s keys on the website CubaKeys.com. The website, available in Spanish and English, provides details about Sol Meliá’s products on the keys, where the group runs more than 3,000 rooms in ten five- and four-star hotels. Web surfers can search hotels by destinations (Cayo Largo del Sur, Cayo Santa María, Cayo Guillermo and Cayo Coco), brands (Meliá, Sol and Tryp) and travel interests (family, weddings, honeymoons, incentive, spa and adults only). The website also offers online reservations, availability and confirmation in real time, in addition to reservations for domestic flights to the keys.
Latin America Herald Tribune – HAVANA – The Russian and Cuban governments have signed four agreements for oil exploration and production on the Caribbean island, official media reported. Under the accords, Russian state energy firm Zarubezhneft has been given permission to operate for 25 years in blocks located in the Cuban provinces of Matanzas, Sancti Spiritus, Villa Clara and Ciego de Avila, Cuban state television said. Cuban Basic Industry Minister Yadira Garcia and Russian Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Ivan Materov attended the signing ceremony, which took place at Russia’s pavilion at the International Trade Fair in Havana, which got underway on Monday.
The deal represents the countries’ first bilateral oil agreement since the demise of the Soviet Union, which subsidized the Cuban economy for decades. Spain’s Repsol-YPF, Norway’s Norsk Hydro, India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Malaysia’s Petronas, Venezuela’s PDVSA, Vietnam’s PetroVietnam and Brazil’s Petrobras all have signed oil-exploration deals with Cuba’s communist government. Cuban state oil firm Cuba Petroleo said last November that about 20 billion barrels could lie in the island’s offshore fields, while the U.S. Geological Survey has estimated a more modest total of between 4.6 billion and 9.3 billion barrels of recoverable crude. Cuba currently imports from close ally Venezuela more than 90,000 barrels per day of crude oil – or about half the island’s needs – under preferential terms that allow the country to pay with medical, educational and sports services.
Havana – DTC – The company Ibercruceros will include Bilbao, Vigo and Cádiz as main ports for its operations next year, as part of a strategy to grow on the Spanish market. Plans also include the enlargement of the company’s fleet and new routes. Ibercruceros is already present in Barcelona and Málaga. Starting in May 2010, the ship Grand Holiday, which is similar to the Grand Celebration, will join Ibercruceros’s fleet. In addition, the company will operate eight voyages to Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina between November 2010 and March 2011. The ships will visit the cities of Natal, Recife, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Itajai, Buzios, Vitoria, Maceio, Ilheus, Copacabana, Ilhabela, Angra dos Reis in Brazil, Buenos Aires in Argentina, and Montevideo in Uruguay.
BU Today – Boston – Perhaps it’s easier to make nice with far-flung enemies than with next-door adversaries, which would explain why the United States has normalized relations and developed large trading partnerships with Russia, China, and Vietnam, but not so Cuba, 90 miles from the coast of Florida. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, when Fidel Castro took power, nationalized American business interests, sent many Cubans into exile, and transformed the nation into a Communist state.
An embargo against all trade and traffic between the nations was instituted by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, intended to strangle the Castro-led government. It remains in effect, codified by the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which forces another round of congressional legislation and presidential signature before the ban can be lifted. President Barack Obama has moved, albeit with small steps, to thaw relations between the United States and Cuba. But the president who campaigned on a willingness to speak with adversaries is not ready to lift the embargo or to chat with Raul Castro, who became Cuba’s president when his old and ailing brother stepped down last year.
In a nod toward the delicate diplomatic dance around Cuba, Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future is hosting the conference Whither U.S.-Cuba Policy? A Dialogue Among Policy Makers and Scholars tomorrow, with panel discussions involving academic experts and policy makers, and an address by U.S. Congressman Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.), a member of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs. Susan Eckstein, a College of Arts & Sciences professor of sociology and international relations and author of several books on Cuba, will participate in one of the conference panel discussions.
BU Today: The Obama administration seems to be warming toward Cuba. What moves has the president made? One thing that has happened publicly is that he removed restrictions on the rights of Cuban-Americans to send remittances and visit their families. That is up to presidential discretion and has varied between the Clinton and Bush administrations. Things got pretty drastic in 2004 under Bush, when Cuban-Americans could visit their families only once every three years. Your mother could be dying, and you couldn’t go see her. Talks have resumed between high-level people in Washington, D.C., and Cuba on issues like immigration, but have not led to a specific public policy change.
For example, I think there may be some readiness to remove Cuba from the list of terrorist countries. Relations with China and Russia, current and former Communist countries, have improved. Why do you think it’s taken so long for the U.S. position on next-door neighbor Cuba to change?
It cannot be explained as an anti-Communist policy, because we’ve resumed relations with Vietnam as well as with China. The explanation is really about domestic policy. A large percentage of Cuban-Americans live in the country’s largest swing state, Florida. They account for about 8 percent of Florida’s electorate. The political contributions made by the U.S.-Cuba Democracy Political Action Committee have also been important. It’s been documented that in Washington, there’s a relationship between receiving money from this PAC and how congressmen vote on legislation. There have been a couple serious tightenings of the embargo since the Cold War ended. In 1992 and 1996, the Cuban-American lobbyists were fundamental to that.
What is the Obama administration’s goal in reaching out to Cuba?
The goal would probably be to resume diplomatic and economic relations. But that’s not going to happen overnight. I think the United States would only do that if either Cuba gets perceived to be so economically important to this country — for example, if there were major oil finds — or there’s a regime change.
How are Cubans responding to this? And how are Cuban-Americans in Miami responding?
I don’t think Cuba is a cohesive force, that there’s a Cuban view. I think some people are wary or distrustful of the United States. There’s unfortunately an almost adolescent relationship between Cuba and the United States. If one country wants something, the other therefore postures that it doesn’t want it. Any shifts get scrutinized and questioned for ulterior motives. Miami is split. There are some who are still hard-line on Cuba. There’s also a new generation of Cuban-Americans that has two parts to it. One group is children of the early émigrés, the next generation, born in this country. They tend to be more flexible. They’re not only the children of their parents, but they are a product of the American school system, the American media.
You also have the newest Cuban-American immigrants, who’ve come in the post-Soviet period. Many of them didn’t know prerevolutionary Cuba. They didn’t lose anything. They didn’t lose their property. They have a very pragmatic view of life, not an ideologically driven one. They’re like classic immigrants from any country. What they want to do is earn money, share it with their families back home. They want to see their families. The early Cuban-Americans don’t send money to family still in Cuba, and they don’t want other Cuban-Americans to send it. They refuse to visit. They want to kind of pressure-cook Cuba, squish it to the point of collapse.
Havana – DTC – The company RENSOL, based in the eastern Cuban province of Ciego de Avila, opened a plant to make solar heaters. The facility is equipped with Chinese-made technology, which contributes to saving fuel, power and financial resources. The factory’s plan this year is 5,000 heaters of 90-200 liters of water. Production will save 1,200 dollars per each imported water heater, which are used in hotels, hospitals and health centers. RENSOL has also exported more than 5,000 heat-exchange batteries to Italy.
AP – Cuba has cut two staple foods from the monthly ration books that most islanders depend on, edging closer to a risky full elimination of the decades-old subsidies. Potatoes and peas were dropped from the list of rationed foods this week, meaning Cubans can buy as much of the products as they want — as long as they are willing to pay as much as 20 times more than they used to. The move comes amid efforts by Raul Castro’s government to scale back Cuba’s subsidy-rich, cash-poor economy. Nearly free lunches were eliminated from some state-cafeterias in September. In October, the Communist Party’s Granma newspaper published a full-page editorial saying the time had come to do away with the ration books altogether.
Authorities say their goal is to encourage more productivity and free the state from a crushing economic burden. Critics — including some on the streets of Havana — argue that the moves break with what had been a sacred covenant of the revolution Fidel Castro led in 1959: that socialism would not make people rich, but would provide all Cubans with at least the basics. Even with the changes, the state pays for or heavily subsidizes nearly everything, from education to health care, housing to transportation. But many Cubans see the ration book — or “libreta” in Spanish– as a flawed but fundamental right, and shoppers on Friday bristled at the new changes
“This is crazy. They should be adding products to the ration book, not taking away from it,” said Roberto Rodriguez, a 55-year-old delivery man buying rice, sugar and coffee at an official store in Havana’s Vedado neighborhood. “If they don’t produce enough, people will start to hoard products and things will get even worse.” He said he worried that Cubans with access to money sent by relatives abroad would buy up all the potatoes and peas they could, leaving ordinary people in the lurch if there are shortages.
Previously, Cubans were entitled to buy up to four pounds of potatoes and 10 ounces of peas a month, with the price set at about a penny per pound for potatoes and just under a penny per pound for peas. Both were available only in state-owned ration stores or on the black market. Now, official buying limits are gone, but Cubans must pay 5 cents a pound for potatoes and 17 cents a pound for peas at the same ration shops. That may not sound like much, but it’s significant in a country where the average salary is about $20 a month.
“I would prefer that the ration system continue. It assures people that they will have food,” said retiree Juana Rodriguez, 78, who was also shopping at the Vedado shop but was no relation of Roberto. “There are many poor people who simply can’t afford to buy food on the open market.” Cuba’s ration system began in 1962 as a temporary way to guarantee basic food in the face of Washington’s new embargo. Today, however, Cuba spends more than $2 billion on imported food, nearly all of which goes to the ration system, assuring subsidized rice, legumes, bread, eggs and tiny amounts of meat. The government estimates the ration provides a third of what the average Cuban consumes.
Phil Peters, a Cuba expert at the Washington-area think tank the Lexington Institute, said the move is part of a well-publicized if slow-moving effort to overhaul Cuba’s economy. “They’ve been very clear that they want to move away from the libreta and from subsidies in general,” he said. “They are doing it piecemeal.” Peters said the government is also trying to dramatically increase the amount it pays farmers for their crops in an effort to spur more productivity. As a result, it must cut or reduce the subsidies to consumers. He said dropping the subsidy on potatoes and peas was a good way to test the waters before making a more aggressive move because neither is central to the Cuban diet. “If they did it with rice and beans and the supplies disappeared,” he said, “people would go crazy.”
HAVANA TIMES – The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the US House of Representatives has called a hearing for November 18 on the subject: “Is it Time to Lift the Ban on Travel to Cuba? Committee Chairman Howard L. Berman, (D-Calif) announced today that the hearing is open and will take place at 10:00 a.m. at Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Two of the most outspoken representatives in favor of ending the decades old prohibition are on the 47-member Foreign Affairs Committee: Bill Delahunt of Massachusetts and Republican Jeff Flake of Arizona, as well as Democrat Barbara Lee of California, who recently met in Havana with President Raul Castro.
Back in February, only two weeks after Barack Obama took office, Rep. Delahunt introduced legislation (HR 874) that would lift the travel ban on US citizens wanting to visit Cuba. The bill now has 180 co-sponsors. Also on the Committee is the fervent anti-Castro, Cuban-American, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who would like to see the travel ban on US citizens, and blockade against Cuba, continue without change. President Obama has not said whether he would sign HR 874 if it passes the full house or squash the bill by threatening a veto as did George W. Bush during his two terms in office.
The Film Stage – Another derivation of legendary author Ernest Hemingway’s illustrious life will receive big screen treatment with the help of a familial descendant. Andy Garcia teamed up with Hemingway’s granddaughter Hilary Hemingway to write a script for the drama, Hemingway and Fuentes. Garcia will also direct. The film depicts the 20 years that the author and his best pal Gregorio Fuentes spent fishing in Cuba. Hemingway’s experiences significantly influenced his subsequent 1952 novella, The Old Man and the Sea. Sir Anthony Hopkins is an inspired choice for the part of Hemingway, while Annette Bening will play his third wife Mary Welsh Hemingway and Garcia will play Fuentes, Michael Fleming of Variety reports. Those who have read The Old Man and the Sea can concur that telling this story-behind-the-story is likely a much more fruitful excursion than adapting the visually stagnant (albeit rich in literary subtext) novella.
Havana – DTC – The Empresa de Bebidas y Refrescos (EMBER), based in the central Cuban province of Sancti Spiritus, is producing mineral water under the brand Santa María. The water, which comes from springs in the municipality of Yaguajay, is being sold in hard-currency shops in 5- and 19-liter bottles. The water, whose quality has been certified by Villa Clara’s territorial laboratory, contains bicarbonate, sodium chloride, calcium sulfate and magnesium. In order to start up production, the spring was protected and a 2.7-kilometer pipe was built to carry the water to the bottling line. The spring supplies an average of 0.33 liters per second. Before being bottled, the water is ozonized.
Guantanamo – (CMKS) – The 15 Turkish companies making up the pavilion of that European country, participate in the Havana International Trade Fair (FIHAV 2009) with the aim to enhance the exchange between both nations. Omer Giray, general coordinator of the Turkish representation at the fair, said that in the last five years regarding business between the two countries are growing each year, which has been affected in this 2009 due to the impact of global economic crisis. Giray he said that next 2010 the economic exchange between both nations will have a boost with the recent visit to the Isle of Cemil Cicek, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State.
The chairman of CEO of Databank consultancy argued that his country attaches value to exchanges with the Cuban biotechnology industry, with which they have signed several agreements. We are already negotiating with other institutions like Heber-Biotec, Finlay Institute and some Farmacuba units, he said. He stressed that the charcoal and biotechnology are the main products imported from Cuba for next year; in addition he expected to sign new agreements during the Fair.
The China Post – HAVANA – Cuba opened its annual international trade fair with the news its foreign trade was down 36 percent this year as the communist-ruled island battles the effects of the global economic recession.
// Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Rodrigo Malmierca told diplomats and business people at the ExpoCuba exhibition center in suburban Havana that most of the decline was due to decreased imports, reflecting Cuba’s attempts to tighten its financial belt. “Statistics show that at the close of the third quarter of 2009, the trade of goods was down 36 percent in relation to the same period the year before,” he said. Total trade for the first nine months was “around $10 billion,” Malmierca said.
Cuba’s economy has been battered by the global recession, damaging hurricanes in late 2008 and productivity problems that President Raul Castro is trying to fix by cutting government handouts and giving financial incentives for harder work. Cuba’s trade deficit soared to $11.4 billion in 2008 as rising import costs and lower prices for Cuban exports depleted cash reserves. In response, Cuba took several measures, including stopping payments to many foreign suppliers. Malmierca said Cuba planned to pay up eventually. “I can assure you that we have the greatest willingness for dialogue with our economic partners and that Cuba will continue to be a reliable partner,” he said.
The Cuban government said 54 countries were participating in the fair, with large, prominent pavilions filled by allies such as Venezuela, China and Brazil. Far in the back of the sprawling exposition center were booths for about 35 U.S. businesses and organizations that included delegations from states including Alabama, Georgia, Virginia and Maryland. The Americans said they looked forward to the day the United States and Cuba, just 90 miles apart but ideological foes since Cuba’s 1959 revolution, resume normal trading relations. The United States has had a trade embargo against Cuba for 47 years, but sales of agricultural products and medicine are allowed. “This is not just about business,” said Paul Johnson, president of Chicago Foods International. “I want to help bridge the gap between the United States and Cuba.” “People who want to normalize trade feel like our embargo is hypocritical,” said Terry Coleman, Georgia’s deputy agricultural commissioner.
Havana – DTC – The beauty and quality of Cuban marble and construction materials was promoted at a meeting between Cuban and Italian businesspeople. The meeting, held in central Sancti Spiritus province, was sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of Cuba and the company Mármoles Cubanos, which is attached to the group Materiales de la Construcción (GEICON). As part of the event, experts visited the Cariblanca quarry to learn about the extraction and processing of ornamental rocks. The Italian experts were also briefed about the current situation and prospects of Cuba’s construction sector. At the same time, Cuban executives learned about the latest technologies used in Italy to extract marble blocks and process ornamental rocks. The latter consists of sawing, covering, polishing and calibrating the rock to use it in construction works.
Havana – (Prensa Latina) – As part of the innovations of the 27th edition of Havana International Fair, FIHAV 2009, the joint enterprise between French company Pernod Ricard and Cuban enterprise Havana Rum and Liquors, Havana Club International proposed to launch Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Scotch Whisky in Cuba. This iconic brand grants Cuban tourism a touch of elegance to please those travelers with a discerning palate visiting this country, mainly those coming from Europe. Chivas 18 Year Old, an ultra-premium blended Scotch whisky, is the latest expression in the world, specially made to please the most discerning palates, recognized by some experts as one of the most important brands of blended scotch. Havana Club International, besides commercializing world and nationwide the best Cuban rum, in its joint enterprise of CubaRon and the French Company Pernod Ricard (since 1993), can afford to commercialize this brand in Cuba in view of a growing tourist industry in the future.
Havana – DTC – The eastern Cuban province of Las Tunas will increase production of high-quality alcohol to meet the demand from the domestic market. In order to achieve that goal, a new distillation system will be installed in the Antonio Guiteras agri-industrial complex to produce 240 hectoliters a day to make rum. Alcohol will also be supplied to the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, and to other Cuban provinces. The quality of rums such as Bucanero, Corsario and Delicias, made in Las Tunas, will improve after the distillery starts up operation. The Antonio Guiteras agri-industrial complex also produces 1,000 hectoliters of alcohol a day from local raw materials.
Havana, Cuba – (CNN) – Richard Waltzer has a pitch for Cuba: Miller beer and Häagen-Dazs ice cream. If he has his way, those products soon will be available at supermarkets and beach resorts on the communist island. “This is one of the things people are going to pay premium for,” Waltzer said, “especially the tourists that have the dollars. It’s going to be a phenomenal product.” Last week, dozens of Americans were in Havana, peddling their wares at an international trade fair: apples, pears, grapes, raisins, nuts out of California. U.S.-Cuba relations appear to be thawing. In Havana, billboards depicting the U.S. president as Adolf Hitler have disappeared. In Washington, President Obama has lifted restrictions on Cuban-American travel and money transfers. The new political climate has prompted companies such as Chicago Foods to come to Havana’s trade fair for the first time. They’re hoping to break into the little-known market and go home with a contract.
Despite a trade embargo imposed against Cuba in 1962, the United States is the No. 1 supplier of food to that country and has been for more than five years. A law passed in 2000 allows the United States to export agricultural products and medicine. But this year, the global economic crisis is taking its toll. “Cuba has not been an exception,” said Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz, minister of foreign trade and investment. “At the end of the third quarter in 2009, our trade fell by 36 percent.”
The country is slashing imports of U.S. food by one-third, which means some vendors will go home empty-handed. But vendors are betting U.S.-Cuba relations will only get better. They said they’re also hoping the next step could be bills in the U.S. Congress that would eliminate restrictions on all Americans traveling to Cuba. “We’re in this for the long haul as well,” said Paul Johnson of Chicago Foods. “Like I said before, we’re thinking about today as well as tomorrow.” …..a tomorrow that would have U.S. tourists sipping American beer on Cuban beaches.
The Post – Canada has announced it will open a Canadian Commercial Corporation office in Havana to take care of the rest of the Caribbean region. And Canadian Ambassador to Cuba Jean Pierre Juneau has said Canadians account for 40 per cent of tourists to Cuba. Addressing journalists at the Canadian pavilion at the ongoing 27th Havana International Trade Fair (FIHAV), Canada Commercial Corporation (CCC) president Marc Whittingham said Canada’s international contracting agency would open its offices in Havana next year. “It could take six months to do everything but by the trade fair next year the office will be operational,” Whittingham said.
He said the CCC was a federal Crown corporation mandated to promote and facilitate international trade on behalf of Canadian industry particularly within government markets. Established in 1946, the CCC two business lines are structured to support Canadian companies contracting into the defence sector primarily with the United States and Canadian exporters contracting into emerging and developing country markets. When a foreign buyer enters into a Procurement Service agreement (PSA) with CCC, the corporation will act as a Canadian procurement agent under a government-to-government arrangement.
Whittingham said despite the global economic crisis Canada would continue to work on strengthening its links with Cuba. He said while the CCC did not provide the cheapest product the consumer would be getting value for money, knowledge transfer and corporate social responsibility second to none. Whittingham said Canada and Cuba had a certain connectivity adding that international commerce was about relations. “It is a difficult time for both Cuba and Canada’s economy,” he said. “For Canada, we have come out of the recession with a firm banking sector but credit is still extremely difficult to obtain right now in Canada.”
Whittingham said CCC would open the office in Havana to consolidate its business.
He said given the stability and good working relationship with Cuba, the CCC office in Havana would be in charge of the entire Caribbean region. And Ambassador Juneau said Canada’s pavilion at the FIHAV was the second largest after that of Spain. He said Canada is among the top three investors in Cuba. Ambassador Juneau said Canada one of the lead importers of Cuban products and contributed to the island’s foreign exchange through operations in Nickel, oil operations and tourism. He said so far some 800,000 Canadian tourists had visited Cuba. “Weather has something to do with it and also the characteristic friendship of Cubans,” Ambassador Juneau said.
He observed that on overall Cuban exports had decreased by 25 per cent this year while that of Canada by 10 per cent. Ambassador Juneau said the global crisis had brought about financial pressure for many companies. Cuban foreign trade and investment deputy minister Antonio Luis Carricarte agreed that the Canada was the largest tourist emitting market to the island. Carricarte said Canada was also fourth in import-export activities. However, Carricarte said there had been a decrease in the bilateral commerce. He said it was a temporary problem caused by the global economic crisis. “This trade fair can contribute to finding alternatives from which both countries can profit,” said Carricarte. “Canada can cooperate in fields like agriculture and its industrialization, investments in tourism and in the development of mining and oil exploitation.”
HAVANA, Cuba – (acn) – Business meetings between entrepreneurs, the signing of contracts, national days of some countries, the promotion of products and services, and professional visits, characterize Havana’s 27th International Fair –FIHAV 2009- at the Expocuba Complex. Expocuba’s 24 pavilions were swarming with participants, in which time doesn’t seem to be enough to enjoy its attractions in terms of exhibitions and commercialization. The food and health sectors are the most represented among the 111 Cuban entities or firms exhibiting their products and services. In this regard, we find the stands of Labiofam, Geocuba, those of institutions at Havana’s scientific area, Havana Club International, Molinos de Regla and Union Suchel.
The vice-president of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, Odalis Seijo, said that in each contact, visit or identification of possible areas for exchange, Cuban businessmen make emphasis on export, the replacement of imports or the search for investments that guarantee both market and technology. The Cuban official told ACN that “this fair is characterized by a significant participation of experts from 54 nations. In addition, 46 chambers of commerce from Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia are represented at the Fair besides the bilateral meetings we’re having.”
Seijo added that at Havana’s Expocuba Complex, there are business meetings between the Cuban and Venezuelan parties, and that similar contacts took place with South Africa, the German region of Bavaria and Russia. FIHAV 2009 opened its doors last Monday with the presence of 1,230 companies from 54 countries, being Spain, Canada, China, Russia and Venezuela the most represented. Italy, Germany, Mexico and Brazil also have an important participation, according to the Organizing Committee.
HAVANA – (Xinhua) – Chinese enterprises are attracting great attention at the 27th International Fair of Havana (FIHAV-2009), the largest trade fair in Cuba. The FIHAV-2009, which ran until Nov. 7, attracted 2,500 businessmen representing 1,230 companies from 54 countries. China is the third largest participant in the fair, coming right after Spain and Canada. The Chinese pavilion includes about 15 companies, which are organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).
“Haier,” a Chinese electrical appliance company, is presenting its liquid screens, DVS players, washing machines and solar heaters here. Li Dandan, Haier’s representative, told Xinhua that “the Fair is an excellent opportunity to promote Chinese products.” Meanwhile, another Chinese appliance company, “Konka,” is putting its latest television sets and audio equipment on display. The home appliance company “AUX,” which specializes in air conditioners, is also popular among visitors. Other Chinese companies represented at the fair included car makers, pharmaceutical and food processing companies. With a yearly trade volume of 2.3 billion U.S. dollars, China is Cuba’s second largest commercial partner, coming only after Venezuela. China is Cuba’s biggest Asian supplier of capital and consumer goods ranging from busses and machinery to electrical appliances.
Havana – DTC – Cuban judo will have a Black Belt College (Judan-Shakai), as part of actions to promote that sport in the Caribbean Island. According to promoters of the initiative, the president of the organization will be Dayma Beltrán, who has won several Olympic and world medals in the +78-kg division. The club will bring together all Cuban black belt judokas and will contribute to their technical and professional upgrading. It will also establish collaboration relations with social and cultural institutions to improve Cuban judo. Organizers expect the Black Belt College will contribute to promoting judo in both Cuba and abroad.
CP – OTTAWA — Tourists headed to sunny Cuba this winter may want to think twice about visiting the Canadian embassy in Havana – a new audit slams the operation for basic security problems. The overcrowded, crumbling offices have failed to provide basic privacy or security, resulting in at least one assault. “The Consular Program continues to operate without a booth to provide privacy and security when conducting interviews of clients,” says the newly released audit, completed in June. “This situation has already resulted in one known incident of assault on a consular staff member.”
The lax security dates from at least 1997 when a previous inspection noted the same problems, which were not fixed for 12 years. “Most of these issues have now been resolved,” said Rodney Moore, a spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Department. “The safety and security of Canadians visiting the embassy in Cuba is not a concern.” About 900,000 Canadians travel to Cuba each year, making it No. 5 on the list of holiday destinations for winter-weary Canucks. The embassy’s 15 Canadian-based staff process about 2,500 passport, citizenship and other legal applications each year, assisted by about 54 local Cuban employees. The offices are also required to help Australian and Israeli citizens under agreements with those countries. “There is no privacy for clients who must discuss private or sensitive matters,” says the audit, with key passages censored.
Moore acknowledged that the section of the embassy that provides consular services is a scene of regular confrontations. “There are incidents of verbal abuse and, at a lower frequency, physical intimidation every year in our present set-up,” he said in an email. “Renovations to this section, including construction of a privacy booth, are being completed.” The first phase of the $3 million in renovations is expected to be completed in March, he added. The auditors noted that because Cuba is a cash-based society, embassy employees must regularly transfer large numbers of bank notes to and from the local bank. “The risk to staff who must transport and assume responsibility for large amounts of cash is also of concern,” says the audit. The bank run “is common knowledge.”
The embassy’s 80 guards are paid with cash-stuffed envelopes, all of which are given to the head guard to distribute. “This practice not only places the head guard at risk but also places him in a position of power over his colleagues.” The report suggested mission staff simply do not take security seriously. “The mission faces a range of security threats, yet it has an inactive committee on security. A number of recommendations of a previous security review remain unaddressed.” The auditors also found there was no mass evacuation plan should Canadian citizens need to be quickly removed from Cuba because of a “civil emergency or rapidly deteriorating security situation.” Moore said the security committee has since been reactivated and an evacuation plan drawn up.
Canada leased the embassy building from the Cuban government in 1962. The white-washed, two-storey structure, about 80 years old, is surrounded by palm trees and a tall wire fence. The building is readily identified by large satellite dishes sprouting from the flat-topped roof. One bright spot in the audit is the official residence of the ambassador, currently Jean-Pierre Juneau. The report says it is in good condition, thanks in part to the services of a senior servant, maid, cook and gardener, along with several guards.
Havana – DTC – Cuban companies and artisans are making sports equipment, as part of initiatives to foster sports practice in the country. Central Villa Clara province is producing inputs and equipment to promote mass sports practice in communities and schools. Artisans are also using timber to make baseball bats of different sizes and balls to train children. Local industries are making ping-pong tables and paddles, batons for relay races and clubs for rhythmic gymnastics, among other equipment. Artisans are also making baseball gloves, volleyball nets, uniforms and shoes for athletics, boxing, wrestling, soccer, cycling and basketball.
Radio Havana Cuba – Cuba will host, for the first time ever, the World Congress of the International Council of Organizations for Folklore Festivals and Folk Art (CIOFF), the 39th event of which is set for November 8th through the 15th at Havana’s Convention Centre. Guillermo Artiles, President of the event’s Organizing Committee, told the press that participants will gather in several commissions and working groups to outline new strategies, policies and activities, aimed at promoting folk art.
The new Council’s presidency will also be elected and approved. Artiles added that 160 delegates from 49 countries have already confirmed their attendance, while Cuba will be represented by 60 delegates. The congress is being organized by the Cuban National Section and supported by the National Council for “Casas de Cultura”, the Ministry of Culture and other government and non-government institutions, and sponsored by the UNESCO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Cuban News Agency – The Suchel-Fragancia Company’s laboratories of applied research are developing new scents and perfumes to please Cuban customers and abroad. Jorge Luis Rodriguez, a specialist in this company which is located in Havana, told ACN that their main objective is to substitute imports. Rodriguez said they have all the human and technological resources to come up with new fragrances to enable them to face domestic demands.
He highlighted that at the moment they have a wide commercial deal with China, where they are buying essences and other products with similar qualities to the ones sold in Europe and with guaranteed payment, which lowers production costs. Suchel-Fragancia has held the ISO 9000 quality certificate for the past eight years, and they are also working on the implementation of environmental norms and technological upgrading. This entity is in charge of supplying the Casa del Perfume (House of Perfume), a joint project involving the Habaguanex company and the Havana City Historian’s Office.
In this institution, located in Havana’s Historical Center, there is an exhibition of objects
related to perfume production and they offer customized perfumes as well as generic ones, depending on the client’s tastes. They also sell special perfume editions like the Camerata series. As in every year, the company is participating in the Havana International Trade Fair, in order to show off their products and to settle deals with companies and producers from all over the world.
HAVANA – (Reuters) – A popular website of classified ads that has given Cubans a taste of the free market has been blocked on the communist-run island, Internet users said. Cubans trying to access Revolico.com, which says it has more than 1.5 million page views a month, are being diverted to the search engine Google.com. “If I type the address and press ‘enter,’ I get redirected. If I Google it and click, I get redirected. What is going on?” asked Sandra a 30-year-old government employee who, like several others interviewed, did not give their full names.
Cuban computer experts say an Internet content filter is preventing access to the Craigslist-like site, which has emerged as a booming virtual free market in the socialist nation with a tightly controlled economy where consumer goods tend to be scarce and expensive. On Revolico.com, Cubans with access to the Internet can buy and sell anything from computer memory sticks to a 1950 Plymouth. “There you can find all the things the government sells you at brutal prices and freely pick exactly what you want,” said Alberto, who recently used Revolico.com to buy a computer that was not available in the stores.
The Internet in Cuba is controlled by the state monopoly ETECSA, a joint venture between the Cuban government and Telecom Italia. Whether the state was blocking the site was unknown but Cuban authorities have in the past reportedly prohibited access to pages they consider “counter-revolutionary,” including blogs critical of the socialist system. “Apparently someone doesn’t like people buying and selling stuff. But there is always a way,” said Luis, a computer aficionado who has been circulating an e-mail giving directions on how to bypass the filter.
It is not clear where Revolico.com is based but it is hosted out of servers in the United States. An administrator contacted by Reuters outside of Cuba said the site is aware of the filter problem and working to resolve it. The use of content filters is growing around the world, according to The OpenNet Initiative (opennet.net), an academic program monitoring online censorship. “We have just finished our testing in 71 countries and have found evidence of content filtering in close to 40 countries,” said Ronald Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto and co-founder of The OpenNet Initiative.
Countries like China or Iran use filters to prevent access to sites viewed as politically challenging. Some Western democracies say they use them to block websites with child pornography. Official statistics show that 13 percent of Cuba’s 11 million people have access to the Internet and most of those only to e-mail and a local intranet of approved sites. Cuba blames the long-standing U.S. trade embargo against the island for its limited access. The filters on Revolico.com come after Cuba recently blocked the use of the free call service Skype.com in what industry sources said was a purely commercial decision to keep Skype from cutting into revenues for long-distance calls through the phone system.
Internet service providers in other countries such as China, the United Arab Emirates and even the United States have taken similar steps in the past. The U.S. trade embargo, imposed since 1962 to undermine the Cuban government, also has caused U.S. companies such as Microsoft Corp and Google Inc to not provide instant messaging services in Cuba because they say U.S. regulations prohibit required downloads. The Obama administration now is saying it wants the companies to resume the service because they foster communications and democracy.
Jaunted – Starting from last Sunday, Toronto travelers in search of warmth have had two new options courtesy of Canadian low cost carrier WestJet. Last week the airline announced they were launching nonstops to Varadero, Cuba and St Maarten, and the first flights duly took off over the weekend. The company issued separate press releases for the St Maarten and Cuba routes, each identical except for the obviously made up location-specific quotes from Hugh Dunleavy, WestJet Executive Vice-President of Strategy and Planning. That doesn’t make WestJet’s announcement any less exciting. It just kind of made us giggle.
Both new routes have flights three times per week, and both last only until April 29, 2010. Presumably that’s the date they expect Toronto to thaw, with all the consequences for demand that would portend. It’s probably worth mentioning that we first heard about the new routes last week @WestJet which also confirmed that the first airplanes on the routes were in the air.
Havana – DTC – A museum of archeology, dedicated to the lifestyle of primitive communities, will be inaugurated in the western Cuban province of Pinar del Río. The museum, located in the Guanahacabibes peninsula, will allow visitors to learn about the customs of the first inhabitants of that region. The institution will be inaugurated in the San Juan Valley, where archeologists have found several artifacts that belonged to aboriginal people. Experts took into consideration the existence of 145 archeological sites in the region and its surroundings, as a key element that confirms the presence of indigenous people in the Guanahacabibes peninsula. The Museum of Guanahacabibes will be the second museum of archeology in Cuba. The first one is located in Chorro de Maíta, in eastern Holguín province.
Hour.ca – Havana hip-hop duo Obsesión talk about Afro-Cuban culture, hip-hop and Montreal. Cuban hip-hop ensemble Obsesión recently visited Montreal for a series of community concerts hosted by Nomadic Massive. As a group that celebrate their Afro-Cuban identity, the Havana-based rappers are both supportive and critical of the revolutionary Cuban government, and mix contemporary hip-hop with traditional Cuban musical traditions. They tackle key issues facing Cuban society today using Spanish lyrics. During Obsesión’s last visit to Montreal, Hour had the opportunity to speak with Obsesión’s Magia Lopez and Alexey Rodriguez for the Cultural Crossroads interview series.
When we think of Cuban music, we think of celebrated groups like Buena Vista Social Club. But Obsesión represents an underground sound in Havana’s vibrant hip-hop scene. Can you talk about the hip-hop scene in Cuba today and its relationship to Cuban music generally? Alexey Rodriguez Today, there isn’t one Cuban identity. Cuban youth express themselves in countless ways in Havana. Around the world today people listen to classic Cuban music like salsa or son, but there are alternative cultural currents happening in Cuba, including hip-hop culture, underground rock music and punk, all of which incorporate a social message into the music. Trova Cubana, another Cuban music, also presents a deeper message and deserves more attention outside Cuba.
Personally, I never really learned about traditional Cuban dances or music. I regret this, but it reflects on my upbringing and my family. I actually listened to American music, to funk music – groups like The Commodores, Earth, Wind & Fire. These influenced me so much and inspired me to adopt hip-hop as my passion. Of course, it is impossible to completely disconnect from Cuban music traditions, and these are also a part of Obsesión. Our Cuban influence brings something unique to our sound.
Magia Lopez Obsesión’s music will not fit into a particular model or sound that pre-exists; this is what makes our sound unique in Cuba. Also our lyrics and words are more personal. They tell our stories and struggles as Cubans today. Trova Cubana music is also about reality, and address[es] issues often ignored in our society in song. [Songs are] about the difficult neighbourhoods in Cuba, issues you will not hear in a commercial song. It is important for people to understand the magnitude of Cuban music today, and its growing diversity. Salsa is made for dancing, for example, while hip-hop addresses social and political realities. In the 1990s, hip-hop emerged in Cuba, adding another layer to alternative musical expression in Cuba.
Hour – Can you describe your sound in Obsesión? Rodriguez Obsesión will not impose limits on our music – we mix all different styles into hip-hop. We have very political tracks, or songs about simple things in our life. Certainly a focal point to our music and to our sound is the Négritude movement. This is about expressing our pride as Afro-Cubans.
Hour – Why is this important? Can you explain how the Afro-Cuban identity is woven into your music? Rodriguez Both of us in Obsesión went through a process of rediscovering our identity as Afro-Cubans. During a large part of our lives, we rejected our identity as Afro-Cubans, which is not uncommon. Hip-hop allowed us to discover our own history as Afro-Cubans, opening up a whole spectrum of knowledge that wasn’t accessible at school or on TV. Writing songs has now gone beyond the music; we research and discover different sides of Cuban and global history that relate to our identity as Afro-Cubans, and we incorporate this new knowledge into our music.
Hour – Can you give an example of an Obsesión track that manifests this process of discovery about your Afro-Cuban history? Rodriguez One song is Pelo, which is about hair, because in Cuba there is a social obsession with a certain type of hair which isn’t black hair. Also there is Drume negrita, meaning “sleep little black girl,” based on a song often sung as a nursery rhyme, made popular by legendary Cuban pianist Bola de Nieve. It was originally a lullaby, but we adapted it and Obsesión’s version of Drume negrita expresses a declaration of principles to live by as Afro-Cubans: to respect oneself and our history. Through our music we are trying to transmit knowledge. Actually, we hope that everything we learn in the songwriting process is passed on to the listener, particularly black consciousness and pride for all Afro-Cubans.
Hour – What is the relationship between Afro-Cuban culture and the Cuban revolution? Obsesión supports the Cuban revolution, but we also create a space for self-criticism in Cuba and to bring something new to the revolutionary process in Cuba. There is an important relationship between the black community in Cuba and the revolution. Cuba’s 1959 revolution led to black people accessing many things in Cuban society that were denied to them, including education and representation in the political process. Afro-Cubans have generally benefited from the revolution, but we still need to struggle. Revolution in Cuba is not static and Obsesión tries to move this process forward through hip-hop. We want to contribute to the revolutionary process in Cuba [by formulating and singing] constructive critiques about Cuban society today.
Hour – Rap has taken hold in all corners of the world. As celebrated hip-hop artists from Cuba who regularly visit Montreal and other countries around the world, can you offer your reflections on global hip-hop culture?
Lopez Hip-hop’s origins in the Bronx wasn’t only an Afro-American expression, many Latin Americans, Cubans and Puerto Ricans also thrived in the Bronx and certainly influenced hip-hop’s origins. In a way, hip-hop’s global reach today actually reflects the [diversity of the] neighbourhood where hip-hop started. Rodriguez Hip-hop is really a universal language. Music is universal, but hip-hop brings people together in a conscious way that is unique.
Hour – As hip-hop artists from Havana who regularly perform in Montreal, what draws you to the city? First we travelled to Montreal on an invitation from Nomadic Massive. Montreal has a strong feeling of community and Nomadic Massive share a similar outlook on hip-hop culture and community as we do in Havana. Coming to Montreal isn’t only about the concerts but also about building ties between the hip-hop community in Havana and in Montreal.
Montreal’s hip-hop community is really exciting, groups like Nomadic Massive or Kalmunity have inspired us to find collective ways to make music in Havana. In Montreal, we have always stayed in Côte-des-Neiges, so this introduced us to Montreal as a multicultural city. We live the experience every time we visit. We have had the chance to travel and perform across the world – to Mexico, England, France, New York City, Venezuela, but our experiences in Montreal have been the most fruitful and inspiring for us artistically. For more info on Obsesión, visit http://www.myspace.com/obsesioncuba
Havana – DTC – The Cuban capital will host the 10th Exhibition and Colloquium on Digital Art, which has become an instrument to promote that artistic expression. According to sources from the organizing committee, the meeting is aimed at showing the confluence of digital art with other artistic expressions such as engraving, photography and graphic design. During the meeting, organizers will announce the winners of this year’s contest, and a retrospective of previous award-winning works and mentions will be held at the Cinematographic Cultural Center of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC). Participants in the colloquium will debate issues related to virtual communities in culture, digital resource and new approaches to the art of young creators. Parallel to the colloquium, exhibitions to honor Cuban artists José Gómez Fresquet (Fremez) and Luis Miguel Valdés, as well as Katia Hernández and Enrique Smith, Alicia Candíani (Argentina), Pedro Meyer (Mexico) and Proyecto Siamés, will be held.
El Nuevo Herald – Two Czech tourists arrested in March after they shouted insulting remarks about Fidel and Raúl Castro during a scuffle at Havana’s international airport will be tried next week, diplomatic sources confirmed. Zdenek Tovara, 25, and Jaroslav Jirik, 32, were charged with public disorder, damages and resisting arrest after a scuffle that involved employees at the air terminal and required the intervention of police forces on March 22 of this year. “The two Czech citizens have been under arrest since March and, according to information from their lawyers, the trial will be held Nov. 11,” reported from Havana a diplomatic source who requested anonymity.
The case came to light in late October, when a relative of Tovara’s told a version of the events to the Czech radio station Frekvence 1. According to the relative’s testimony broadcast by Czech radio, the arrest was related to the homosexual behavior of both individuals before their departure from Cuba, where they spent a two-week vacation. However, the accounts from Havana point to other reasons. Apparently, the men arrived at the airport inebriated and continued to drink until an argument began between the two. The information gathered by El Nuevo Herald from two eyewitnesses — a Cuban employee and a Czech tourist — coincides in that the men engaged in an argument that mobilized the employees of several nearby shops who tried to calm them down.
“But everything got worse, because one of the Czechs is a martial-arts expert and he began to strike blows and destroy property. Then, all the personnel from the shops fell on top of him and the police had to take action,” said the airport employee, who asked to remain nameless for fear of reprisals. The police intervention provoked the Czechs into shouting obscene words against Fidel Castro, President Raúl Castro and Cuba’s communist leadership, wrote Svetlana Vitka, a Czech tourist who witnessed the event, in a e-mail to El Nuevo Herald. “The two men offered resistance, but ended up beaten up and unconscious,” Vitka wrote.
The prosecution filed the charges on June 23. If found guilty, the defendants could receive up to five years’ imprisonment. It is not clear if the criminal charges will also include contempt, because of the insults and obscene gestures directed at the Cuban leaders. The diplomatic source added that both defendants stay in regular contact with officials of the Czech Embassy in Havana but declined to offer more details about the incident. The Czech tabloid Aha! recently reported that Tovara asked for aid to the successful Cuban couturier Osmany Laffita, who lives in Prague. Laffita told the tabloid that he had taken up the issue with the Cuban Embassy in Prague.
Havana – DTC – The International Son (Cuban popular music) Festival of Mayarí, in the eastern Cuban province of Holguín, will be dedicated to Mexico this year. On this occasion, the Mexican delegation will be headed by Aquino and his band. During the festival, awards will be granted to Radio Progreso on its 80th anniversary, and to 20 founders of the festival, first held in 1989. Prominent Cuban orchestras such as Bamboleo, Havana de Primera, Adalberto Alvarez y su Son, Original de Manzanillo, and David Alvarez and Juego de Manos, among others, will perform during the festival. The local orchestras Hermanos Avilés and Taínos de Mayarí will also play. Parallel to the festival, theoretical workshops and practical classes will be held, and CDs and books on this Cuban musical genre will be sold.
AP – HAVANA – Cuban purchases of U.S. food will fall by at least a third this year as the island slashes imports to stabilize an ever-weak economy further hammered by the global economic crisis, a top trade official said. Igor Montero, head of the state import company Alimport, calculated that the communist government would spend less than $590 million on American food in 2009 once banking, shipping and other transaction costs are included. That’s down at least 32 percent from last year’s $870 million. Montero blamed the economic crisis, but also took a swipe at Washington’s 47-year-old trade embargo, even though it exempts food, arguing that America should begin buying Cuban products and allowing its citizens to visit the island as tourists.
“If we aren’t given more possibility to generate revenue through Cuban exports to the United States, or an exchange of visitors, it’s going to be very difficult to continue to reach the levels of trade we’ve grown accustomed to,” Montero said. He said 2009 will mark the first year American food imports to Cuba have not increased since the U.S. Congress authorized direct sale of agricultural products to Cuba in 2000. Because of a dispute over financing, Cuba refused to import even a single grain of rice until a hurricane caused food shortages in November 2001. After that, the United States quickly became Cuba’s top source of food and will still retain that title in 2009.
Cuban officials have begun a campaign to increase domestic food production as falling imports have squeezed product supplies at the country’s farmers and supermarkets. But so far, those efforts have led to little increased output. Last year Cuba spent a record of more than $710 million for U.S. agricultural products of all kinds — a figure lower than the one Montero gave because it does not include transaction costs — according to the New York-based U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. That was 61 percent more than in 2007, the council reported. The spike came as Cuba stockpiled food in the face of rising commodity prices, a strategy that backfired when three hurricanes hit the island, damaging many of the warehouses where perishable items were stored.
Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Rodrigo Malmierca said foreign imports as a whole were down 36 percent to about $10 billion so far this year, and about 80 percent of that was food. Some 51 percent of imports come from the United States, he said, though Cuba’s top trading partner remains Venezuela, led by socialist ally Hugo Chávez, followed by China, Russia, Spain and Brazil.
In a speech kicking off a foreign trade fair, Malmierca said “complex economic factors” have forced Cuba to delay payments to many of its foreign suppliers. But he said that the island “is ready to hold dialogues to fix that.” Thirty-five U.S. businesses, most of them food, agriculture or shipping companies, brought about 200 representatives to Cuba for the fair. Among those here were state agriculture officials from Maryland, Virginia and Georgia, Montero said. Terry Coleman, Georgia’s deputy commission of agriculture, said the White House should push to modify banking regulations so that Cuba can transfer payments from its banks to American ones without having to go through financial institutions in third countries. “We are hoping and praying for a real approach to trade,” he said. “Normal trade is direct. You buy, you send the products to the ships and there’s no middle man.”
HAVANA TIMES – Brazilian companies began transporting heavy machinery to Cuba, where they will work in the reconstruction of the port of Mariel, to the west of the island’s capital, announced Brazilian Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Miguel Jorge. The estimated cost of the work is US $600 million, half of which will be contributed by the South American nation, reported IPS.
Nuevitas – (RN) – A total of 134 applications of delivery of land in usufruct, under the protection of the decree-law 259 were concluded and notified in this city, as part of the alternatives applied by the Cuban Government to increase the production and food marketing. In relation to the area in hands of the producers, more than 282 hectares are destined to the development of several cultivations and 655 to the breeding of cattle, sheep, pigs and goats, what will allow the delivering of a great quantity of agriculture products to the social consumption and of the family in Nuevitas.
The main difficulties that the process of delivery of lands in usufruct goes through in this territory are related with the strengthen of the Cooperative of Credit and Service “Onelio López”, to offer better attention to the producers, bigger support of the Company of Several Cultivations of Camalote and more agility in the certification of the property to the solicitors. With the objective of propitiating a quicker development of this important program to diminish the areas infested of weeds in our fields and peripheries of the city and to rescue these lands for the production of foods, the head of the Communist Party in Nuevitas carried out an integral valuation and it will maintain a systematic control of the deficiencies.
Radio Nuevitas – The Brazilian Minister for Development, Industry and Trade, Miguel Jorge announced new investments in Cuba, and said in a statement to the press accredited to FIHAV 2009 that relations with the island have reached a peak and will continue on the path to success. As part of the cooperation between both nations, plans are in place to build a plate glass manufacturing plant on the island starting mid-December that will use silica sand provided by Cuba.
The building of a can factory (for beer, soft drinks and juices) as well as modernizing another similar facility are part of a strategy aimed at substituting imports in this branch, currently accounting for 96%. Meanwhile, Cuban pharmaceutical companies have signed agreements with their Brazilian counterparts. The installation of a Brazil-based pharmaceutical factory with Cuban technology has also been planned. The Brazilian minister spoke of the joint efforts being made to build a harbor near Mariel, a western municipality of Havana, which is in its initial stage.
Brazil’s Petrobras is carrying out seismic tests out in the block it acquired last October to develop oil resources, which is located in the exclusive economic zone of Cuba in the Gulf of Mexico. Vietnam’s national day was celebrated last Wednesday at FIHAV. To mark the occasion a letter of intent was signed outlining the agreement on the assembly and marketing of trucks, buses, and light vehicles. This includes a test assembly of the first 200 units. The CIMEX S.A Corporation also signed an export agreement with the Vietnamese What Thang Co. LTD, to trade Cubita coffee, Varadero and Caney Cuban Rums, canned fruits, and other products of great demand in Vietnam.
Camagüey – Adelante Online – Experienced cooks from all over the province gathered in Florida City to interchange about new culinary recipes, which was their way of celebrating the Day of Cuban Cuisine, an event established since 1984. In October of that very same year, a Cuban delegation won gold medal in the first culinary Olympics, held in Frankfurt, West Germany. For the fourth time, Florida City was elected as the location for the celebration, Florida and Vertientes municipalities were awarded with the category of Integral meanwhile Esmeralda Municipality was regarded as Outstanding.
At the Casa de la Cultura (Culture Center) where the event took place, many of the neighbors gathered to appreciate either the attractive dishes elaborated in specialized restaurants or the modest but very tasty made in some other gastronomic centers since the goal was to improve cooking skills and enhance the presentation of dishes. According to the report presented by the Culinary Association of Camagüey, 32 courses about useful matters on Cuban cuisine, lunch and bakery were imparted, out of which graduated a total of 694 associates.
Another important issue was the advisory work, which was provided to 25 restaurants and 104 community markets, where food is delivered at very cheap prices to low income people and pregnant women who suffer from low weight. A very special award for those who work as cooks was also granted: the Plaque for Culinary Merit, given to Mártires Méndez Torres, Osmani Fernández Torres, Orlando Montejo Betancourt, Carlos Villarreal Gil, Enrique Cossío González, Benigno Fuentes Zayas, Esperanza Vidal Barzán, Luis Figueroa Campanioni, Alfredo López Pereira and Ana Echevarria Mesa.
The Plaque of Culinary Friendship was given to Yudeini Pérez Mauriño and Annia Arredondo Agüero, for their contribution to the development of the Cuisine in Camagüey. Workshops will be granted during the months of November and December to incorporate new kind of dishes among the provincial gastronomic network.
Camagüey – Radio Florida – The production of powdered sugar in the municipality of Florida, western Camaguey, approaches 80 000 tons in the current cane-cutting season, a figure in which Ignacio Agramonte Sugarcane Processing Plant, leading the raw sugar manufacturing in the current harvesting season has much to do. “Ignacio Agramonte” Plant, that is also a refinery producing confectioners’ sugar, has made a pause these days and will resume its functioning in the beginnings of November. This move will allow the factory to increase its output this year.
On the other hand, “Argentina” Sugar Cane Mill which stopped its activities as a refinery when it reached 33 000 tons, now undergoes an important repair program in order to prepare conditions to make higher volumes of white sugar next year. Thanks to the production of confectioners’ sugar in these two factories, the country saves important amounts of hard currency, for it has not to buy the food in the world mark.
