Showing posts with label commerce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label commerce. Show all posts
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Monday, September 05, 2011
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Tobacco Grower Alejandro Robaina dies at 91
CNN
'Godfather' of Cuban tobacco dead at 91
By Shasta Darlington, CNN
Havana, Cuba -- Alejandro Robaina, considered a legend among Cuban tobacco growers, died Saturday, according to Cuban cigar company Habanos S.A., which produced cigars named for him.
Robaina was 91. He was diagnosed with cancer last year and died on his farm in the western Cuban province of Pinar del Rio, said Habanos spokesman Jose Antonio Candia.
Robaina's tobacco leaves are considered some of the best in the world. In Cuba, he was called "The Godfather." His deeply wrinkled face smiled out from billboards, T-shirts and boxes of Vegas Robaina cigars, among Cuba's finest. A box of premium Vegas Robaina cigars can fetch more than $500 on the international market.
But the man behind the smile was also a simple country farmer who got up at the crack of dawn every day to survey his fields until cancer slowed him down.
"I wouldn't say I've triumphed, but I've done something with my life," he told CNN in 2008. "The first thing is to love the land, take care of the land."
Robaina's family have farmed tobacco continuously since 1845 on the plantation. Under Robaina, business flourished, and the plantation had some of the best yields in the region, producing highly-prized wrapper leaves used for the outer layer of cigars.
Cigar aficionados around the globe called him the dean of Cuba's cigar industry and every year thousands of visitors made the two-hour trek from Havana, hoping to share a stogie and a glass of rum with "the Don."
Robaina kept his lands even when many ranches were nationalized after the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro.
"I had a very strong conversation with Fidel 18 or 20 years ago," Robaina said in 2008. "He asked if I would join a big cooperative since I had so many workers, and I told him no.
"For me tobacco growing had to be in the family, done with love. Because in the big cooperatives, everyone's the boss, nobody worries as much as the grower."
Now, almost all of Cuba's tobacco farms are private, according to the Agriculture Ministry. And they generally take their lead from Robaina, planting and harvesting on the same days he did.
"I like to sow during a waxing moon, and harvest in a waning moon," he said.
Robaina said he'd been smoking cigars since he was 10 years old. "When I get really old, I'll stop smoking the strong stuff," he said.
In 1997, Cuba launched the Vegas Robaina brand, named in his honor. They're made from the golden wrapper leaves grown on Robaina's plantation but are rolled in a separate factory.
Like most of Cuba's cigars, they're largely exported. Because of the U.S. trade embargo, however, Cuban cigars are off-limits in America.
Robaina said in 2008 he hoped that policy would end during his lifetime.
"Of course I have hope they'll open up the market," he said. "Cuba's willing to send cigars and they're willing to smoke them. They're going crazy because they can't smoke cigars from here."
Robaina will be buried Sunday, said Candia.
'Godfather' of Cuban tobacco dead at 91
By Shasta Darlington, CNN
Havana, Cuba -- Alejandro Robaina, considered a legend among Cuban tobacco growers, died Saturday, according to Cuban cigar company Habanos S.A., which produced cigars named for him.
Robaina was 91. He was diagnosed with cancer last year and died on his farm in the western Cuban province of Pinar del Rio, said Habanos spokesman Jose Antonio Candia.
Robaina's tobacco leaves are considered some of the best in the world. In Cuba, he was called "The Godfather." His deeply wrinkled face smiled out from billboards, T-shirts and boxes of Vegas Robaina cigars, among Cuba's finest. A box of premium Vegas Robaina cigars can fetch more than $500 on the international market.
But the man behind the smile was also a simple country farmer who got up at the crack of dawn every day to survey his fields until cancer slowed him down.
"I wouldn't say I've triumphed, but I've done something with my life," he told CNN in 2008. "The first thing is to love the land, take care of the land."
Robaina's family have farmed tobacco continuously since 1845 on the plantation. Under Robaina, business flourished, and the plantation had some of the best yields in the region, producing highly-prized wrapper leaves used for the outer layer of cigars.
Cigar aficionados around the globe called him the dean of Cuba's cigar industry and every year thousands of visitors made the two-hour trek from Havana, hoping to share a stogie and a glass of rum with "the Don."
Robaina kept his lands even when many ranches were nationalized after the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro.
"I had a very strong conversation with Fidel 18 or 20 years ago," Robaina said in 2008. "He asked if I would join a big cooperative since I had so many workers, and I told him no.
"For me tobacco growing had to be in the family, done with love. Because in the big cooperatives, everyone's the boss, nobody worries as much as the grower."
Now, almost all of Cuba's tobacco farms are private, according to the Agriculture Ministry. And they generally take their lead from Robaina, planting and harvesting on the same days he did.
"I like to sow during a waxing moon, and harvest in a waning moon," he said.
Robaina said he'd been smoking cigars since he was 10 years old. "When I get really old, I'll stop smoking the strong stuff," he said.
In 1997, Cuba launched the Vegas Robaina brand, named in his honor. They're made from the golden wrapper leaves grown on Robaina's plantation but are rolled in a separate factory.
Like most of Cuba's cigars, they're largely exported. Because of the U.S. trade embargo, however, Cuban cigars are off-limits in America.
Robaina said in 2008 he hoped that policy would end during his lifetime.
"Of course I have hope they'll open up the market," he said. "Cuba's willing to send cigars and they're willing to smoke them. They're going crazy because they can't smoke cigars from here."
Robaina will be buried Sunday, said Candia.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Buena Vista: Cuban band or brand?
Of course, it's both: quality nostalgia guaranteed.
BBC
Buena Vista: Cuban band or brand?
By Michael Voss
BBC News, Havana
Sunday night in Old Havana and dozens of tourists pack into a club on a corner of the colonial Plaza Vieja to hear the sounds of the Buena Vista Social Club.
Leading the night's entertainment is 67-year-old "sonero" Felix Baloy and his big band. Looking dapper in his white suit and white fedora hat, he produces a pulsating evening of traditional rhythms and songs.
Felix Baloy sang on several of the early Buena Vista albums and can now use the name on his billboards. The original band has turned into a brand.
"Buena Vista Social Club has transformed into several bands, including mine," he said.
"I play traditional Cuban music and will continue doing so until the day I die."
'Sound of Cuba'
For many around the world, Buena Vista is the sound that defines Cuban music.
“ Members of the band may change because some have passed away, but the spirit lives on ”
Omara Portuondo Original Buena Vista singer
You can hear songs like Chan Chan played on almost every street corner in the tourist centre of Old Havana.
Yet in Cuba, these are considered "golden oldies". At home, Buena Vista must compete with everything from salsa to reggaeton and the folk ballads of revolutionary idols like Silvio Rodriguez.
"This is such a musical country with so many different rhythms; young people have gone their own way," Mr Baloy says.
"You still hear it here, but for the rest of the world, Buena Vista remains the sound of Cuba."
The original Buena Vista Social Club was a loose collective of ageing musicians brought together by the American guitarist Ry Cooder in 1997, in a bid to re-discover the music of Cuba's pre-revolutionary past.
Since then many of those who shot to stardom in the award-winning film have died, including pianist Ruben Gonzalez and the singer Ibrahim Ferrer.
New generation
It is Ibrahim Ferrer's former band which has taken over the official mantle and today tours the world with a mix of old and new faces, under the name Orquestra Buena Vista Social Club.
Apart from an occasional concert in the beachfront hotel resort of Varadero, the band almost never performs at home.
......
'Trade mark'
Buena Vista has turned into a project rather than a band.
"It's been converted into a trade mark. A lot of the well-known figures who were in Buena Vista have developed their own bands; that's where the spirit of Buena Vista lies," said Mr Valdes.
Today, this 63-year-old drummer still lives in the same modest Havana apartment in which he grew up.
On the walls of his tiny living room are framed gold disks, along with a fading black-and-white photograph of his father - a clarinettist in an early Cuban big band.
There is also a glamorous colour photo of his daughter, Idania, who has taken over as the lead female singer touring the world with the Orquestra Buena Vista Social Club. She was just 20 when she joined it.
"It was a little unnerving at first, especially stepping in for such a famous name," she admits.
Cuban diva
Omara Portuondo is one of the only original Buena Vista superstars who remains hugely popular at home.
The 79-year-old diva is regularly invited to perform at major cultural and political events.
At a recent Alba summit of left-wing Latin American leaders, the closing ceremony saw Omara singing her way across the platform; Venezuela's Hugo Chavez blew her kisses, Cuba's President Raul Castro reached out and kissed her hand.
She was also the first Cuban musician to be granted a visa to perform in the United States after President Barack Obama ended restrictions on cultural exchanges.
Her most recent album won a Latin Grammy, which she was able to collect in person at the award ceremony in Las Vegas.
Her repertoire has expanded beyond the classic Buena Vista sounds but the band and the music, she believes, will always live on.
"This type of music will always be with us. It's still the Buena Vista sound; members of the band may change because some have passed away but the spirit lives on."
Read the complete story HERE.
BBC
Buena Vista: Cuban band or brand?
By Michael Voss
BBC News, Havana
Sunday night in Old Havana and dozens of tourists pack into a club on a corner of the colonial Plaza Vieja to hear the sounds of the Buena Vista Social Club.
Leading the night's entertainment is 67-year-old "sonero" Felix Baloy and his big band. Looking dapper in his white suit and white fedora hat, he produces a pulsating evening of traditional rhythms and songs.
Felix Baloy sang on several of the early Buena Vista albums and can now use the name on his billboards. The original band has turned into a brand.
"Buena Vista Social Club has transformed into several bands, including mine," he said.
"I play traditional Cuban music and will continue doing so until the day I die."
'Sound of Cuba'
For many around the world, Buena Vista is the sound that defines Cuban music.
“ Members of the band may change because some have passed away, but the spirit lives on ”
Omara Portuondo Original Buena Vista singer
You can hear songs like Chan Chan played on almost every street corner in the tourist centre of Old Havana.
Yet in Cuba, these are considered "golden oldies". At home, Buena Vista must compete with everything from salsa to reggaeton and the folk ballads of revolutionary idols like Silvio Rodriguez.
"This is such a musical country with so many different rhythms; young people have gone their own way," Mr Baloy says.
"You still hear it here, but for the rest of the world, Buena Vista remains the sound of Cuba."
The original Buena Vista Social Club was a loose collective of ageing musicians brought together by the American guitarist Ry Cooder in 1997, in a bid to re-discover the music of Cuba's pre-revolutionary past.
Since then many of those who shot to stardom in the award-winning film have died, including pianist Ruben Gonzalez and the singer Ibrahim Ferrer.
New generation
It is Ibrahim Ferrer's former band which has taken over the official mantle and today tours the world with a mix of old and new faces, under the name Orquestra Buena Vista Social Club.
Apart from an occasional concert in the beachfront hotel resort of Varadero, the band almost never performs at home.
......
'Trade mark'
Buena Vista has turned into a project rather than a band.
"It's been converted into a trade mark. A lot of the well-known figures who were in Buena Vista have developed their own bands; that's where the spirit of Buena Vista lies," said Mr Valdes.
Today, this 63-year-old drummer still lives in the same modest Havana apartment in which he grew up.
On the walls of his tiny living room are framed gold disks, along with a fading black-and-white photograph of his father - a clarinettist in an early Cuban big band.
There is also a glamorous colour photo of his daughter, Idania, who has taken over as the lead female singer touring the world with the Orquestra Buena Vista Social Club. She was just 20 when she joined it.
"It was a little unnerving at first, especially stepping in for such a famous name," she admits.
Cuban diva
Omara Portuondo is one of the only original Buena Vista superstars who remains hugely popular at home.
The 79-year-old diva is regularly invited to perform at major cultural and political events.
At a recent Alba summit of left-wing Latin American leaders, the closing ceremony saw Omara singing her way across the platform; Venezuela's Hugo Chavez blew her kisses, Cuba's President Raul Castro reached out and kissed her hand.
She was also the first Cuban musician to be granted a visa to perform in the United States after President Barack Obama ended restrictions on cultural exchanges.
Her most recent album won a Latin Grammy, which she was able to collect in person at the award ceremony in Las Vegas.
Her repertoire has expanded beyond the classic Buena Vista sounds but the band and the music, she believes, will always live on.
"This type of music will always be with us. It's still the Buena Vista sound; members of the band may change because some have passed away but the spirit lives on."
Read the complete story HERE.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
U.S. Telecoms Eager to Get Cuba on the Line
WaPo
U.S. Telecoms Eager to Get Cuba on the Line
Firms Wait to See Plans for Infrastructure, Government's Approach to Access
By Cecilia Kang
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 15, 2009; A12
U.S. telecommunication firms could open up investment in Cuba now that the Obama administration will allow companies to operate there, a final global frontier for the Internet age.
But before cellphone and Internet providers rush in, they will closely study potential pitfalls in setting up shop in the Communist nation with one of the poorest populations in the region, analysts said.
The Cuban government has not been helpful in allowing its citizens access to communications technology, said David Gross, who was U.S. ambassador and coordinator for International Information and Communications Policy during the Bush administration. Now that the United States has opened the door, he said, "the question is whether the Cuban government will allow people to come inside."
Cuba has the lowest percentage of telephone, Internet and cellphone subscribers in Latin America, according to Manuel Cereijo, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Miami. About 11 percent of residents subscribe to land-line telephone service, and 2 percent have cellphone service.
Under President Obama's plan, U.S. telecom companies would be able to build undersea cable networks that connect the two nations. Cellphone carriers would be able to contract with Cuba's government-run wireless operator to provide service to its residents and offer roaming services to Americans visiting the island.
U.S. satellite operators such as Sirius XM Radio and Dish Network could beam Martha Stewart and MTV programs to the nation. Cubans could also receive cellphones and computers donated from overseas.
But with average monthly salaries of about $15, many citizens might not be able to afford service fees, according to experts on Cuban policy and telecommunications infrastructure. Others question whether residents would spend money on BlackBerrys and services such as video on demand, especially if the government restricts Web content.
"The infrastructure that exists there today is lousy, and the Cuban people are paid in pesos, which is worth nothing," Cereijo said. "They are thinking about buying food first."
Most telecom companies declined to comment yesterday about the administration's announcement because they are waiting for more details on how such business relationships would be implemented.
The Cuban government also has not yet responded to Obama's pledge to relax trade and travel barriers between the nations. But analysts and trade experts say President Raúl Castro, brother of longtime dictator Fidel Castro, has loosened the government's grip its people. Last year, he allowed Cubans to buy cellphones, computers and microwaves, in what appeared at the time to be a major step in allowing them to freely access information.
Currently, a government-run company provides all telecom services to Cuban citizens.
Gross, now a partner at Wiley Rein, said U.S. cellphone carriers will balk if the Cuban government tries to charge high fees for roaming contracts. He and others say that consortiums that build undersea cable networks in the Caribbean may see business opportunities in connecting to the island, but they will avoid any conditions that prevent them from offering video and other Internet content, for example.
"Everyone in the region has been wondering when Cuba might open up, and I think Cuba is trying to figure out ways to attract investment in a way that works with its political situation," said Michael Prior, chief executive of Atlantic Tele-Network, a wireless and Internet network carrier in the Caribbean.
Prior said the best return on investment would be for wireless services, which do not come with the hefty capital costs of laying cable and fiber-optic lines undersea.
Cereijo estimates it would cost $2.5 billion to upgrade the island's telecom infrastructure for basic high-speed Internet as well as more reliable land-line and cellphone service.
Some U.S. firms already have licenses with the Cuban government that allow calls from America to connect through the island's carrier.
U.S. Telecoms Eager to Get Cuba on the Line
Firms Wait to See Plans for Infrastructure, Government's Approach to Access
By Cecilia Kang
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 15, 2009; A12
U.S. telecommunication firms could open up investment in Cuba now that the Obama administration will allow companies to operate there, a final global frontier for the Internet age.
But before cellphone and Internet providers rush in, they will closely study potential pitfalls in setting up shop in the Communist nation with one of the poorest populations in the region, analysts said.
The Cuban government has not been helpful in allowing its citizens access to communications technology, said David Gross, who was U.S. ambassador and coordinator for International Information and Communications Policy during the Bush administration. Now that the United States has opened the door, he said, "the question is whether the Cuban government will allow people to come inside."
Cuba has the lowest percentage of telephone, Internet and cellphone subscribers in Latin America, according to Manuel Cereijo, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Miami. About 11 percent of residents subscribe to land-line telephone service, and 2 percent have cellphone service.
Under President Obama's plan, U.S. telecom companies would be able to build undersea cable networks that connect the two nations. Cellphone carriers would be able to contract with Cuba's government-run wireless operator to provide service to its residents and offer roaming services to Americans visiting the island.
U.S. satellite operators such as Sirius XM Radio and Dish Network could beam Martha Stewart and MTV programs to the nation. Cubans could also receive cellphones and computers donated from overseas.
But with average monthly salaries of about $15, many citizens might not be able to afford service fees, according to experts on Cuban policy and telecommunications infrastructure. Others question whether residents would spend money on BlackBerrys and services such as video on demand, especially if the government restricts Web content.
"The infrastructure that exists there today is lousy, and the Cuban people are paid in pesos, which is worth nothing," Cereijo said. "They are thinking about buying food first."
Most telecom companies declined to comment yesterday about the administration's announcement because they are waiting for more details on how such business relationships would be implemented.
The Cuban government also has not yet responded to Obama's pledge to relax trade and travel barriers between the nations. But analysts and trade experts say President Raúl Castro, brother of longtime dictator Fidel Castro, has loosened the government's grip its people. Last year, he allowed Cubans to buy cellphones, computers and microwaves, in what appeared at the time to be a major step in allowing them to freely access information.
Currently, a government-run company provides all telecom services to Cuban citizens.
Gross, now a partner at Wiley Rein, said U.S. cellphone carriers will balk if the Cuban government tries to charge high fees for roaming contracts. He and others say that consortiums that build undersea cable networks in the Caribbean may see business opportunities in connecting to the island, but they will avoid any conditions that prevent them from offering video and other Internet content, for example.
"Everyone in the region has been wondering when Cuba might open up, and I think Cuba is trying to figure out ways to attract investment in a way that works with its political situation," said Michael Prior, chief executive of Atlantic Tele-Network, a wireless and Internet network carrier in the Caribbean.
Prior said the best return on investment would be for wireless services, which do not come with the hefty capital costs of laying cable and fiber-optic lines undersea.
Cereijo estimates it would cost $2.5 billion to upgrade the island's telecom infrastructure for basic high-speed Internet as well as more reliable land-line and cellphone service.
Some U.S. firms already have licenses with the Cuban government that allow calls from America to connect through the island's carrier.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Cuba recruits free-market taxis
AP
Calling all cars: Cuba recruits free-market taxis
By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press Writer Will Weissert, Associated Press Writer Mon Jan 12, 7:24 pm ET
HAVANA – Cubans with classic American cars — or even rusty Russian sedans — are being encouraged to apply for taxi licenses and set their own prices for the first time in nearly a decade as the communist government turns to the free market to improve its woeful transportation system.
Under regulations published into law this week, Cuba is applying a larger dose of supply-and-demand to an economy that remains 90 percent under state control.
The move by President Raul Castro's government also breaks with the policies of his ailing brother Fidel, who long accused private taxis — legal and otherwise — of seeking "juicy profits" and fomenting a black market for state-subsidized gasoline that Cuba "had sweated and bled" to obtain.
New taxi licenses have not been approved since October 1999, and it is not clear how many new cabs will be allowed. The measure orders officials to determine what combination of "autos, jeeps, panel trucks, microbuses, three-wheelers and motorcycles" will best meet each area's needs.
"Without these taxis, especially in the city of Havana but also in the provinces, the country would practically grind to a halt," said Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a state-trained economist who became an anti-communist dissident and has written essays on pirate taxis.
He noted that new government buses have improved public transportation somewhat, "but it's not enough."
In cities, the government will let more private cabs charge based on supply and demand, though a state commission will establish fare limits to discourage price gouging.
In the countryside, owners of cars, trucks and even motorcycle sidecars will be encouraged to ferry passengers at state-determined prices in areas where bus service is spotty, especially along desolate highways connecting remote villages. Those doing so will receive subsidized gasoline.
Havana retiree Barbara Costa said she would encourage her son-in-law to give up his job as a state engineer and use a 1950s Chevy that had belong to his father as a taxi.
"It could be a great help, an economic help to the family but also to the entire population since public transportation is still very difficult," the 71-year-old said.
Sales of new cars are tightly controlled, and many of the vehicles on Cuban roads predate Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, though drivers often replace their original engines with diesel motors that are foul-smelling but cheaper to operate.
Thousands of hulking 1950s Oldsmobiles, Dodges and Fords, as well as long-gone models like Packards and DeSotos, already operate as licensed, private taxis. Known as "maquinas" — literally "machines" — or "almendrones," which translates as "almond shells," the vehicles adhere to set routes and charge set fares.
Special fleets of modern taxis catering to foreigners also charge set fares, but only the wealthiest Cubans can afford them.
Because buses and licensed taxi services are overwhelmed, hitchhiking is common, and many of those thumbing it hold up peso notes, offering to pay anyone who picks them up.
Other people use their cars almost exclusively as black-market taxis, offering informal rides for a price. And a few existing private taxis already have state licenses that allow them to charge whatever passengers are willing to pay. The new law appears to be aimed partly at controlling rampant competition from unlicensed people using their cars as taxis.
"There's going to be more cars and fewer passengers, but at least everyone will have a license," said Jordan Marrero, a 35-year-old who steers a red-and-white 1952 Pontiac that belonged to his late grandfather through Havana's potholed streets, usually charging 20 pesos, or about 95 American cents, per fare.
Marrero gave up his job in a state factory in 1996 because he found he could make more money driving a taxi. At first, Marrero claimed to be fully legal, but he displayed a taxi license that had not been renewed since May, explaining that he can no longer afford the 600 pesos ($28.50) a month for government permission.
He still operates the taxi, but spends most of his time parked a block from the stately capitol dome — a slightly taller replica of the U.S. Capitol in Washington — waiting to take a few passengers a day rather than risk cruising the city and being stopped by the police.
"I pay and others don't? That can't be," he said. "When everyone is normalized, I will pay my license. But now, there is just chaos and it's not worth it to be legal."
Nearby, a retired construction worker named Juan had all the necessary papers for the Russian-made Lada he operates as a taxi. But he too spends most of his days parked and waiting for walk-up passengers because he can't afford the gasoline required to drive around looking for business.
"We charge what the market is willing to give us, but that's still barely enough," said Juan, who said he felt uncomfortable having his full name appear in the foreign media.
Because his Lada only seats four passengers, Juan pays 400 pesos, about $21, per month for his license, but he complained that droves of pirate taxis have eaten into his meager profit margins.
"The problem is there's no control. I hope this law changes that," he said. "For now, it seems like it's easier to be illegal than to be legal."
Calling all cars: Cuba recruits free-market taxis
By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press Writer Will Weissert, Associated Press Writer Mon Jan 12, 7:24 pm ET
HAVANA – Cubans with classic American cars — or even rusty Russian sedans — are being encouraged to apply for taxi licenses and set their own prices for the first time in nearly a decade as the communist government turns to the free market to improve its woeful transportation system.
Under regulations published into law this week, Cuba is applying a larger dose of supply-and-demand to an economy that remains 90 percent under state control.
The move by President Raul Castro's government also breaks with the policies of his ailing brother Fidel, who long accused private taxis — legal and otherwise — of seeking "juicy profits" and fomenting a black market for state-subsidized gasoline that Cuba "had sweated and bled" to obtain.
New taxi licenses have not been approved since October 1999, and it is not clear how many new cabs will be allowed. The measure orders officials to determine what combination of "autos, jeeps, panel trucks, microbuses, three-wheelers and motorcycles" will best meet each area's needs.
"Without these taxis, especially in the city of Havana but also in the provinces, the country would practically grind to a halt," said Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a state-trained economist who became an anti-communist dissident and has written essays on pirate taxis.
He noted that new government buses have improved public transportation somewhat, "but it's not enough."
In cities, the government will let more private cabs charge based on supply and demand, though a state commission will establish fare limits to discourage price gouging.
In the countryside, owners of cars, trucks and even motorcycle sidecars will be encouraged to ferry passengers at state-determined prices in areas where bus service is spotty, especially along desolate highways connecting remote villages. Those doing so will receive subsidized gasoline.
Havana retiree Barbara Costa said she would encourage her son-in-law to give up his job as a state engineer and use a 1950s Chevy that had belong to his father as a taxi.
"It could be a great help, an economic help to the family but also to the entire population since public transportation is still very difficult," the 71-year-old said.
Sales of new cars are tightly controlled, and many of the vehicles on Cuban roads predate Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, though drivers often replace their original engines with diesel motors that are foul-smelling but cheaper to operate.
Thousands of hulking 1950s Oldsmobiles, Dodges and Fords, as well as long-gone models like Packards and DeSotos, already operate as licensed, private taxis. Known as "maquinas" — literally "machines" — or "almendrones," which translates as "almond shells," the vehicles adhere to set routes and charge set fares.
Special fleets of modern taxis catering to foreigners also charge set fares, but only the wealthiest Cubans can afford them.
Because buses and licensed taxi services are overwhelmed, hitchhiking is common, and many of those thumbing it hold up peso notes, offering to pay anyone who picks them up.
Other people use their cars almost exclusively as black-market taxis, offering informal rides for a price. And a few existing private taxis already have state licenses that allow them to charge whatever passengers are willing to pay. The new law appears to be aimed partly at controlling rampant competition from unlicensed people using their cars as taxis.
"There's going to be more cars and fewer passengers, but at least everyone will have a license," said Jordan Marrero, a 35-year-old who steers a red-and-white 1952 Pontiac that belonged to his late grandfather through Havana's potholed streets, usually charging 20 pesos, or about 95 American cents, per fare.
Marrero gave up his job in a state factory in 1996 because he found he could make more money driving a taxi. At first, Marrero claimed to be fully legal, but he displayed a taxi license that had not been renewed since May, explaining that he can no longer afford the 600 pesos ($28.50) a month for government permission.
He still operates the taxi, but spends most of his time parked a block from the stately capitol dome — a slightly taller replica of the U.S. Capitol in Washington — waiting to take a few passengers a day rather than risk cruising the city and being stopped by the police.
"I pay and others don't? That can't be," he said. "When everyone is normalized, I will pay my license. But now, there is just chaos and it's not worth it to be legal."
Nearby, a retired construction worker named Juan had all the necessary papers for the Russian-made Lada he operates as a taxi. But he too spends most of his days parked and waiting for walk-up passengers because he can't afford the gasoline required to drive around looking for business.
"We charge what the market is willing to give us, but that's still barely enough," said Juan, who said he felt uncomfortable having his full name appear in the foreign media.
Because his Lada only seats four passengers, Juan pays 400 pesos, about $21, per month for his license, but he complained that droves of pirate taxis have eaten into his meager profit margins.
"The problem is there's no control. I hope this law changes that," he said. "For now, it seems like it's easier to be illegal than to be legal."
Monday, April 21, 2008
Cuba could ease rules on travel abroad, property sales
Miami Herald
Posted on Mon, Apr. 21, 2008
Cuba could ease rules on travel abroad, property sales
BY WILFREDO CANCIO ISLA
Cuban citizens may soon be allowed to travel abroad without official permits. They may also soon be able to freely rent their homes, sell properties with ownership titles and acquire automobiles without special authorizations.
The Cuban government has already instituted such liberal measures as allowing the purchase of computers, cellphones and other electronics; authorizing Cuban nationals to stay at resort hotels -- once exclusively for foreign tourists -- eliminating salary caps; and allowing farmers to keep produce they grow.
Now the Cuban government under Raúl Castro plans to lift restrictions further.
''These are the most complex measures, because they have legal implications and repercussions for the nation, and have generated much debate within the directorate levels,'' a Cuban government official who requested anonimity told El Nuevo Herald.
Besides the migration reform that will loosen requirements for overseas travel, the following reforms are expected to be announced by the Cuban government:
• Freedom to rent homes and rooms, both to foreigners and Cuban citizens and the controlled sale of real estate by registered owners.
• No restrictions on the sale of automobiles; previously prohibited from transferring titles. The government is also considering selling vehicles to the public.
• Elimination of the decree that limits citizens from traveling freely within the island, especially toward Havana.
Also being studied by the Cuban government are the following measures that could be instituted by this year or next:
• Revaluation of the Cuban peso in relation to the convertible peso (CUC) to the tune of 19 Cuban pesos per CUC; with the intention of gradually aligning the values until there is a single monetary currency.
• Flexibility of restrictions for private enterprise and freelancers; allowing citizens to open small businesses.
• Reorganization of government agencies by fusing those that are currently governing similar sectors.
The path to easing restrictions on the rental market was cleared on April 11 when the Cuban National Housing Institute made public a resolution to give ownership of state housing to the occupants or their heirs.
Within weeks, many Cubans will become first-time homeowners as a result of the resolution, multiplying the real estate rentals market in a nation where housing continues to be a problem for much of the population.
''The orientations for these authorizations are already in the hands of the provincial delegations [for housing],'' said a housing official in Havana.
According to information obtained by El Nuevo Herald from housing officials in Cuba, the plan is to initially deregulate the renting of homes and rooms, followed by a second phase of reforms allowing the sale and purchase of real estate properties, which are currently restricted by the 1984 National Housing Law.
A panel of experts is studying the matter of property in Cuba and results are expected to be revealed by 2010.
''There is a consensus for the sale of houses under certain requisites to avoid real estate speculation, illicit sales to foreigners through front men and the uncontrolled escalation of prices,'' said the National Housing Institute official, who asked to remain anonymous.
Measures deregulating the sale and purchase of automobiles, including those that cannot be transferred, may be imminent. The Cuban regime seems not only to have decided on divesting itself of its fleet of used cars, but also willing to explore the market for offering new vehicles in state-run dealerships, costing about $11,000.
The 1997 decree restricting travel within the island as a means to deter rural migration to Havana may soon be repealed, according to officials. Of all the short-term reforms, migration continues to be the central topic of debate.
Posted on Mon, Apr. 21, 2008
Cuba could ease rules on travel abroad, property sales
BY WILFREDO CANCIO ISLA
Cuban citizens may soon be allowed to travel abroad without official permits. They may also soon be able to freely rent their homes, sell properties with ownership titles and acquire automobiles without special authorizations.
The Cuban government has already instituted such liberal measures as allowing the purchase of computers, cellphones and other electronics; authorizing Cuban nationals to stay at resort hotels -- once exclusively for foreign tourists -- eliminating salary caps; and allowing farmers to keep produce they grow.
Now the Cuban government under Raúl Castro plans to lift restrictions further.
''These are the most complex measures, because they have legal implications and repercussions for the nation, and have generated much debate within the directorate levels,'' a Cuban government official who requested anonimity told El Nuevo Herald.
Besides the migration reform that will loosen requirements for overseas travel, the following reforms are expected to be announced by the Cuban government:
• Freedom to rent homes and rooms, both to foreigners and Cuban citizens and the controlled sale of real estate by registered owners.
• No restrictions on the sale of automobiles; previously prohibited from transferring titles. The government is also considering selling vehicles to the public.
• Elimination of the decree that limits citizens from traveling freely within the island, especially toward Havana.
Also being studied by the Cuban government are the following measures that could be instituted by this year or next:
• Revaluation of the Cuban peso in relation to the convertible peso (CUC) to the tune of 19 Cuban pesos per CUC; with the intention of gradually aligning the values until there is a single monetary currency.
• Flexibility of restrictions for private enterprise and freelancers; allowing citizens to open small businesses.
• Reorganization of government agencies by fusing those that are currently governing similar sectors.
The path to easing restrictions on the rental market was cleared on April 11 when the Cuban National Housing Institute made public a resolution to give ownership of state housing to the occupants or their heirs.
Within weeks, many Cubans will become first-time homeowners as a result of the resolution, multiplying the real estate rentals market in a nation where housing continues to be a problem for much of the population.
''The orientations for these authorizations are already in the hands of the provincial delegations [for housing],'' said a housing official in Havana.
According to information obtained by El Nuevo Herald from housing officials in Cuba, the plan is to initially deregulate the renting of homes and rooms, followed by a second phase of reforms allowing the sale and purchase of real estate properties, which are currently restricted by the 1984 National Housing Law.
A panel of experts is studying the matter of property in Cuba and results are expected to be revealed by 2010.
''There is a consensus for the sale of houses under certain requisites to avoid real estate speculation, illicit sales to foreigners through front men and the uncontrolled escalation of prices,'' said the National Housing Institute official, who asked to remain anonymous.
Measures deregulating the sale and purchase of automobiles, including those that cannot be transferred, may be imminent. The Cuban regime seems not only to have decided on divesting itself of its fleet of used cars, but also willing to explore the market for offering new vehicles in state-run dealerships, costing about $11,000.
The 1997 decree restricting travel within the island as a means to deter rural migration to Havana may soon be repealed, according to officials. Of all the short-term reforms, migration continues to be the central topic of debate.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Cubans line up for cell phone service
Miami Herald
Posted on Mon, Apr. 14, 2008
Cubans line up for cell phone service
By WILL WEISSERT
Lines stretched for blocks outside phone stores Monday as ordinary Cubans were allowed to sign up for cellular phone service for the first time.
The contracts cost about US$120 (euro76) to activate - half a year's wages on the average state salary. And that doesn't include a phone or credit to make and receive calls. Still, lines formed before the centers opened, and waits grew to more than an hour.
"It's great. It's really great. And everyone wants to be first to sign up," said Usan Astorga, a 19-year-old medical student who stood for about 20 minutes before her line moved at all.
Getting through the day without a cell phone is unthinkable now in most developed countries, but Cuba's government limited access to cell phones as well as kitchen appliances, hotels and other luxuries in an attempt to preserve the relative economic equality that is a hallmark of social life in communist Cuba.
President Raul Castro has pledged to do away these small but infuriating restrictions on daily life, and his popularity has surged as a result, defusing questions about whether his relative lack of charisma would make governing Cuba more difficult after his older ailing older brother Fidel formally stepped down in February.
The new phone contracts allow Cubans to make and receive overseas calls, a key feature because the overwhelming majority of Cubans have relatives and friends in the United States.
Astorga planned to buy about US$65 (euro41) in credit - enough, she hopes, for three months of very brief conversations.
"You can't talk all day because it's too expensive," she said. "It's only, 'hello, I'm here. Goodbye.' Or 'where are you?' and hang up."
She and about 90 others were waiting in a line that crossed the street and stretched for about half a block outside a phone store on Obispo Street, a crowded pedestrian mall running from Havana's Central Park to the historic Old Town district.
Outside a phone store in the upscale neighborhood of Miramar, meanwhile, the line split in two and snaked off in different directions.
Teenagers and college students with expensive sunglasses and fashionable clothes dominated in the lines. But elderly housewives and an occasional construction worker with dusty boots and threadbare T-shirts also waited for the chance to buy.
Lines outside stores are common in Cuba since security personnel limit how many people are allowed in at a time, and phone centers are often especially crowded with Cubans waiting to pay their home phone bills.
But Monday's waits were longer than normal - and everyone who turned up was waiting for a cell phone contract.
"I am in need, I need to have one," said Juana Verdez, a retiree who said a cell phone would make it easier to stay in touch with family members.
People also were lining up for cell phones in Santiago, the island's second-largest city, although residents said the lines were not as long as in Havana. Waits were also reportedly shorter elsewhere across the country.
Only foreigners and Cubans holding key government posts were allowed to have cell phones since they first appeared on the island in 1991. Thousands of ordinary Cubans had already obtained mobile phones through the black market, but could activate them only by finding foreigners willing to lend their names to the contracts.
A March 28 announcement by Cuba's state-controlled telecommunications monopoly, a joint venture with Telecom Italia, made it legal for all Cubans to have phones in their own names.
Posted on Mon, Apr. 14, 2008
Cubans line up for cell phone service
By WILL WEISSERT
Lines stretched for blocks outside phone stores Monday as ordinary Cubans were allowed to sign up for cellular phone service for the first time.
The contracts cost about US$120 (euro76) to activate - half a year's wages on the average state salary. And that doesn't include a phone or credit to make and receive calls. Still, lines formed before the centers opened, and waits grew to more than an hour.
"It's great. It's really great. And everyone wants to be first to sign up," said Usan Astorga, a 19-year-old medical student who stood for about 20 minutes before her line moved at all.
Getting through the day without a cell phone is unthinkable now in most developed countries, but Cuba's government limited access to cell phones as well as kitchen appliances, hotels and other luxuries in an attempt to preserve the relative economic equality that is a hallmark of social life in communist Cuba.
President Raul Castro has pledged to do away these small but infuriating restrictions on daily life, and his popularity has surged as a result, defusing questions about whether his relative lack of charisma would make governing Cuba more difficult after his older ailing older brother Fidel formally stepped down in February.
The new phone contracts allow Cubans to make and receive overseas calls, a key feature because the overwhelming majority of Cubans have relatives and friends in the United States.
Astorga planned to buy about US$65 (euro41) in credit - enough, she hopes, for three months of very brief conversations.
"You can't talk all day because it's too expensive," she said. "It's only, 'hello, I'm here. Goodbye.' Or 'where are you?' and hang up."
She and about 90 others were waiting in a line that crossed the street and stretched for about half a block outside a phone store on Obispo Street, a crowded pedestrian mall running from Havana's Central Park to the historic Old Town district.
Outside a phone store in the upscale neighborhood of Miramar, meanwhile, the line split in two and snaked off in different directions.
Teenagers and college students with expensive sunglasses and fashionable clothes dominated in the lines. But elderly housewives and an occasional construction worker with dusty boots and threadbare T-shirts also waited for the chance to buy.
Lines outside stores are common in Cuba since security personnel limit how many people are allowed in at a time, and phone centers are often especially crowded with Cubans waiting to pay their home phone bills.
But Monday's waits were longer than normal - and everyone who turned up was waiting for a cell phone contract.
"I am in need, I need to have one," said Juana Verdez, a retiree who said a cell phone would make it easier to stay in touch with family members.
People also were lining up for cell phones in Santiago, the island's second-largest city, although residents said the lines were not as long as in Havana. Waits were also reportedly shorter elsewhere across the country.
Only foreigners and Cubans holding key government posts were allowed to have cell phones since they first appeared on the island in 1991. Thousands of ordinary Cubans had already obtained mobile phones through the black market, but could activate them only by finding foreigners willing to lend their names to the contracts.
A March 28 announcement by Cuba's state-controlled telecommunications monopoly, a joint venture with Telecom Italia, made it legal for all Cubans to have phones in their own names.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Cubans get OK to buy "banned" electronic goods
MSNBC
Cubans get OK to buy electronic goods
First sign of reforms as Communists permit sale of computers, TVs, DVDs
Reuters
updated 8:53 a.m. PT, Thurs., March. 13, 2008
HAVANA - Communist Cuba has authorized the sale of computers, DVD and video players and other electrical appliances in the first sign President Raul Castro is moving to lift some restrictions on daily life.
"Based on the improved availability of electricity the government at the highest level has approved the sale of some equipment which was prohibited," said an internal government memo seen by Reuters.
It listed computers, video and DVD players, 19-inch and 24-inch television sets, electric pressure cookers and rice cookers, electric bicycles, car alarms and microwaves that can now be freely bought by Cubans.
Raul Castro, 76, has led Cuba since July 2006 when his older brother Fidel Castro provisionally handed over power after intestinal surgery from which he has never fully recovered.
The younger Castro formally became Cuba's first new leader in almost half a century on Feb. 24, and promised to ease some of the restrictions on daily life in Cuba.
"The country's priority will be to meet the basic needs of the population, both material and spiritual," Raul Castro said as he replaced his brother, a staunch critic of capitalist consumer society.
Last year, under Raul Castro's provisional government, customs regulations were eased to allow Cubans to bring in some electronic equipment and car parts.
Cubans get OK to buy electronic goods
First sign of reforms as Communists permit sale of computers, TVs, DVDs
Reuters
updated 8:53 a.m. PT, Thurs., March. 13, 2008
HAVANA - Communist Cuba has authorized the sale of computers, DVD and video players and other electrical appliances in the first sign President Raul Castro is moving to lift some restrictions on daily life.
"Based on the improved availability of electricity the government at the highest level has approved the sale of some equipment which was prohibited," said an internal government memo seen by Reuters.
It listed computers, video and DVD players, 19-inch and 24-inch television sets, electric pressure cookers and rice cookers, electric bicycles, car alarms and microwaves that can now be freely bought by Cubans.
Raul Castro, 76, has led Cuba since July 2006 when his older brother Fidel Castro provisionally handed over power after intestinal surgery from which he has never fully recovered.
The younger Castro formally became Cuba's first new leader in almost half a century on Feb. 24, and promised to ease some of the restrictions on daily life in Cuba.
"The country's priority will be to meet the basic needs of the population, both material and spiritual," Raul Castro said as he replaced his brother, a staunch critic of capitalist consumer society.
Last year, under Raul Castro's provisional government, customs regulations were eased to allow Cubans to bring in some electronic equipment and car parts.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Travelocity fined $183,000 for booking trips to Cuba
MH
Posted on Tue, Aug. 14, 2007
Travelocity fined $183,000 for booking trips to Cuba
BY DOUGLAS HANKS
Travelocity was fined nearly $183,000 for booking roughly 1,400 Cuba trips between 1998 and 2004, apparently the first time Washington has cracked down on a major online travel provider for violating the 1963 embargo on the communist nation.
Travelocity blamed the 1,458 violations on technical issues that were corrected years ago. ''In no way did the company intend to sell trips to Cuba,'' the spokeswoman, Ashley Johnson, wrote in an e-mail Tuesday. ``The trips to Cuba . . . were unintentionally booked online because of a technical issue several years ago and it's just now being settled.''
Johnson said the trips were booked in the United States. But Travelocity's penalty comes amid conflicts over foreign arms of U.S. firms selling trips into the popular Caribbean vacation spot. And it touches on the complications of isolating a country commercially amid an increasingly global and digital economy.
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control also fined American Express Travel for allowing its Mexican subsidiary to book two groups on Cuba trips in December 2002 and October 2003. But while American Express paid $16,625 for its two incidents, Travelocity was fined $182,750 for 1,458 violations, OFAC disclosed Saturday.
The Travelocity fine is the second-highest imposed by the OFAC during this fiscal year, ending Sept. 30. The highest fine -- $220,000 -- was levied on LogicaCMG of Lexington, Mass. Its predecessor, CMG Telecommunications, exported computers, electronic components and technical support knowing the goods were destined for Cuba in 2001.
FAMILIAR TERRITORY
The penalties do not seem to open up a new front in the Bush administration's energetic enforcement of laws designed to hurt Cuba's economy. Experts on the embargo said federal law is fairly clear that foreign subsidiaries of U.S. firms can't do business in Cuba, and that OFAC clarified the matter with travel companies five years ago.
At the time, an unknown Internet travel company had requested permission for its foreign website to book Cuba trips for people not subject to U.S. jurisdiction -- namely the 2 million people who vacation in Cuba each year.
The company, whose name OFAC did not disclose, noted travel providers had always been free to include information on Cuba flights, hotel rates and air fares on digital booking systems used by travel agents. Why should the online version be any different?
But in a 2002 letter, OFAC's director at the time, Richard Newcomb, said the Internet had transformed those booking systems into commercial ventures where financial transactions take place. As a result, the subsidiary was banned from selling Cuba trips. Clif Burns, an export lawyer specializing in Cuba, said the matter seemed settled with the letter. An OFAC official who did not want to be identified said Travelocity was the first large online travel provider to face an OFAC fine.
COMPLEX ISSUE
Still, the issue has gotten complicated amid the globalization trend.
Burns said European Union regulations bar companies operating in member countries from denying commerce to Cuba -- a rule that would apply to U.S. subsidiaries. He said EU regulators have not enforced the 1996 rule, so most U.S. companies adhere to Washington's protocol toward Havana.
And Kayak.com, a popular travel website operated out of Norwalk, Conn., does advertise Cuba vacations. Though Expedia, Travelocity and other large travel sites set their own prices, Kayak merely receives ''referral fees'' from travel providers who get business through the site, spokeswoman Kellie Pelletier said. Because of that, she said, it is free to post the Cuba offerings.
Founded in 1996, Travelocity is the sixth-largest U.S. travel agency; it ranks second in Internet sales. In 2006, the company booked $10.1 billion in travel worldwide.
Jorge Piñon, a senior research associate at the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, said the issue of online Cuban commerce can get complicated when dealing with U.S. websites.
''There's a lot of other things you can do with Cuba vis-à-vis the Internet,'' he said. ``I could be buying Cuban cigars in Spain [but] using an Internet service provider which is owned by a U.S. corporation.''
El Nuevo Herald staff writer Wilfredo Cancio Isla contributed to this report.
Posted on Tue, Aug. 14, 2007
Travelocity fined $183,000 for booking trips to Cuba
BY DOUGLAS HANKS
Travelocity was fined nearly $183,000 for booking roughly 1,400 Cuba trips between 1998 and 2004, apparently the first time Washington has cracked down on a major online travel provider for violating the 1963 embargo on the communist nation.
Travelocity blamed the 1,458 violations on technical issues that were corrected years ago. ''In no way did the company intend to sell trips to Cuba,'' the spokeswoman, Ashley Johnson, wrote in an e-mail Tuesday. ``The trips to Cuba . . . were unintentionally booked online because of a technical issue several years ago and it's just now being settled.''
Johnson said the trips were booked in the United States. But Travelocity's penalty comes amid conflicts over foreign arms of U.S. firms selling trips into the popular Caribbean vacation spot. And it touches on the complications of isolating a country commercially amid an increasingly global and digital economy.
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control also fined American Express Travel for allowing its Mexican subsidiary to book two groups on Cuba trips in December 2002 and October 2003. But while American Express paid $16,625 for its two incidents, Travelocity was fined $182,750 for 1,458 violations, OFAC disclosed Saturday.
The Travelocity fine is the second-highest imposed by the OFAC during this fiscal year, ending Sept. 30. The highest fine -- $220,000 -- was levied on LogicaCMG of Lexington, Mass. Its predecessor, CMG Telecommunications, exported computers, electronic components and technical support knowing the goods were destined for Cuba in 2001.
FAMILIAR TERRITORY
The penalties do not seem to open up a new front in the Bush administration's energetic enforcement of laws designed to hurt Cuba's economy. Experts on the embargo said federal law is fairly clear that foreign subsidiaries of U.S. firms can't do business in Cuba, and that OFAC clarified the matter with travel companies five years ago.
At the time, an unknown Internet travel company had requested permission for its foreign website to book Cuba trips for people not subject to U.S. jurisdiction -- namely the 2 million people who vacation in Cuba each year.
The company, whose name OFAC did not disclose, noted travel providers had always been free to include information on Cuba flights, hotel rates and air fares on digital booking systems used by travel agents. Why should the online version be any different?
But in a 2002 letter, OFAC's director at the time, Richard Newcomb, said the Internet had transformed those booking systems into commercial ventures where financial transactions take place. As a result, the subsidiary was banned from selling Cuba trips. Clif Burns, an export lawyer specializing in Cuba, said the matter seemed settled with the letter. An OFAC official who did not want to be identified said Travelocity was the first large online travel provider to face an OFAC fine.
COMPLEX ISSUE
Still, the issue has gotten complicated amid the globalization trend.
Burns said European Union regulations bar companies operating in member countries from denying commerce to Cuba -- a rule that would apply to U.S. subsidiaries. He said EU regulators have not enforced the 1996 rule, so most U.S. companies adhere to Washington's protocol toward Havana.
And Kayak.com, a popular travel website operated out of Norwalk, Conn., does advertise Cuba vacations. Though Expedia, Travelocity and other large travel sites set their own prices, Kayak merely receives ''referral fees'' from travel providers who get business through the site, spokeswoman Kellie Pelletier said. Because of that, she said, it is free to post the Cuba offerings.
Founded in 1996, Travelocity is the sixth-largest U.S. travel agency; it ranks second in Internet sales. In 2006, the company booked $10.1 billion in travel worldwide.
Jorge Piñon, a senior research associate at the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, said the issue of online Cuban commerce can get complicated when dealing with U.S. websites.
''There's a lot of other things you can do with Cuba vis-à-vis the Internet,'' he said. ``I could be buying Cuban cigars in Spain [but] using an Internet service provider which is owned by a U.S. corporation.''
El Nuevo Herald staff writer Wilfredo Cancio Isla contributed to this report.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
House eases rules on U.S. agriculture sales to Cuba
Miami Herald
Posted on Thu, Jun. 28, 2007
House eases rules on U.S. ag sales to Cuba
BY PABLO BACHELET
The House passed on Thursday an amendment that rolls back Bush administration restrictions on U.S. agricultural exporters to Cuba.
The amendment, offered by Kansas Republican Rep. Jerry Moran, was approved by a voice vote. It reverses a Bush administration view that Cuba has to pay in advance before agricultural goods are shipped to the island.
The approval came after Reps. Moran, New York Democrat Jose Serrano and Miami Republican Lincoln Diaz-Balart debated Cuba's ability to pay its creditors and whether more U.S. trade with Cuba would usher democratic reforms to the island.
The passage marks a rare victory for opponents of U.S. policy on Cuba, who have suffered a string of defeats since 2005, when some members of Congress have unsuccessfully attempted to overturn President Bush's gradual tightening of sanctions against the island on everything from travel to food exports.
But the victory was tempered by the fact that for the first time in nearly a decade, opponents of the travel restrictions to Cuba were unable to present any amendments to the financial services spending bill on technical grounds.
In 2005, the Bush administration interpreted a 2000 law that allows U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba as requiring payment from Havana before the goods are shipped to the island and not upon reception. This apparently minor change made it more expensive for Havana to purchase U.S. goods like rice and chicken.
Moran called his amendment a ''rather modest modification'' in U.S. Cuba policy and said agricultural exports had fallen since 2005 because of the new rule.
Diaz-Balart said the new rule protected U.S. exporters from Cuba's ''abysmal'' record of defaulting on its payments.
Posted on Thu, Jun. 28, 2007
House eases rules on U.S. ag sales to Cuba
BY PABLO BACHELET
The House passed on Thursday an amendment that rolls back Bush administration restrictions on U.S. agricultural exporters to Cuba.
The amendment, offered by Kansas Republican Rep. Jerry Moran, was approved by a voice vote. It reverses a Bush administration view that Cuba has to pay in advance before agricultural goods are shipped to the island.
The approval came after Reps. Moran, New York Democrat Jose Serrano and Miami Republican Lincoln Diaz-Balart debated Cuba's ability to pay its creditors and whether more U.S. trade with Cuba would usher democratic reforms to the island.
The passage marks a rare victory for opponents of U.S. policy on Cuba, who have suffered a string of defeats since 2005, when some members of Congress have unsuccessfully attempted to overturn President Bush's gradual tightening of sanctions against the island on everything from travel to food exports.
But the victory was tempered by the fact that for the first time in nearly a decade, opponents of the travel restrictions to Cuba were unable to present any amendments to the financial services spending bill on technical grounds.
In 2005, the Bush administration interpreted a 2000 law that allows U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba as requiring payment from Havana before the goods are shipped to the island and not upon reception. This apparently minor change made it more expensive for Havana to purchase U.S. goods like rice and chicken.
Moran called his amendment a ''rather modest modification'' in U.S. Cuba policy and said agricultural exports had fallen since 2005 because of the new rule.
Diaz-Balart said the new rule protected U.S. exporters from Cuba's ''abysmal'' record of defaulting on its payments.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Cuba's tourist economy in trouble
Miami Herald online
Posted on Tue, Apr. 03, 2007
Cuba's tourist economy in trouble
BY WILFREDO CANCIO ISLA
Cuba's tourism industry, the island's main economic engine for the past 15 years, is in a steep fall amid a mix of factors that range from rising air ticket prices to changes in tour ownerships and crumbling tourist facilities.
The first alarm rang late last year, when Ministry of Tourism (MinTur) figures showed 2.2 million people had visited the island in 2006, down from 2.3 million in 2005.
The decline has accelerated so far this year. January and February indicators show a combined drop of 7 percent compared to the same months in 2006, according to the most recent MinTur figures, with February visitation falling 13 percent.
Spanish tourists, historically the island's third-largest group, dropped by 45 percent over both months.
Cuba's tourism industry has been generating more than $2 billion per year in recent years, and provides direct and indirect employment to about 300,000 people.
Cuban authorities explaining the drop have cited a rise in air fares, due to the cost of fuel, currency exchange rate shifts and the scares of the notoriously violent 2005 hurricane season. Also mentioned are the Bush administration tightening of restrictions on Cuban-American trips to the island, which according to Cuban news media reports dropped from 100,000 in 2004 to about 30,000 a year since.
On the plunge in Spanish tourism, MinTur officials focused blame on the suspension of three weekly flights by the Iberojet charter airline and the sale of the cruise line Pullmantur to Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises. A Pullmantur ship used to sail every week from Havana after picking up tourists who had flown in from Madrid, but the company was forced to end its Cuba stops under the new owners because of the U.S. trade embargo.
LEFT UNSAID
But internal MinTur documents obtained by El Nuevo Herald, independent experts and tourism-sector workers on the island show there are other serious problems not mentioned by MinTur.
Most of Cuba's tourism facilities were built in the 1990s and have received little maintenance since then, said a MinTur official who asked for anonymity out of fear of government punishment.
''The structure created for years in the tourism industry is crumbling piecemeal,'' the employee said. ``Tourism in Cuba is headed for chaos and it will take years to revert the present situation.''
The MinTur documents also point to the inability of the Tourism Construction Enterprise (Emprestur) to repair hotels because of the lack of materials.
The employee said there's also widespread dissatisfaction with the way Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz and leading managers are running things. Marrero, former president of the Gaviota Group, run by the Cuban armed forces, and a trusted aide to Cuban interim leader and Defense Minister Raúl Castro, was appointed to the post in early 2004 after the removal of Ibrahim Ferradaz amid reports of a corruption scandal.
''What's happening in tourism is a reflection of a behavior that has spread nationwide,'' said dissident economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe on the phone from Havana. ``People are disgusted with the economic situation at home, workers don't take pride in their work and inertia corrupts the entire organization.''
PRICEY PESO
Also affecting tourism was the Cuban government's decision in late 2004 to effectively increase the value of its currency by 20 percent, making foreigners' hotel stays and meals in Cuba that more expensive.
``It was logical that a devalued dollar would cause a drop in tourism from Latin America and Canada, because the visitors from those countries buy very cheap packages, said Carmelo Mesa Lago, professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh and a long-time Cuban economy watcher.
With 44,000 hotel rooms, Cuba had an occupancy rate of 63.5 percent in 2004 and only 55.7 percent in 2005, according to the United Nation's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. The average daily expenditure per visitor dropped from $175 in 2003 to $97 in 2005.
MinTur has not released occupancy statistics for 2006, but the MinTur official estimated it at 50 percent.
Trying to reverse the trend, MinTur announced a strategic plan for 2007 that involves support for investments, construction of new facilities and repairs of existing hotels. The plan also envisions improved highways and road signs, and guarantees of electricity and water for the tourism industry.
Marrero has announced a ''total change in the philosophy of promotion and advertising for the island,'' and in January unveiled a campaign named ''Viva Cuba,'' designed to present a new image of the country, at the International Tourism Fair in Madrid.
Posted on Tue, Apr. 03, 2007
Cuba's tourist economy in trouble
BY WILFREDO CANCIO ISLA
Cuba's tourism industry, the island's main economic engine for the past 15 years, is in a steep fall amid a mix of factors that range from rising air ticket prices to changes in tour ownerships and crumbling tourist facilities.
The first alarm rang late last year, when Ministry of Tourism (MinTur) figures showed 2.2 million people had visited the island in 2006, down from 2.3 million in 2005.
The decline has accelerated so far this year. January and February indicators show a combined drop of 7 percent compared to the same months in 2006, according to the most recent MinTur figures, with February visitation falling 13 percent.
Spanish tourists, historically the island's third-largest group, dropped by 45 percent over both months.
Cuba's tourism industry has been generating more than $2 billion per year in recent years, and provides direct and indirect employment to about 300,000 people.
Cuban authorities explaining the drop have cited a rise in air fares, due to the cost of fuel, currency exchange rate shifts and the scares of the notoriously violent 2005 hurricane season. Also mentioned are the Bush administration tightening of restrictions on Cuban-American trips to the island, which according to Cuban news media reports dropped from 100,000 in 2004 to about 30,000 a year since.
On the plunge in Spanish tourism, MinTur officials focused blame on the suspension of three weekly flights by the Iberojet charter airline and the sale of the cruise line Pullmantur to Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises. A Pullmantur ship used to sail every week from Havana after picking up tourists who had flown in from Madrid, but the company was forced to end its Cuba stops under the new owners because of the U.S. trade embargo.
LEFT UNSAID
But internal MinTur documents obtained by El Nuevo Herald, independent experts and tourism-sector workers on the island show there are other serious problems not mentioned by MinTur.
Most of Cuba's tourism facilities were built in the 1990s and have received little maintenance since then, said a MinTur official who asked for anonymity out of fear of government punishment.
''The structure created for years in the tourism industry is crumbling piecemeal,'' the employee said. ``Tourism in Cuba is headed for chaos and it will take years to revert the present situation.''
The MinTur documents also point to the inability of the Tourism Construction Enterprise (Emprestur) to repair hotels because of the lack of materials.
The employee said there's also widespread dissatisfaction with the way Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz and leading managers are running things. Marrero, former president of the Gaviota Group, run by the Cuban armed forces, and a trusted aide to Cuban interim leader and Defense Minister Raúl Castro, was appointed to the post in early 2004 after the removal of Ibrahim Ferradaz amid reports of a corruption scandal.
''What's happening in tourism is a reflection of a behavior that has spread nationwide,'' said dissident economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe on the phone from Havana. ``People are disgusted with the economic situation at home, workers don't take pride in their work and inertia corrupts the entire organization.''
PRICEY PESO
Also affecting tourism was the Cuban government's decision in late 2004 to effectively increase the value of its currency by 20 percent, making foreigners' hotel stays and meals in Cuba that more expensive.
``It was logical that a devalued dollar would cause a drop in tourism from Latin America and Canada, because the visitors from those countries buy very cheap packages, said Carmelo Mesa Lago, professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh and a long-time Cuban economy watcher.
With 44,000 hotel rooms, Cuba had an occupancy rate of 63.5 percent in 2004 and only 55.7 percent in 2005, according to the United Nation's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. The average daily expenditure per visitor dropped from $175 in 2003 to $97 in 2005.
MinTur has not released occupancy statistics for 2006, but the MinTur official estimated it at 50 percent.
Trying to reverse the trend, MinTur announced a strategic plan for 2007 that involves support for investments, construction of new facilities and repairs of existing hotels. The plan also envisions improved highways and road signs, and guarantees of electricity and water for the tourism industry.
Marrero has announced a ''total change in the philosophy of promotion and advertising for the island,'' and in January unveiled a campaign named ''Viva Cuba,'' designed to present a new image of the country, at the International Tourism Fair in Madrid.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Fake pesos convertibles
| Posted on Tue, Dec. 19, 2006 |  |
| |
| CUBA Fake money prompts issuance of new bills in Cuba In a mission to combat fake currency, Cuba has introduced a new line of peso bills with tougher security measures. cuba@MiamiHerald.com In line at a Havana currency exchange house recently, 62-year-old Carlos suddenly saw the customer in front of him dash out at top speed as he heard the teller shout, ``Stop, chico! This is a fake!'' ''The guy took off running,'' said Carlos, a newspaper vendor whose last name was withheld by The Miami Herald for fear of reprisals. ``The guards went after him and probably wherever he got the counterfeits from. `SHARP AS A KNIFE' ``No one passes fake bills off on me. I'm as sharp as a knife with that.'' Responding to increasing reports of false convertible peso bills in Cuba, the Central Bank on Monday announced a new series of bills with enhanced security features. The bills are worthless anywhere else in the world, but are the main tender used for most shopping on the island. The new bills will include the denomination in the watermark, adding the value next to the hidden image of patriot José Martí. The back of each bill will also have a new picture, depending on its value. For example, the one-peso bill will show a picture of Martí's combat death; the three-peso bill, a picture of the 1958 battle of Santa Clara, in which rebels scored a victory over Batista's regime; the five-peso bill, a picture of the protest at Baragua in the struggle for independence from Spain. `FATHERLAND OR DEATH!' The bills maintain the security thread that reads ``Fatherland or death! We shall overcome!'' The Cuban government first introduced the convertible peso in 1994, shortly after legalizing the U.S. dollar. The greenback was pulled off the market in 2004, making the so-called ''cuc'' the most widely used legal tender on the island and the only way to buy most consumer goods. It is worth $1.08 but cannot be exchanged anywhere but in Cuba. The Cuban government has denounced the use of fake bills as an exile-driven plot to destroy the Cuban economy. During a 1999 terrorism trial in Cuba, a self-proclaimed spy for the Cuban government testified that a Cuban American National Foundation board member gave him thousands of fake pesos to dump on the Cuban economy. Some stores in Cuba keep a log of shoppers' names and ID numbers in case a 50-peso or 100-peso bill turns up fake. ''I saw a fake five cuc once given to a vendor last year,'' said Lorenzo, who works in a bookstore. ``But that is really, really rare. You're more likely to see a fake $100 American bill. Our bills are hard to copy.'' But several waiters, taxi drivers and currency exchange tellers in Havana said although counterfeits are uncommon, they pop up sporadically. `CUBANS KNOW' ''We have gotten fakes, mostly from tourists who don't know any better,'' said Damián, a waiter. ``Cubans know what to look for.'' The new bills will circulate alongside the old ones until the older bills are gradually withdrawn, Cuba's daily paper Granma reported. The Miami Herald withheld the name of the correspondent who filed this report because the author lacked the Cuban journalist visa required to work on the island. | |
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Battle over Cuban songs ends on a flat note
Battle over Cuban songs ends on a flat note
A legal dispute failed to determine who owns the song rights from Cuba's golden age of music.
BY FRANCES ROBLES
frobles@MiamiHerald.com
A U.S. music company lost its bid for rights to more than a dozen songs from the golden age of Cuban music, ending a six-year legal battle against the island's government in a London court.
After a protracted legal dispute that included moving the entire trial to Havana for a few days to take testimony there, a British judge decided last week not to give New Jersey-based Peer Music rights to 14 songs -- but he didn't give the rights to the Cuban government music publishing company either. The litigation was considered a critical test case that could have affected up to 600 of Cuba's most cherished oldies.
Having successfully fought off Peer's claim, the Cuban music publishers declared themselves winners in the case. It is likely to result in more litigation, since it is still unclear who has full rights to each song.
''We didn't get the brass ring,'' said Peter Jaegerman, senior vice president of Peer Music USA.
Peer Music signed up scores of Cuban artists in the 1930s and '40s, but the Cuban government canceled the contracts after Fidel Castro took power. For years, the U.S. embargo prevented the music company from paying royalties, and the money sat in bank accounts.
With the success of the Buena Vista Social Club, interest in the Cuban classics swelled and everyone from the Cuban government to music companies rushed to dust off aging contracts and royalty deals.
In 2000, Peer sued the German company Termidor, which had registered hundreds of Cuban songs in England on behalf of the Cuban state music company, Editora Musical de Cuba, known as EMC.
Peer argued that its contracts dating back to the '30s and '40s should be honored and that Termidor and EMC had illegally registered the 14 disputed songs. It asked the judge to declare Peer the rightful owners.
The first phase of the trial determined that Cuba could not unilaterally cancel Peer's contracts. Once that was decided, EMC sought to void the contracts, arguing that Peer misled the musicians by getting them to sign unfair deals over a few ``pesos and a bottle of rum.''
TESTIMONY IN CUBA
The case wound up moving to Cuba for a few days last year to get the testimony from elderly composers and their heirs. The case exposed the messy complications that result when dollars are at stake, memories are fuzzy and the average monthly wage hovers at about $15.
One witness testified that her signature on a Peer contract must have been copied because it said she was composer Manuel Corona's widow -- even though that would have made her 120 years old. She was actually his niece. Others said they signed papers they did not read, and one witness said he was a composer's only heir when in fact there were 10.
An 87-year-old composer testified that he never got a dime -- until they showed him canceled checks he signed, court records show.
Peer's representative in Cuba wound up accused of collaborating with an American company against the interests of the Cuban government. Former Peer rep Isabel Cordova, a Cuban lawyer who specialized in copyright issues, fled Cuba in 2002 to avoid a prison sentence and now lives in Miami.
''These composers were going hungry. Not one of them had a color TV or a refrigerator less than 50 years old,'' Cordova told the Miami Herald. ``I feel extraordinarily satisfied with the work I did. If I have one regret, it's that I should have dedicated every minute of my life to helping them more.''
She said the charges that Peer cheated the composers were taken out of context, considering the cost of living 60 years ago when the deals were signed.
Ultimately, the judge agreed, saying Peer's deals were standard for the time period and the company in fact paid $2.5 million in royalties to the artists once the U.S. embargo against Cuba was amended to allow it.
NO DECLARED WINNER
But the judge said he was unwilling to declare anyone the rightful owner of the songs because he feared setting a precedent in a case where so many more songs were potentially at stake, Peer's Jaegerman said.
''It was disappointing, but at the same time, it was an enormous vindication of the company,'' he said. 'Now they will never win on this `two drinks and a peso' folklore. We were really fighting a government here. They really wanted that money.''
EMC lawyer Graham Shear declined to comment.
A legal dispute failed to determine who owns the song rights from Cuba's golden age of music.
BY FRANCES ROBLES
frobles@MiamiHerald.com
A U.S. music company lost its bid for rights to more than a dozen songs from the golden age of Cuban music, ending a six-year legal battle against the island's government in a London court.
After a protracted legal dispute that included moving the entire trial to Havana for a few days to take testimony there, a British judge decided last week not to give New Jersey-based Peer Music rights to 14 songs -- but he didn't give the rights to the Cuban government music publishing company either. The litigation was considered a critical test case that could have affected up to 600 of Cuba's most cherished oldies.
Having successfully fought off Peer's claim, the Cuban music publishers declared themselves winners in the case. It is likely to result in more litigation, since it is still unclear who has full rights to each song.
''We didn't get the brass ring,'' said Peter Jaegerman, senior vice president of Peer Music USA.
Peer Music signed up scores of Cuban artists in the 1930s and '40s, but the Cuban government canceled the contracts after Fidel Castro took power. For years, the U.S. embargo prevented the music company from paying royalties, and the money sat in bank accounts.
With the success of the Buena Vista Social Club, interest in the Cuban classics swelled and everyone from the Cuban government to music companies rushed to dust off aging contracts and royalty deals.
In 2000, Peer sued the German company Termidor, which had registered hundreds of Cuban songs in England on behalf of the Cuban state music company, Editora Musical de Cuba, known as EMC.
Peer argued that its contracts dating back to the '30s and '40s should be honored and that Termidor and EMC had illegally registered the 14 disputed songs. It asked the judge to declare Peer the rightful owners.
The first phase of the trial determined that Cuba could not unilaterally cancel Peer's contracts. Once that was decided, EMC sought to void the contracts, arguing that Peer misled the musicians by getting them to sign unfair deals over a few ``pesos and a bottle of rum.''
TESTIMONY IN CUBA
The case wound up moving to Cuba for a few days last year to get the testimony from elderly composers and their heirs. The case exposed the messy complications that result when dollars are at stake, memories are fuzzy and the average monthly wage hovers at about $15.
One witness testified that her signature on a Peer contract must have been copied because it said she was composer Manuel Corona's widow -- even though that would have made her 120 years old. She was actually his niece. Others said they signed papers they did not read, and one witness said he was a composer's only heir when in fact there were 10.
An 87-year-old composer testified that he never got a dime -- until they showed him canceled checks he signed, court records show.
Peer's representative in Cuba wound up accused of collaborating with an American company against the interests of the Cuban government. Former Peer rep Isabel Cordova, a Cuban lawyer who specialized in copyright issues, fled Cuba in 2002 to avoid a prison sentence and now lives in Miami.
''These composers were going hungry. Not one of them had a color TV or a refrigerator less than 50 years old,'' Cordova told the Miami Herald. ``I feel extraordinarily satisfied with the work I did. If I have one regret, it's that I should have dedicated every minute of my life to helping them more.''
She said the charges that Peer cheated the composers were taken out of context, considering the cost of living 60 years ago when the deals were signed.
Ultimately, the judge agreed, saying Peer's deals were standard for the time period and the company in fact paid $2.5 million in royalties to the artists once the U.S. embargo against Cuba was amended to allow it.
NO DECLARED WINNER
But the judge said he was unwilling to declare anyone the rightful owner of the songs because he feared setting a precedent in a case where so many more songs were potentially at stake, Peer's Jaegerman said.
''It was disappointing, but at the same time, it was an enormous vindication of the company,'' he said. 'Now they will never win on this `two drinks and a peso' folklore. We were really fighting a government here. They really wanted that money.''
EMC lawyer Graham Shear declined to comment.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
"Diplo Santería"
Diplo Santería and Pseudo-Orishas (taken from Eleda.org)
©Miguel W. Ramos, Ilarí Obá, Obá Oriaté
In the past ten to fifteen years, there has been an incredible upsurge in the number of unknown orishas turning up in Cuba whose origins are extremely suspicious. These pseudo-orishas that I have chosen to call diplo-orishas were produced for the diplo-santería market. This is a market under the auspices of a particular group of unscrupulous and deceitful diplo-santeros that caters to the extranjeros-foreigners- who visit the island seeking an alleged and idealized religious Mecca. Any extranjero carrying dollars or any other form of hard currency qualifies to enter the market. They then end up exploited and victimized by a corrupt and devious group of religious prostitutes that prey on other people’s sincere faith and unfortunate naiveté.
I will only address the issue of the diplo-orishas, though this is by no means the only religious monstruosity committed by the diplo-santeros. There is now an entire sector of the market dedicated to rituals, the creation of hand-written manuscripts made to look old and thereby authentic, ordination into Yoruba societies that never survived the Middle Passage, plagiarism of books. The list could go on indefinitely. It is my sincere hope that this exposé will inspire others to speak out against this abominable heresy, Olorishas and Babalawós too, as there are as many attrocities being committed by the diplo-babalawós as well. It is really sad that these scoundrels are abusing the legacy that our ancestors left us and tarnishing the name of our religion and its adopted home, all in the name of profit! As an and a Cuban I feel doubly offended. A vast majority of the serious and respectful Olorishas on the island are just as incensed as I.
The list not follows is by no means complete as I am sure that at present, there are many new pseudo-orishas in the process of canonization! With all the orishas that are now appearing in Cuba, is it possible that a new Ilé Ifé is sprouting up in Havana?
read the list and extensive commentary here: http://ilarioba.tripod.com/articlesmine/diplorishas.htm
©Miguel W. Ramos, Ilarí Obá, Obá Oriaté
In the past ten to fifteen years, there has been an incredible upsurge in the number of unknown orishas turning up in Cuba whose origins are extremely suspicious. These pseudo-orishas that I have chosen to call diplo-orishas were produced for the diplo-santería market. This is a market under the auspices of a particular group of unscrupulous and deceitful diplo-santeros that caters to the extranjeros-foreigners- who visit the island seeking an alleged and idealized religious Mecca. Any extranjero carrying dollars or any other form of hard currency qualifies to enter the market. They then end up exploited and victimized by a corrupt and devious group of religious prostitutes that prey on other people’s sincere faith and unfortunate naiveté.
I will only address the issue of the diplo-orishas, though this is by no means the only religious monstruosity committed by the diplo-santeros. There is now an entire sector of the market dedicated to rituals, the creation of hand-written manuscripts made to look old and thereby authentic, ordination into Yoruba societies that never survived the Middle Passage, plagiarism of books. The list could go on indefinitely. It is my sincere hope that this exposé will inspire others to speak out against this abominable heresy, Olorishas and Babalawós too, as there are as many attrocities being committed by the diplo-babalawós as well. It is really sad that these scoundrels are abusing the legacy that our ancestors left us and tarnishing the name of our religion and its adopted home, all in the name of profit! As an and a Cuban I feel doubly offended. A vast majority of the serious and respectful Olorishas on the island are just as incensed as I.
The list not follows is by no means complete as I am sure that at present, there are many new pseudo-orishas in the process of canonization! With all the orishas that are now appearing in Cuba, is it possible that a new Ilé Ifé is sprouting up in Havana?
read the list and extensive commentary here: http://ilarioba.tripod.com/articlesmine/diplorishas.htm
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