As part of a clampdown on violations of “city planning legislation”, Raul Castro’s government is applying severe control measures on privately-run business around the capital, many of which have been shut down by authorities in recent months.
Read MoreIn Cuba, the BRICS are presented to us as an alternative to the hegemony of the United States and its Western European allies. While this may well be a valid contrast, we must look behind such apparently simple remarks, for they point to the fact that half of humanity has undertaken a form of development that was in no way foreseen by the communists who steered the educational system and ideology in my country for many years.
Read MoreBrazil is weighing granting the construction company Odebrecht a $150 million credit to remodel airport terminals in Havana and other Cuban cities, reports the Reuters news agency, citing unidentified official sources. The credit would be issued by the Brazilian Development Bank, BNDS.
Read MoreThe strongman of the Cuban economy, Marino Murillo, began Thursday a working visit to Brazil. Currently, Brazil is financing projects in Cuba in sectors such as food, agriculture and infrastructure, among which are the promotion of genetically modified crops in the center of the island, and the mega-port of Mariel Bay.
Read MoreThe Cuban government will implement new taxes in 2014, the Minister of Finance and Prices, Lina Pedraza Rodriguez, told the Council of Ministers on Tuesday. Pedraza also announced that as of next year State owned companies will be able to use up to 50% of their profits after taxes, for development, investment and direct stimulation to their workers.
Read MoreMarino Murillo, one of Cuba’s vice presidents and considered the gatekeeper of the Communist Party’s economic “updating”, told the Council of Ministers on Tuesday that a first group of 126 non-agricultural cooperatives will be operational soon.
Read MoreThe Cuban government has issued a regulation for “maquiladora” companies that will operate in the future Special Development Zone at Mariel, a port west of Havana that’s being expanded into a major facility, reports AFP.
Read MoreDirect flights between Miami and the eastern Cuban city of Manzanillo begin today for the first time, through the company Wilson International reported Café Fuerte. The air link between the two cities will depart every Monday at 2 pm. Another similar service to Camaguey is set to start on April 16.
Read MoreThe US embargo on Cuba has made possible the continued theft of the island’s famous Cohiba Cigar trademark by the US firm General Cigars.
Read MoreMore than 50 thousand cubic meters of timber, demolished by Hurricane Sandy last October, are about to be lost in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, while the resource is scarce at the sales points for building materials needed by the population, reported the Café Fuerte website.
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