Business & Economy

The Cuban government announced today that it will repeal a law passed under former President Fidel Castro in 2000 that imposed a 10 percent tax on every phone call made between the island and the United States.

The governments of Cuba and Haiti, on Wednesday in Havana, signed eight cooperation agreements in the fields of health, education, agriculture, food industry, and iron and steel.

Cuba’s Council of State on Thursday confirmed the elimination of the Ministry of Basic Industry (MINBAS) and the creation of the Ministry of Energy and Mines.

The Cuban government expects that in three years its fleet of oceanic freight carriers will recover to levels similar to those of the 1980s. The overall strategy of the Ministry of Transportation is to develop the use of its rail and maritime fleet to replace shipments of goods by truck.

The Cuba government has approved the creation of a business group that will bring together 38 state companies in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, two fields on which Raul Castro government is placing much hope.

The joint venture Brascuba SA will soon start production in Cuba of Brazilian “Plaza” brand cigarettes. The goal is to export 500 million units by 2017, while at the same time gain consumers here on the island.

An Ecuadorian bank headquartered in Miami, Florida, was forced by the US government to block the delivery of $101,000 to the Cuban Council of Churches from the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI).

The Cuban parliament will meet in one of its two brief annual sessions starting on December 13th, announced chairman Ricardo Alarcon on Friday.

Cuban authorities decided to suspend, beginning November 27, the operating permits for charter flights to the island under Airline Brokers and C & T Charters.

One of the nickel plants is now operational in the town of Moa, Holguin, after having suffered damage from Hurricane Sandy last month.