Business & Economy

The Cubarte network, one of the governmental institutions charged with providing access to the Intranet, Internet and email on the island, reported today that its users are experiencing difficulties with Internet browsing that will continue throughout the visit of Pope Benedict XVI (March 26-28).

Carlos Saladrigas, a Cuban-American businessman and politician, will lecture in Havana this coming Friday March 30 at the Centro Cultural Padre Felix Varela, attached to the local Roman Catholic archdiocese.

Discussions took place in the US Congress on Wednesday concerning draft legislation that would allow American companies to drill for oil in Cuba-controlled waters off the island’s coast.

Opening its a pavilion at Panama’s Expocomer trade fair yesterday, Cuba presented 26 companies interested in featuring their products for export.

The United States government is continuing to harass Spanish firms that have commercial interests in Cuba, according to a report that broke on Wednesday in Spain’s El Pais newspaper.

An agency within the US Treasury Department has threatened to suspend the licenses of operators that advertise trips to Cuba with suggestions of tours.

The Central Bank of Cuba changed the rules governing the import and export of hard currency in whatever monetary units, as well as Cuban pesos (CUPs) and Cuban Convertible Pesos (CUCs).

Lobbyists in the United States are pressing Congress to pass a law that will levy a 10 per cent “user fee” on agricultural and telephone companies, remittances and travel transactions involving Cuba.

Delays by the Cuban government in assessing international collaboration projects are leaving foreign aid workers in complete limbo, according to a report released this week by Havana correspondents of the IPS news agency.