Business & Economy

Managers acknowledged that these subsidies — whose ceiling is 80,000 Cuban pesos (about $3,200 USD) — will offer some limited help but is not seen as the complete solution to the housing problems of the country.

Rousseff’s trip to Havana is designed to seek an increase in bilateral exchange at a time when Cuba implements reforms that signify an opening in its economy for investment.

About 80 percent of all private sector workers on the island have joined the trade union movement, said Salvador Valdes Mesa, the general secretary of the Confederation of Cuban Workers.

As of the beginning of this month, the Astro Business Group was renamed the National Bus Company, and its “corporate structure was reduced.”

The Third Latin American Colloquium of Beekeepers, sponsored by various Cuban scientific institutions and the Cuban Society of Beekeepers, will take place from April 3 to 6 in Havana.

As of yesterday, a new air corridor between Argentina and Holguin province in eastern Cuba was established. The flights will take place every Tuesday on a Boeing 767 with capacity for 300 passengers.

The massive “Scarabeo 9” oil rig arrived in the Caribbean island country of Trinidad and Tobago on December 24, where it is undergoing an inspection before leaving for Cuba this coming weekend. The rig was built in Shanghai at a cost of US 750 million.

The Cuban government will begin providing subsidies to low-income families for home improvements. The initiative will mainly benefit those families affected by catastrophes or natural disasters like hurricanes, as well as those people who live in at-risk conditions due to poverty.

Cuba started 2012 with just over 11,240,000 inhabitants, an amount similar to that in early 2011. Low levels of fertility on the island and emigration are two of the key factors.