Business & Economy

Cuba hopes to revive its sugar industry as part of the recently announced economic changes and take advantage of good international prices for what was once the Caribbean island’s main export.

The final draft of the economic reforms approved by the VI Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba will hit the newsstands in tabloid form as of Monday. Another document to be sold includes the reasoning behind the changes made in the initial “guidelines” document presented to the 1,000 delegate congress and the population in general.

Alejandro Francisco Roca, a former food industry minister, was handed down a 15-year prison sentence this week for corruption charges involving the Chilean-Cuban joint venture company Rio Zaza.

While most of the island’s workers had the day off on Monday, Cuba’s International Tourism Fair kicked off in the capital. Cuba will present its latest tourism products at the annual week-long event attended by tourist agency reps from dozens of countries.

The Cuban Worker’s Confederation (CTC) is calling on workers to turn out for Sunday’s International Worker’s Day parade in support of the reforms approved less than two weeks ago by the 6th Communist Party Congress.

Just two weeks after a major military parade to remember the 1961 defeat of the Bay of Pigs invasion, many Cubans will march again on Sunday May 1, International Workers Day. Since the holiday falls on Sunday the Ministry of Labor announced today that Monday May 2 would be treated as a national holiday at the island’s workplaces.

Taking a look at the reforms being and to be implemented in Cuba’s economy I came up with some indicators that we can evaluate five years down the road (and consider along the way) to see if the reforms have a positive impact on life under Cuban socialism.