Business & Economy

The opening to the private farmer sector in 2008 made it possible to begin the recovery of pineapple production in the central province of Ciego de Avila, known in Cuba for the traditional cultivation of that fruit. The pineapple harvest dropped from more than 30,000 tons in 1991 to a bit over 200 tons in 2006.

The fiber optic cable that will link Cuba with Venezuela has just arrived in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba. Cuba is now five months away from considerably faster telecommunications and Internet capability, touted to be 3,000 times greater than present.

“There is no political obstacle” for the Cuban government that prevents the development of telecommunications on the island, which would open access to the Internet for all of society’s actors, Deputy Minister of Informatics and Communications Jorge Luis Perdomo affirmed in a conference during the Informatics 2011 event being held in this capital.

Specialists from the Centre for the Development of El Salvador Mountain, in the eastern province of Guantánamo, are introducing new technologies in the cultivation of coconut, whose production has nose-dived in the last 20 years, the local press reported. The aim is to raise the results in coconut plantations through a management that is “more sustainable based on the use of local resources and adapted to the specific conditions of each area,” said Albaro Blanco Imbert, researcher with that scientific center.

Cuba will have its first telecommunications law in 2011, Wilfredo López, director of Regulations and Standards of the Ministry of Informatics and Communications, affirmed. According to the official, the legislation will establish frameworks on the use of the radio spectrum, the social role of telecommunications and the rights of operators, be they public or private.

The Cuban agriculture authorities hope to recover the production of cacao, whose decrease has forced the country to import that product that is especially harvested in the eastern province of Guantánamo. The drop in that sector is due, among other reasons, to problems with transportation and insufficient payment to producers, reported IPS.

Spain’s Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit of the U.S. Bacardí Company and recognized the ownership by the French Pernod Ricard Company and its Cuban partner Cuba Ron of the Havana Club brand, the press in Madrid reported. Havana Club is sold in 124 countries, but cannot be marketed in the United States due to the blockade against the island, reported IPS.

The application of double shifts does not resolve the delay in Cuban constructions, where “finishing a building in time, with quality and without exceeding the assigned budget, is a chimera,” according to an article published today in the official Granma daily. The application of this measure has faced problems such as lack of workers, material resources, and organizational deficiencies.

For decades taxation has not been a part of the national scene in Cuba, with almost all workers earning a salary from the state. Today’s economic crisis, along with the massive layoffs underway, has made paying taxes essential for the government’s plans to meet social expenditures.