Business & Economy

Mail service from Cuba to the United States has returned to the old icy Cold War status after a brief lapse of exchange over the last year. Once again, it is Cuban families with relatives on both sides of the Florida Straits that will most suffer the consequences.

Cuba will show its attractions for international tourism at the International Tourism Fair (FITUR 2011) to be held in Madrid, Spain, through Jan. 23. The island, which is being presented as a nature, events and incentive travel destination, this year expects a growth of around 10 per cent in tourist arrivals.

Cuba’s Habanos S.A. filed suit before the European Union General Court demanding the annulment of the recognition of the Kiowa cigar brand, produced by Tabacos de Centroamérica, due to its resemblance to the renowned Cohiba brand, the media in Brussels, Belgium, reported. Kiowa was recognized by the Domestic Market Harmonization Office, which rejected the claims by the island’s company.

More than 85 per cent of the homes damaged by Hurricane Ike in the north eastern province of Holguín were recovered until 2010, Archi Felipe Lam Ayala, provincial housing director, announced. That hurricane affected 124,838 homes in that part of the island.

The White House announced on Friday that President Obama plans to allow students and organized groups to go to Cuba as “purposeful travel” similar to what took place under the Clinton administration.

The Cuban capital was able to economize 17 million dollars in 2010 by saving 98.7 gigawatts/hour, announced Inaudys Mora Fonseca, general director of the Electricity Conglomerate in the island’s main city, the only province that met last year’s electricity saving plan established by the authorities.

Cuba will import black and blond tobacco, as well as rice, from Ecuador, among other products that traditionally did not form part of the bilateral trade exchange, the Foreign Ministry of the Andean nation reported. Both countries signed an economic protocol that establishes tariff preferences for hundreds of products.

Agricultural products with the greatest demand in Cuba suffered a notable drop in 2010, especially potatoes, beans and rice, regulars in meals of families on the island, notes last year’s Economic and Social Panorama, published by the National Office of Statistics. Although in general fruit, tubers and cereal production grew, the balance compared to 2009 was unfavorable in garden vegetables, leguminous plants and citrus.

The Cohiba Behike BHK 52 cigar brand, produced in the Havana factory of El Laguito, was declared the best in the world by the specialized Cigar Aficionado magazine, which described 2010 as the best year for Cuban cigars because of their excellent quality.

The Cuban authorities have received more than 83,000 license applications for self-employment since the opening to the private sector decreed by the government late last October, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security announced. The measure is an attempt to absorb part of the half million persons who will be laid off until next March.