Business & Economy

Cuban President Raúl Castro headed Wednesday the start of sessions of the Cuban parliament, which will discuss the economic reforms proposed to be approved at the next congress of the ruling Communist Party.

The governments of Cuba and Greece decided to renew official cooperation on political and economic issues, according to an agreement signed in this capital by Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis and his Cuban counterpart Dagoberto Rodríguez, the accredited press on the island reported. Greece is the third European Union country, after Spain and France, to resume these links with the Caribbean nation.

The Cuban population will be affected by the economic adjustments begun by the government at least during 2011 and 2012, but “in 2013 I have no doubts the benefits will start to be seen,” affirmed Joaquín Infante, National Economy Prize winner. “We have no other alternative but to rectify so many things,” said the expert, who recognized mistakes made in the management of Cuba’s economy over the last five decades.

China could extend to other regions of Cuba cooperation in rice cultivation, which has been effective in the eastern province of Ganma, Liu Yuqin, ambassador of the Asian country on the island, affirmed during a tour of the country’s central region. The diplomat also mentioned the possibility of attracting Chinese tourists to the hotels on the keys on the northern coast of Cuba.

The 2010-2011 sugar harvest began with the start of grinding at two sugar mills in western Cuba. Thirty-nine sugar factories will be working in this campaign, four less than the previous harvest, the worse in more than a century.

The Cuban community in the United States has become the second source of visitors to Cuba, reported IPS. It is estimated that this year some 330,000 persons will travel to the island on direct flights from the United States. This takeoff responds to the lifting of travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans decreed in 2009 by President Barack Obama. Other US citizens are not allowed to visit Cuba with special US Treasury Dept. permission.

After having closed the doors to cruise ships in 2005, Cuba is retaking that tourism alternative with the start of operations by two vessels, the Gemini and the Russian ship Adriana.. Every year the island receives more than two million tourists, the majority from Canada and some European countries.

The United States Congress will not discuss in its last sessions of this year a bill that would have lifted the restrictions on travel to Cuba, said Democratic Senator Bill Delahunt. Starting January, the bill could face a definitive opposition in the new House of Representatives, dominated by the Republican Party, and in the Senate where the Democrats lost part of their majority.

The governments of Cuba and France resumed official cooperation, after more than seven years of rupture because of the imprisonment of dissidents on the island in 2003. Both countries will concentrate their collaboration in areas such as agriculture, health, the environment, scientific research, the teaching of French and culture.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov affirmed today in the Russian capital of Moscow that inter-parliamentary cooperation between his country and Cuba surpassed the simple stage of exchange of delegations. In the new stage of contacts by specific departments, the economic issue will have top-notch attention, Riabkov said.