The Council of State, the highest body of power in Cuba, agreed to appoint Gustavo Rodríguez as minister of agriculture with the aim that the current minister, Ulises Rosales del Toro, “dedicate himself full time to the strategic task of the sustainable increase of agricultural production.”
Read MoreThe National Assembly of People’s Power (parliament) will discuss during its next regular session a bill for the division of Havana province, bordering on the Cuban capital, into two new territories: Mayabeque and Artemisa, reported IPS. The measure would attempt to make more efficient the administration of that area, one of the Caribbean country’s key agricultural regions.
Read MoreLast year Cuba received 81,000 tourists more than in 2008 but revenues from the tourist industry decreased by 10 per cent, according to a report released by the National Office of Statistics (ONE). Canada continues at the head of the issuing markets, with 914,000 visitors, while the number of U.S. tourists increased 25 per cent, to surpass the figure of 52,000, including many Cuban-Americans visiting family.
Read MoreCuba reduced by close to half its commercial exchange with Canada in 2009 and to more than a third with Spain, Italy and Venezuela, revealed a report by the National Office of Statistics (ONE). According to the source, last year imports fell to eight billion dollars as compared to 14 billion in 2008.
Read MoreCuba and China will build a new luxury hotel in the tourist area of the Hemingway Marina, in the island’s capital, reported IPS. The new installation, which will have 650 rooms, will form part of the joint ventures in areas such as the machine and light industry, communications, agricultural production and tourism.
Read MoreThe Cuban Vegas Robaina Famoso cigar won the Best of the Best of 2009 Prize, awarded by Moscow’s Cigar Clan organization, which also sponsored an exhibition of 50 works by 15 of the island’s visual artists, reported IPS. The competition, in which several countries participated, also recognized brands from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
Read MoreThe Ridley Thomas ship docked in the port of Santiago de Cuba, in the island’s eastern region, where it will continue the exploration of the underwater seabed for the optic fibre cable that will come from Venezuela in early 2011 and will greatly increase the Caribbean country’s communication possibilities, announced Anthony Pyne, manager of China’s Geological Projects Company.
Read MoreThis is not the first time the topic has been discussed in that nation’s capital. Last year the Brookings Institution sponsored a similar event in which panelists called on the Obama administration and Congress to recognize the potential danger posed to Florida’s Atlantic shores by Cuba’s eventual deep water drilling in the Gulf and to begin a dialogue with the island’s government that would lead to a comprehensive prevention and mitigation plan.
Read MoreA new joint venture oil company has been established involving state run firms in Venezuela (Pdvsa), Cuba (Cupet) and Angola (Sanangol), reported Pdvsa in a press release. The company will pump some 20,000 barrels a day in eastern Venezuela.
Read MoreVenezuelan President Hugo Chávez sent a commission of experts to Cuba to advise the island on how to address the oil slick from the Gulf of Mexico, which will possibly affect its coasts in a few weeks, announced the president. The delegation, headed by the vice president of the state-run PDVSA oil company, Eulogio Del Pino, will help to organize simulations to preview the consequences of the oil spill.
Read More