Business & Economy

Cuba Explorations for Underwater Cable

The 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 More

Contingency Plans for Cuba Oil Spill

This 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 More

New Venezuela-Cuba-Angola Oil Co.

A 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 More

Venezuela Advises Cuba on BP Spill

Venezuelan 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

US-Cuba Collaborate to face Oil Slick

US and Cuban specialists are exchanging information in Havana on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico with the aim of confronting this disaster’s possible consequences on the environment, informed Virginia Staab, spokesperson for the US State Department. She said that her government wants to maintain “a clear line of communication” on the matter with Havana.

Read More

Sharp Drop in Cuba’s Farm Production

Agricultural production reported strong decreases in the first quarter of this year as compared to 2009 in key food products in Cuba, according to a report by the National Office of Statistics (ONE). While the collection of tubers in general increased 4.5 per cent and rice, essential in the island’s diet, the production of beans and vegetables fell by 40.5 and 35.1 per cent, respectively. Moreover, citrus fruit decreased 21.6 per cent.

Read More

Miami-Cuba Flights Could Be Interrupted

A lawsuit against the U.S. companies that carry out trips to Cuba could interrupt Miami-Havana flights if it is accepted by a state of Florida court, reported IPS citing Mexico’s La Jornada daily. The lawsuit presented by Ana Margarita Martínez would freeze the funds that those entities use to pay their counterpart in Cuba, Havanatur, and as a result the air link would be suspended.

Read More

Cuba Hopes to Export Flowers

Cuban specialists expressed their will to turn the country into an exporter of flowers, a product that used to be exported to the United States before 1959, it was reported to the press during the FLORIMAT 2010 First National Workshop, being held in the western city of Matanzas. The participants favored opening up to the introduction of clones and using the areas with microclimates in the island.

Read More

Cuba Won’t Be Affected by Oil Slick

Cuba’s coasts will not be affected by the oil slick that is advancing in the Gulf of Mexico toward the United States due to the explosion of an oil rig Last April 20, affirmed Orlando Rey, a specialist with the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment (CITMA). Nevertheless, the region’s biodiversity will suffer the effects of the oil spill, pointed out the expert.

Read More

More Marinas & Golf Courses for Cuba

The Cuban tourism authorities are negotiating 13 investment projects in marinas, golf courses and other tourist installations, announced Minister of Tourism Manuel Marrero, who affirmed that the juridical instrument that regulates those agreements will come out soon. Marrero also recognized that tourism from the United States will be important “when the travel ban is lifted.”

Read More