Business & Economy

Cuba will receive a loan from the Saudi Fund for Development to refurbish several maternity hospitals on the island, affected by the economic crisis the country has faced over the last 20 years.

Cuba and Venezuela agreed to create a new joint venture that will work with oil and gas prospecting in the north of Venezuela for the next 25 years, according to a communiqué from the Venezuelan state-run PDVSA Oil Company, which will share the costs and benefits with Cuba’s CUPET Oil Company.

Cell phone call prices in Cuba will begin to drop the first week of May, announced the Communications Ministry on Thursday, which says the goal is to increase service access and use. The changes involve both international and local calls. For Cubans calling family and friends abroad the good news is that the steep rates will drop from 42 to 75%.

Cuban President Raul Castro returned home at midday on Wednesday after attending a summit of the Boliviarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) in Caracas, Venezuela. Meanwhile, Cuban VP Esteban Lazo arrived in Cochabamba, Bolivia on Wednesday to attend the World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth hosted by Bolivian President Evo Morales.

The newly created Comptroller’s office in Cuba announced it will carry out hundreds of surprise audits of state business firms and institutions through May 21, hoping to verify the use of resources, informed IPS on Tuesday. Corruption at all levels is widely recognized as a leading problem facing the future of Cuba’s 51-year-old revolution.

Rios, 47, won the 2010 award for Islands and Island Nations for promoting sustainable agriculture while working with farmers to increase crop diversity and reduce reliance on pesticides and fertilizer.

Alejandro Robaina, Cuba’s most famous grower in a country known worldwide for having the best tobacco, died at the age of 91. His funeral is set for Sunday afternoon in his Pinar del Rio municipality of San Luis.

Robaina is the only Cuban farmer who, in life, had his name used as a brand of Havana cigars (Vegas Robaina). He worked in tobacco since he began helping his father at the age of 12.

Chilean businessman Roberto Gabriel Baudrand Valdes, who was found dead in his apartment on April 13, died of “acute respiratory insufficiency” related to the consumption of medicines and alcohol, states the Cuban government in an official note published on Friday.

Cuban barbers and hairdressers maybe at the forefront of a new move to allow some small scale private businesses on the island.

Some 100 specialists from several countries will debate issues such as the relationship between renewable energy sources and food security and water supply during the 9th Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development International Workshop that will be held starting Tuesday in the eastern province of Granma, announced Amado Calzadilla of the Organizing Committee. The event is sponsored by the Cuban Society for the Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources and Respect for the Environment (CUBASOLAR).