CUBA BUSINESS SECTION - Havana Journal > Business In Cuba
Cuba has more than one peso
Cuba has always been known as one of the hottest travel destinations in the Caribbean. Before the 1959 revolution, Americans loved to visit Cuba. The island is filled with exotic beaches, fabulous hotels and casinos that never close. Since the revolution, Cuba has been subjected to U.S. travel, and trade embargoes. The value of the American Dollar went to zero after the revolution and Cuba’s economy suffered a dramatic decline. Cuba decided to link their Peso with the Soviet Union’s Ruble when U.S. relations broke down and that moved stimulated their economy. Tourism became…
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Havana Journal
The traditional Artisan Market of the Cathedral Square has found a new venue in a recently refurbished Pier store, formerly the San José stores, a work done by the Office of the Historian in order to preserve and protect the Havana’s heritage and create a new place for the promotion and enjoyment of genuine values of the Cuban culture.
The new center, long considered the oldest of the harbor piers, located at the Avenida del Puerto and right on Havana harbor, the area has been, since ancient times, a commercial location and pier…
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By Marc Frank | Reuters
Cuba has ordered all state enterprises to adopt “extreme measures” to cut energy usage through the end of the year in hopes of avoiding the dreaded blackouts that plagued the country following the 1991 collapse of its then-top ally, the Soviet Union.
In documents seen by Reuters, government officials have been warned that the island is facing a “critical” energy shortage that requires the closing of non-essential factories and workshops and the shutting down of air conditioners and refrigerators not needed to preserve food and medicine.
Cuba has cut government spending and slashed imports after…
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By SHEILA RILEY | FOR INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY
Cuba, land of beaches, salsa clubs, aging U.S. cars and .. . high-tech?
The communist island nation can become a tech success story, says Mark Entwistle, Canada’s former ambassador to Cuba.
With a population of just 11.4 million, Cuba already does high-level medical care and research, particularly in the areas of cancer, meningitis and AIDS, Entwistle says.
Cuba also has a developing biotech industry, and the government is working to develop the information technology field as well, he says.
The former ambassador says the island has a large number…
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By Esteban Israel | Reuters
A popular website of classified ads that has given Cubans a taste of the free market has been blocked on the communist-run island, Internet users said.
Cubans trying to access Revolico.com, which says it has more than 1.5 million page views a month, are being diverted to the search engine Google.com.
“If I type the address and press ‘enter,’ I get redirected. If I Google it and click, I get redirected. What is going on?,” asked Sandra a 30-year-old government employee who, like several others interviewed, did not give their full names.
Cuban…
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By Marc Frank in Havana | Financial Times
The Cuban government is considering easing its stranglehold on the retail sector in an effort to legalize the underground economy and reduce massive theft. It is President Raul Castro’s second big economic reform after last year’s decentralization of agriculture and the leasing of idle state land.
A recent communiqué from the Communist party’s central committee suggested change was coming to one of the world’s two remaining Soviet-style command economies, the other being North Korea.
“Raul stated the key premises for economic policy to the end of the year and next were decentralization…
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AP
Upscale grocery stores that were scheduled to close two days last week for inventory remained shuttered Monday — sparking rumors of food shortages because of the country’s dire economic situation.
More than a dozen stores in Cuba’s capital that had been run by the now-defunct firm Cubalse closed Thursday to tally merchandise before they were transferred to the new managing company, TRD Caribe. The change is part of a government effort to streamline bureaucracy.
When they didn’t reopen Saturday as scheduled, customers started to get concerned. Cuba has seen its revenue from nickel and other exports plummet, leaving it…
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By WILL WEISSERT | Associated Press
Raul Castro announced Saturday that Cuba will cut spending on education and health care, potentially weakening the building blocks of its communist system in a bid to revive a foundering economy.
The former defense minister who took over the presidency last year called state spending “simply unsustainable” and said the cash-strapped government would reorganize rural schools and scrutinize its free health care system in search of ways to save money.
But he vowed that the island will not see fundamental change even after he and his older brother and predecessor, Fidel Castro, are…
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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cuba on Friday suspended plans for a Communist Party congress and lowered its 2009 economic growth projection to 1.7 percent — nearly a full percentage point — as the island’s economy struggles through a “very serious” crisis.
In a closed-door meeting of the Communist Party Central Committee, officials agreed to postpone indefinitely the first congress since 1997, which had been announced for the second half of this year.
The gathering was to chart Cuba’s political future long after President Raul Castro and his brother Fidel are gone. Instead, top communists will try and pull their country back…
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By Marc Frank | Reuters
Cash-strapped Cuba should consider putting more of its state-run economy in the hands of producers, as President Raul Castro has done with agriculture, the country’s top economic commentator said on Tuesday.
Ariel Terrero, during his regular Tuesday appearance on state-run television, did not call for private management, but suggested that sectors such as food services and retail could perform better if they were run in a new way.
“In the Cuban economy, there’s a need to look for formulas more dynamic, more intelligent, of understanding property, of running a business, of running a cafeteria,” he…
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