Havana’s José Martí International Airport Terminal-3 has a new look

Among the repair works completed were improved lighting in passenger departure lounges, the immigration and customs area, and waiting rooms; while new luggage carts were acquired and both the panoramic glass elevators and those for wheelchairs were repaired, according to Iran Cueto Carmona, general coordinator of José Martí International Airport.

Other investments included new wall covering for the facade of the final waiting room, to upgrade its environment and control brightness inside the airport.
Cueto added that electrical outlets were installed in all areas of Terminal-3, allowing passengers to charge mobile phones and other devices; the roof waterproofing process was completed to eliminate leaks in certain areas of the Terminal, and similar repair work was completed at Terminal-2.

Baggage conveyor belts were also repaired, and work is being done on the installation of a fifth baggage conveyor, to reduce delays for arriving passengers at baggage claims.

Cueto also reported that significant growth in arrivals of passengers and aircraft was noted in 2019 (approximately15 percent), which contributed to congestion for passengers and delays in the provision of services.

Although some negative elements continue to affect the quality of services provided, work is being done to find solutions, including the repair of all sanitary services in the Terminal-3 and, in future plans, upgrading of VIP lounges.

Actions to be undertaken in 2020 include further repairs of airport infrastructure, floor maintenance and lighting on footbridges.

NEW SERVICES IN THE TERMINALS
The construction of seven new currency exchanges (CADECA) in Terminal-3’s area B has recently been completed, to facilitate this service for passengers, especially during peak periods of congestion, while a special currency exchange for commercial entities operating in the terminal has also been added, said Liset Urgellés Carreras, head of Terminal 3.
This task was required to comply with Resolution 276/2019 from the Central Bank of Cuba which stipulated that U.S. dollars and other foreign currencies are only accepted in CADECAS located in the boarding area, after passengers have been checked in the emigration and customs area.

By March 12, automated check-in kiosks will be in operation. This new technology allows passengers to complete the process themselves with the device, including choosing their own seat, thus helping eliminate congestion at check-in counters, Urgellés Carreras reported.

Such kiosks have been available in the Terminal for American Airlines customers only, but now all passengers flying on airlines that have contracts with Cuban Airport and Aeronautical Services S.A. (ECASA), will have access to this system, which will also be installed in other airports nationwide, as well as José Martí International Airport’s Terminal 2.

FOOD SERVICES
Despite the impact of the economic, commercial and financial U.S. blockade of Cuba and the implementation of new unilateral coercive sanctions, the Cuba Catering S.A. enterprise intends to continue developing its commercial strategy by introducing new gastronomic service concepts in airports with its own brands, in order to raise the quality of food services and enhance elements of national identity.

Along these lines, the final waiting room in Terminal 3 now has new higher quality spaces that are expected to meet customers’ expectations and increase satisfaction.

A specialized bar, a convenience store, a gourmet cafe, a fast-food cafeteria and a specialized restaurant, operated by Cuba Catering S.A., are among the new options, to be extended across the country, said Raúl Báez Fernández, general director of Cuba Catering S.A.

“As a pilot project launched just a month ago, various adjustments to the menu, the type of product and sales are still being made, so such concepts, once adjusted, will be implemented in all airports nationwide. This is the aspiration of the state enterprise Cuba Catering S.A., which continues striving to improve service quality,” Báez Fernández stated.

Also opened recently is a CheckMark corner store, the self-service format allows customers to select an item, pay directly at the cash register, and, if they prefer, consume it on site.

Similarly, cafeteria service was diversified by establishing three new facilities that complement the Qbar already in place. Thus, passengers in the final waiting room can enjoy varied gastronomic options to serve different types of consumers.

With this premise, Black Café is presenting a menu of 20 coffee-based beverages available to customers, served with Cuba Catering S.A. prepared sweets and imported items. Plus, a fast-food cafeteria was established, offering pizzas and hamburgers, as well as table service.

Considering passengers’ complaints regarding the absence of prepared-to-order hot food, the 24/7 Paraíso Criollo restaurant was opened, offering traditional Cuban meals, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

With all these new offers, total capacity within the same area was increased to 112 seats, where 77 existed previously, Báez Fernández stated, stressing that the remodeling work was conducted in only a month and a half, without disrupting services the airport provides.

Likewise, he stressed that sales per passengers increased 7% and those of prepared products rose by 8%. Thus, despite a reduction in the number of passengers during this period, as compared to the previous year, gross sales increased.

Prevailing throughout the investment project was the national vision of promoting productive and commercial links with other economic actors, based on Cuban policies to increase hard currency revenue, in these times of economic and financial blockade, while increasing quality and contributing to everyone’s economy.

(Source: Granma)

When dictator Fulgencio Batista decided to flee Cuba, a large number of his cronies joined the expedition. Some 25 suitcases accompanied him onto the aircraft and he pressed a bulging briefcase to his chest. The briefcase contained dollars and Batista, who trusted no one, feared losing them. He was well acquainted with his traveling companions, the many outrages they had committed and the shady operations they ran.

The money had been given to him by his closest relatives, like Andrés Domingo and Morales del Castillo, Presidential secretary; José López Vilaboy and Manuel Pérez Benitoa, although the latter had been in New York since the end of December, when he took Batista’s children to the city, along with 43 million dollars that were deposited in the dictator’s account, although the story goes that he deposited 42 and kept a million himself.

Lopez Vilaboy couldn’t get a seat on the planes that took off with the dictator’s pals, obliging him to seek refuge in the Guatemalan embassy in Havana.

These days, with the United States government re-activating the Helms-Burton Act’s Title III, granting the right to file court claim to those who were not citizens of that country at the time of nationalizations, a character known as José Ramón López, who says he is the son of Cuban businessman José López Vilaboy, has asserted that, pre-1959, his father’s properties included the Rancho Boyeros airport, Cubana Airlines, the Colina Hotel, and other buildings.

Let us recall how the Cuban Ministry for the Recovery of Misappropriated Assets acted in these cases, as the body charged with processing nationalizations and confiscations, among other tasks.

In the case of Mr. José A. López Vilaboy, 27 charges were filed against him and his spouse, for illicit enrichment, along with 15 other persons who served as front men for his companies and businesses.

To mask and “legalize” fraudulent financial operations, his clan of henchmen had the support of the firm Pérez Benitoa, Lamar, and Otero, with its battery of lawyers ready to facilitate illegalities. The three partners were related by conjugal ties with the Batista family, and other politicians tied to the dictatorship.

In terms of Cubana de Aviación, in his book Las Empresas de Cuba, 1958, Guillermo Jiménez Soler refers to a “passenger and cargo aviation company, valued at 22 million, with 796 workers and offices at 23 and O Streets, Vedado, Havana.” It was based on Cuban capital, both private and state, with the Economic and Social Development Bank (Bandes)as its principal owner. Among prominent shareholders was Fulgencio Batista.

Via murky financial schemes, another portion of the shares were owned by entities controlled by Batista’s henchmen, and others close to the regime, while the Air Federation trade union also held stock.

“The Bandes had become the owner at the end of 1958 by converting into shares loans granted for the company’s rehabilitation, amounting to 11 million, which, as of 1955, included the participation of (another bank) Banfaic, later replaced as lender and shareholder,” according to the aforementioned book.

More than two thirds of the company’s private capital belonged to

Fulgencio Batista through the Rocar real estate corporation, registered as property of Andrés Domingo Morales del Castillo and Manuel Pérez Benitoa. Batista had been gradually transferring his shares to José López Vilaboy, the second largest shareholder, figurehead and manager of these financial maneuvers.

The private stock was distributed among 200,000 common shares, of which 68,021 were controlled by the Unión Inmobiliaria de Construcciones S.A. with Vilaboy at the head, and the rest were held by another 200 shareholders, including Luis G. Mendoza and Company, Jorge Barroso, Julio B. Forcade, and others. Its vice-presidents were José M. Casanova Soto, José M. Garrigó Artigas, both shareholders, and as secretary Dr. Antonio Pérez Benitoa Fernández, who had been married to Mirtha Batista Godínez, Batista’s daughter from his first marriage.

When the Ministry of Recovery of Misappropriated Assets’ team of officials, commercial experts, and auditors finished their work, it came to light that Mr. José López Vilaboy was not an enterprising businessman as he appeared, but a skillful figurehead in the service of President Fulgencio Batista. Thus, on February 3, 1960, the newspaper Revolución published on its front page an article with the headline: “Properties of Vilaboy and his front men confiscated.” It was announced that Cubana de Aviación, the Rancho Boyeros airport, the Colina Hotel, and many other businesses would became state property.

The article specified that the Ministry of Recovery of Misappropriated Assets had confiscated all his properties, and Vilaboy was charged with 27 counts of illicit enrichment under the protection of public power, including cases involving his spouse, Carmen Bagur Peñalver – who also benefitted from illegal enrichment – as well as those of 15 people who appear as figureheads in his operations.

Among the additional assets confiscated from Vilaboy and other frontmen were 51% of the airport restaurant and half of the parking area there; the Mañana newspaper; the airport’s radio station; the Mañana subdivision; a lease for the Mañana tile factory; half of a tourism company in Cienfuegos which owned the valuable Hotel Jagua; and a residence, valued at more than 20,000 pesos, located at 1255 17th Street, in Vedado.

Another Vilaboy property confiscated was the Banco Hispano Cubano, which was placed under the control of the National Bank of Cuba.

The properties illegally acquired by Vilaboy were returned to the service of the people, under the management of the new state’s agencies: Cubana de Aviación, the airport and parking lot were handed over to the Ministry of Transportation; the newspaper Mañana was awarded to the Ministry of Communications; the subdivision and residence in Vedado, to the National Housing Institute; the Colina and Jagua hotels, and the airport restaurant went to the National Tourist Industry Institute (INIT); the match company to the National Institute of Agrarian Reform (INRA); and the tile factory was handed over to the Ministry of Public Works.

All loans and mortgages owed 15 persons were cancelled, and it was clarified that the Ministry’s confiscation of the airport restaurant involved the 51% ownership held by Vilaboy, recognizing Elpidio Pizarro as the legitimate owner of the remaining portion.

Likewise, only half of the airport parking lot was confiscated, since two other individuals legally owned the remainder.

As for the Mañana subdivision, only pending monthly payments for homes sold were awarded to the state, without affecting those who had paid off their mortgages, who were given titles, if they had not yet received this document.

Precisely as proven, Vilaboy was involved in multiple businesses, becoming a real gangster. Batista lent him ten and a half million pesos, which would be paid with the money saved by “waived” taxes and, for the airport business, they tricked the former owner, making him believe that he would be moved him to another location by the dictator and his pal.

Thus the company was obliged to sell, for just over one million pesos, and to improve the site, a Bandes loan of more than four million was granted – yet to be repaid.

This is but one of the cases among hundreds processed by the Ministry for the Recovery of Misappropriated Assets, which are now the object of claims by those who, like their predecessors, have never thought of the Cuban people’s interests.

(Granma)

Pavel Rodríguez, director of the center, told ACN that works are concluding on the final stretch of the total of some nine kilometers, which will help reduce traffic congestion.

The official explained that the project includes the expansion of the road to include a section of avenue, four vehicle lanes, two cycle lanes in the urban stretch, as well as sidewalks, curbs, landscaping and lighting

He added that the main companies involved in the works are ECOI-17 and ECOI-9, working together with other bodies to ensure quality standards.

The completion of this project will reduce the travel time between the airport and the tourist destination in the north of the territory, as well as the city of Holguín itself. Holguín is the third most popular tourist spot in Cuba, after Havana and Varadero.

Rodríguez also noted that the risk of traffic accidents will decrease, given improved flow of vehicles, animal drawn vehicles, cycles and pedestrians.

The provincial highway administration center will invest a total of 16 million pesos during 2016, and among the main tasks are works on the Banes-Nipe highway, stretching 35 kilometers, and the Holguín-Moa highway.

In the latter, works are primarily focused on specific sections in the municipalities of Mayarí, Sagua de Tánamo and Moa.

The body is responsible for carrying out works on highways of national significance, which join the provincial capital to the municipalities, covering a total of over 800 kilometers.