In the inaugural session were the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez; the president of the Council of Ministers of the ACS, Mario Adolfo Búcaro; the general secretary of the organization, Rodolfo Sabonge, as well as foreign ministers and ministers of the region.

The Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment of Cuba, Rodrigo Malmierca, stressed that cooperation is essential for the integrated development of countries.

“It is to be hoped that this conference will open up realistic opportunities to promote regional integration and the sustainable development of our peoples,” he said.

Malmierca assured that Cuba has an integrated legal framework for international cooperation.

Sixth International Cooperation Conference of the Association of Caribbean States. Photo: Enrique González (Enro)/ Cubadebate.

For his part, the President of the Council of Ministers of the Association of Caribbean States and Foreign Minister of Guatemala, Mario Adolfo Búcaro, thanked Cuba for hosting the conference.

He commented that we must work so that regional dialogue and multilateralism bring food to the table of our peoples.

Speaking at the opening session, the Director of Cooperation of the ACS, Adriana Bolaños, stated that the organization began an ambitious process of revitalization with a six-year action plan with specific objectives. In that sense, she said, this conference is important to carry them out.

Rodolfo Sabonge, secretary general of the association, referred to the importance of materializing projects and programs on the protection and conservation of the Caribbean Sea, disaster risk reduction, the economic integration of the Greater Caribbean and sustainable tourism.

The executive secretary of ALBA-TCP, Sacha Llorenti, pointed out that the alliance has many issues in common with the ACS, such as trade, sustainable tourism and disaster mitigation.

Likewise, he condemned the coercive and unilateral measures of the United States against ALBA countries.

For two days, the representatives of the members of the association will establish alliances for the economic integration of the Caribbean, especially in trade, transportation, sustainable tourism and dealing with natural disasters.

(Andy Jorge Blanco, Enrique González Díaz (Enro))

Desde su cuenta oficial en Twitter, el movimiento Foro de los Pueblos informó sobre el comunicado urgente en la edición de este domingo del diario The New York Times para el cese de las medidas coercitivas de Washington y posibilitar la compra de suministros necesarios para la reconstrucción del país.

“La administración Biden necesita actuar ahora mismo para ayudar al pueblo caribeño”, destaca el mensaje titulado Let Cuba rebuild (Deja que Cuba se reconstruya).

El texto subraya que el bloqueo económico, comercial y financiero impide a La Habana la obtención de recursos necesarios, por lo cual insta a la Casa Blanca a permitir, aunque sea por los próximos seis meses, comprar materiales de la construcción.

Recuerda que el pueblo de la isla enfrenta un gran revés debido a Ian, que golpeó al territorio el pasado martes y dejó la red eléctrica dañada, viviendas destruidas, afectaciones a los cultivos y renglones económicos importantes como el tabaco, además de problemas en las telecomunicaciones y el abasto de agua.

“Si bien la ley autoriza a entidades y organizaciones norteamericanas a brindar ayuda y respuesta en casos de desastre, está comprobado que no es tan fácil, pues existen procesos largos y complejos para recibir licencias que a menudo requieren abogados costosos”, refiere el documento.

De igual forma, señala cómo la inclusión de Cuba en la supuesta Lista de Estados Patrocinadores del Terrorismo significa que los bancos tanto en territorio estadounidense como en el extranjero son reacios a procesar cualquier transacción, incluidas las donaciones humanitarias.

“Es inconcebible en esta hora crítica mantener el bloqueo y castigar colectivamente a todo un pueblo”, remarca el mensaje, al tiempo que insta al presidente Biden a dejar de lado la política de la Guerra Fría, “¡aunque sea por seis meses!”.

“El pueblo cubano es parte de nuestra familia, la familia humana”, agrega, e insiste en que “¡El momento de actuar es ahora!”.

Tras el paso de Ian, el Foro de los Pueblos compartió el link a un sitio para recibir donaciones y contribuir en los esfuerzos de socorro a Cuba, así como el proyecto solidario Puentes de Amor, centrado en la compra de alimentos, fármacos y equipos médicos.

A principios de septiembre pasado Biden firmó la extensión de la llamada “Ley de comercio con el enemigo”, que prorroga hasta el 14 de septiembre de 2023 el bloqueo y autoriza al mandatario a imponer restricciones económicas.

Según la cancillería de La Habana, la medida desconoce el rechazo de la comunidad mundial a esa política vigente por más de seis décadas, “recrudecida de manera oportunista en el contexto de la pandemia de Covid-19 para rendir por hambre, enfermedad y miseria al pueblo cubano”, aseveró.

As part of this process, the purchase of foreign currency began on August 4, at a different exchange rate than the official one.

The Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil Fernández, and the Minister President of the Central Bank of Cuba, Marta Sabina Wilson González, appear this Monday at the Round Table to report on the implementation of the exchange market in Cuba.

Tomorrow the sale of foreign currency begins in the country
Gil Fernández recalled that this Tuesday marks 20 days since the beginning of the purchase of foreign currency, and reiterated that it is not a foreign exchange market, because it involves transactions in both directions (purchase and sale).

“It is appreciated that the results correspond to the proposed objectives, of having a level of purchase of the limited foreign currency that is entering the country, due to the fact that there is still not a large influx of tourists and due to the effects of the blockade on remittances” commented the minister.

However, he pointed out that the purchase “is incomparably superior compared to what was compared before the measure”, and stressed that advantages such as legality in transactions are recognized.

“This validates the step we took, because we have incorporated a level of foreign currency into the country’s financial system higher than the amounts that were being purchased prior to the purchase decision at an exchange rate of 1×120.

“It is an important step, part of a process, whose results so far are seen as favorable,” he said.

“We never expected that there would be a rush of people to sell their currencies to banks. We always said that it is a process that advances gradually, and that one of its incentives is the increase in the offer in Cuban pesos”, which is part of the strategy.

Gil Fernández acknowledged that there is still no supply level, and that the currency is accepted in the country to consume internally. “Euros can be banked and access to goods and services in freely convertible currency; therefore, not all currencies have to be redeemed.

“Not all the currency that the national financial system is buying is cash in cadecas and banks, since there is a set of transactions that are made electronically, among them the transfers from abroad that are credited to the accounts in CUP, and the transactions through ATMs.

He recalled that the initial objective of this first stage is to divert to the national financial system a level of foreign currency that was known to be operating in the informal market, resources that the country needs to advance in the gradual recovery of the economy.

One of the favorable aspects of the measure is the environment of legality that it generates. “Most people want to operate legally, including foreign visitors. Nobody goes to a country to commit an illegal action. The same thing happens with Cubans who obtain foreign currency through various means,” said the minister.

“This fight we are in for the recovery of the economy belongs to everyone. People know that when they make the exchange in a banking institution, they are depositing those resources based on the socioeconomic development of the country”.

He clarified that previously these operations could also be done legally, which at the 1×24 exchange rate, which did not generate incentives in the face of a higher informal exchange rate.

Starting tomorrow, he announced, the sale of foreign currency will begin, in order to continue advancing in the construction of the foreign exchange market.

“We will gradually take steps in that direction, which we will then be able to deepen, with the aim of achieving a market that allows the legal exchange of currency in the country, and moving forward to give the national currency greater purchasing power in the country. functioning of the economy”.

(Cubadebate Editorial Team)

The complexities and objective conditions that make monetary and exchange rate re-ordering essential, were explained recently by Marino Murillo Jorge, Party Political Bureau member and head of the Policy Guidelines Implementation Commission, and Alejandro Gil Fernández, deputy prime minister and minister of Economy and Planning, during an appearance on the Mesa Redonda Cuban television program.

The first thing made clear was that the country’s monetary and currency exchange structure has an interdisciplinary and transversal character; its re-ordering includes monetary and exchange rate unification, the elimination of unwarranted subsidies and the provision of some goods and services free of, as well as transformation of salaries. The process is a necessity that cannot be postponed and an essential prerequisite to advancing implementation of the country’s economic strategy.

Introducing his presentation, Gil Fernández recalled the statement made by the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, during the closing of the tenth ordinary session of the National Assembly, in December of 2017, “Although the elimination of the dual currency and exchange rate, in and of itself, will not magically solve all the problems accumulated in the Cuban economy, but it constitutes the process that is most decisive to the updating of the Cuban economic model, given the impact it will have in all spheres of the nation’s economic and social affairs. Without resolving this, it is difficult to move forward properly.

“We must find ways to overcome existing distortions in subsidies, wholesale and retail prices and fees, and, of course, pensions and salaries in the state sector, while at the same time unifying the monetary system.”

The Minister noted that the Cuban state sector has achieved a certain level of development, thanks to strategic work that has been conducted over the last several years, and insisted on the importance of creating productive chains, including both the state and non-state sectors under similar conditions, and providing incentives to encourage exports.

This process has a transversal character within the economy, Murillo Jorge reiterated, and requires working with care and technical rigor on each of the proposals. With this objective in mind, 14 working subgroups are functioning, he said, with the participation of more than 200 colleagues from different organizations and academic institutions.

“We have even consulted international experiences. This is the first time we have addressed these issues in public, and this is not sufficient, we will need to explain and clarify the process little by little, along the way.”

“What we will report now are initial ideas about the process of the monetary re-ordering. We ask (the population) for understanding; not everything can be said today. This is a necessary process that also implies risks,” he said.

WHY IS MONETARY RE-STRUCTURING SO CRUCIAL?

In response to this question, the leader of the Policy Guidelines Implementation Commission pointed out that Cuba faces a very difficult monetary environment, which prevents the economy from functioning naturally and leads to its administrative management. The specific problems noted included:

-Deformations in the establishment of prices (Clear market signals do not reach producers)

- Serious salary problems (increases delayed over a long period of time, leading to the implementation of measures that, at the time, were positive, but represented only partial, not comprehensive, solutions)

-Inefficiency in the enterprise system that must be taken into account.

-Problems in providing incentive to increase exports.

-Macroeconomic imbalances in the economy (high fiscal deficits, which we were obliged to approve, making state budget transfers to the enterprise system is very high, a pattern which must be reversed).

-Comparing Cuba’s economy to the rest of the world is difficult.

-All of this generates a significant institutional burden.

“The institutional framework that the dual monetary system has generated cannot be resolved in a short period of time since it affects people. Cuban society has always been very equitable, and shock therapies, high unemployment rates, among other extreme measures, are not an option,” Murillo Jorge insisted.

He pointed out that this process had antecedents within the Guidelines approved during the Sixth and Seventh Party Congresses:

-Sixth Congress, Guideline No. 55: Progress will be made toward monetary unification, taking into account the productivity of labor and the effectiveness of distributive and redistributive mechanisms (…)

-Seventh Congress, Guideline No. 40: Conclude the process of monetary and exchange rate unification as a decisive step in the country’s monetary re-ordering.

We have been immersed in this process almost ten years, he said.

WHAT IS THE CONTEXT IN WHICH THE PROCESS IS UNFOLDING?

The world crisis, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has created tensions in the economy at the global level, thus, from both the macro and microeconomic point of view, the need to take decisive action to advance in updating the economic country’s model cannot be postponed.

“It is not possible to continue advancing in transformations of the economy if the re-structuring is not completed,” Murillo Jorge said.

WHAT ELEMENTS DOES MONETARY RE-ORDERING INCLUDE?

The process includes four fundamental elements:

01. Monetary unification.

02. Exchange rate unification.

03. Transformation of (excessive) subsidies and (unwarranted) free-of-charge provisions

04. Transformation of salaries (a full reform is needed)

Each one of these aspects must be addressed at the same time, with the objective of achieving the comprehensive transformation required.

During his presentation, Murillo Jorge reiterated that, once the process is completed, workers will be “in better conditions than they are now.”

“Monetary unification entails a devaluation and that requires adjustments. It generates pressure on the enterprise system in the search for efficiency, without shock therapies.”

WHAT GAVE RISE TO THE COUNTRY’S DUAL CURRENCY SYSTEM?

A specific situation that affected the productive system and prevented the national currency from playing its role led to the current system.

BASIC CONCEPTS

Monetary duality:

Situation in which two currencies coexist and legally share, to some extent, the functions of money in the national economy.

Money should serve as:

-A means of payment

-A unit of accounting

-A reservoir of value.

Exchange duality:

Situation in which there are two exchange rates for the same currency.

Exchange rate:

Price of a currency expressed in terms of national currency (amount of national currency per unit of currency).

In the current Cuban monetary environment there are two exchange rates:

-In institutional/enterprise circulation (wholesale): 1 CUP=1 CUC and 1 CUC=1 USD (currently with central allocation).

-Circulation within the population (retail) 25 CUP=1 CUC and 1 CUC=1 USD.

MONETARY UNIFICATION

“The monetary unification is intended to ultimately remove the CUC. A period of time will be established for the state to collect the currency in circulation. People will have a period of time to make the change. The Cuban peso would be the only legal tender in Cuba,” Murillo explained.

Several concerns about this stage have arisen within our population, especially related to what will happen to the CUC they have in their possession, either as money deposited in the bank or kept at home, he noted.

As part of the process, we have then defined a period of no less than six months for the population to exchange or spend this money, he reported. “The state will collect the CUC that will continue to circulate, it until it runs out.”

Murillo explained that, during the period of time established to make the change, people will be able to go to stores and acquire the products they need and pay in CUC, but any change from that purchase will be made in CUP, as some commercial establishments are doing already in their management of sales, “Thus, the CUC that is left in the hands of the population will also be removed.”

Likewise, the exchange rate in effect prior to the unification will be respected. Whatever the new exchange rate, the population will be able to exchange the CUC they have at the current rate (24 CUP).

In the case of the enterprise sector, accounts in CUC will become CUP, 1×1, maintaining their current value.

Murillo stated that the exchange rate unification will not be a long process and will imply a significant devaluation.

The issue has been studied and the measure will go into effect on the first day of the month, to allow companies to close their financial records.

“What we must make clear is that the currency is being devalued to make our economy more competitive, which means a level of pressure on the enterprise sector, which will be obliged to face the effects of the devaluation, especially in terms of the processes related to imports and wholesale pricing.”

In this sense, he stated that all the wholesale prices in Cuba are going to rise in correlation with the increase that imported products will experience. “There is no human way to devaluate without increasing wholesale prices.”

According to Murillo, this rise in wholesale prices will also be influenced by the salary reform that will be conducted in the country, since companies will be adding the salary increase to their costs.

“Devaluing the currency and raising wages is synonymous with higher prices, which means inflation. The issue is how long it takes for the increase in wholesale prices to be reflected in retail prices.”

He said that the process of devaluation will occur over the course of six to 12 months, although some products will be affected day one. “If there were no increase in wholesale prices, enterprises would experience significant losses,” Murillo said.

“The challenge is to ensure that price increases do not exceed the design of wage increases, since that would be inflation beyond the design. Regardless of market signals, the very characteristics of the economy allow for the creation of conditions that ensure this does not happen,” he stated.

IMPACT ON THE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM

A number of of companies in Cuba will be obliged to make an effort to increase efficiency to remain solvent following the devaluation process, but there are others we have identified that will not be able to assume it and could experience losses, at least during the first year, Murillo continued.

That is why a strategy has been designed to monetarily protect these not-so-efficient enterprises; in other words, we will be subsidizing the losses of these enterprises. But we will come out ahead, because we will avoid their closure, and consequences like unemployment and the loss of the essential services some of these companies provide the population, he explained.

“This is a government aid program, with very clear commitments made regarding how and when these losses will be reduced and the company becomes more competitive.”

On another front, he indicated that devaluation should facilitate a theoretical process known as the correction of relative prices, which means that domestic raw materials become less expensive for Cuban industry than those imported.

We must ensure that this is the case, and that much-needed productive chains are created, he said.

“The correction of relative prices is the most significant effect we will be creating, because it will lead to a change in wages and there will be more motivation to produce. Although these measures are not the magic wand that will change everything, they do create the conditions for a positive reaction from producers in the enterprise system, and support the country’s policy of exporting more and replacing imports. With this, the market will begin to give different signals to the economy.

“This is the biggest effect we are expecting, a correction in relative prices, an increase in wages and greater motivation to work, although it won’t happen overnight.”

He acknowledged in his remarks that there will be inflation, but in a good way, since if we have a devaluation, prices increase, but the important thing is that this does not exceed the indicators that have been designed, he reiterated.

To control this, he said, we are proposing that a small group of products which are key to all sectors of the economy, like fuel, have centrally established prices. At the same time, the enterprise system will be given the authority to set other prices that are not centralized, but within certain limits, he added.

RETAIL PRICES

Regarding retail prices of the population’s basic consumer products will remain centralized; some of which will have subsidies and others not, Murillo reported.

“For example, in the case of the regulated family basket, we will keep some products with centralized prices and also subsidized, such as milk for children from 0 to 7 years of age. Others will have set prices, but without subsidies, although they will be regulated via the libreta (supply book) as a distribution mechanism, to ensure that everyone has access to them.”

Another indirect way to control inflation is, of course, to guarantee greater supply, but this is not always feasible in the current conditions of the Cuban economy, he clarified.

It cannot be forgotten that any price increase puts pressure on the population’s income, hence the importance of wage reform, he reiterated.

HOW WILL THE NEW WAGE SCALE BE FORMULATED?

We have established as a reference, an assortment of basic goods and services, not the same as the regulated food basket, which will be the reference point for setting the minimum wage and, on the basis of the first, a 32-level wage scale will be established, Murillo stated.

There are some state sector 29,000 workers in the first group earning the minimum wage, of the almost three million Cubans employed, he added.
As basic concept considered is that a worker’s salaries must cover the cost of his or her individual and family consumption, and therefore, the minimum salary must be a little higher than the reference basket.

“Based on the studies conducted, we know that the composition of households in Cuba is statistically three persons and, on average, two work.

“It may be that in three-person households, of the two who work, perhaps one earns the minimum wage, but the other may have a salary of four or five times the minimum wage, so the family’s expenses can be covered.”

When this is not the case, and these two people both earn the minimum and cannot afford basic goods and services, then social security comes into play, he said.

The plan, he stressed, is to subsidize these Cubans and not products, under the principle that in this process no one will be left unprotected.

He indicated that the total of salaries paid in the country will increase by 4.9 times, while social security expenditures will increase by five. While the price increase in the state sector is expected to be well below these figures.

Murillo emphasized that this is the most important issue in the wage reform. “If the rate of wage increases is higher than that of prices, then those of us who work with the state will be in a better position. This is another objective of the plan,” he stated.

The wage reform seeks a better distribution of wealth, since in practice no new earnings are created, he noted. “While it is necessary to eliminate subsidies and free of charge provisions, in this process, we will always protect children and pregnant women, citizens unable to work, and services of key national consumption, such as electricity.”

Referring to Murillo’s presentation, Deputy Prime Minister Alejandro Gil Fernández reiterated the importance of completing the four tasks involved in the monetary order simultaneously, as the only way to achieve a true transformation.

“Let us not see this as a necessary evil or a step backward. The proposed changes will allow us to be in better conditions to move forward,” he insisted.

These measures, he added, are for the good of all. “Those of us who work with the state are going to be grateful for the salary increase and that our work is our main source of income. In this context, it will be difficult to live in Cuba without working, but we will provide full support to those who are vulnerable or unable to work. The monetary re-ordering will generate important benefits,” he concluded.

(Taken from Granma)

According to Iyolexis Correa Lorenzo, Ministry of Tourism representative in the province, the hotel can receive some 800 customers, that is 70% of the capacity, in accordance with regulations established for the current stage of the post-COVID recovery period. Photo: Freddy Pérez Cabrera

• CAYO COCO, CIEGO DE AVILA – The re-initiation of tourist operations in Cuba’s Jardines del Rey beach resorts, in the post-COVID-19 period, was described as a success after visitors put to the test services and sanitary protocols at the airport and the Pullman Cayo Coco hotel, a five-star facility affiliated with the Gran Caribe chain and managed by its French associate, Accor Hotels.

The first vacationers arrived on Saturday, August 1, from Nassau, in two planes which landed at the Jardines del Rey International Airport. They expressed a high degree of satisfaction, during their first hours at the Pullman Cayo Coco Hotel – the chain’s only all-inclusive beach resort facility – and were eager to enjoy other optional activities available on the keys.

Drexel Munroe, one of the newly arrived visitors, praised sanitary protocols in place at both the airport and in the hotel, with the implementation of strict preventative measures to guarantee the health of guests and workers at these sites, which have been inspected and certified by the Ministry of Public Health as meeting international standards for safe, hygienic tourism.

Alexis Crespo Torna, assistant general manager of the 566-room hotel, told Granma that visitors were satisfied with the services provided at the facility, which they described as excellent.

According to Iyolexis Correa Lorenzo, Ministry of Tourism representative in the province, the hotel can receive some 800 customers, that is 70% of the capacity, in accordance with regulations established for the current stage of the post-COVID recovery period.

She pointed out that, in addition to the Pullman, the Paraiso Beach, also in Cayo Coco, has opened its doors to the world, as well as all extra-hotel facilities on the keys, including dolphinariums on Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo; the La Güira site; marinas offering catamaran trips, boating adventures, fishing, diving, and excellent opportunities on Pilar Beach, also known as Hemingway Beach, regularly visited by the Nobel Prize for Literature winner, during his years in Cuba.

(Source: Granma)

At least 71,849 Russian tourists have visited Cuba this year, 139.96 percent over 2010 and 208.71 percent over 2009, the head of the Cuban Tourism Office for Russia and East Europe, Estefania Escobar, told Prensa Latina.

She mentioned Varadero, Havana, Holguin and Ciego de Avila as favorite destinations in Cuba.

According to global figures, Cuba hit a record high number of tourist arrivals this year with 2.53 million visitors, matching figures in 2010, though 18 days earlier.

The Russian tourists love Cuba beaches and climate, but they also value its history and culture, hospitality and safety.

(Prensa Latina)