In the space of just one year, Cuba’s tobacco industry saw losses of 129,595,346 USD from April 1, 2015, through March 31, 2016; the result of the harsh measure imposed on the island by the Kennedy administration and maintained by successive U.S. governments.

It’s not just about what the blockade denies this important sector of the Cuban economy, but what it restricts it from doing and accessing. The total 129,595,346 USD in losses to the island’s tobacco industry is a result of Cuba’s lack of access to the U.S. market. Understand that we are talking about the largest tobacco market in the world (that of the U.S.), located only 90 miles from the home of the best tobacco on the planet (Cuba).

Speaking to Granma, Miguel Vladimir Rodríguez González – first vice president of the Tabaco de Cuba Enterprise Group (Ta­bacuba) – noted that the blockade affects exports of Premium hand rolled cigars, valued at 119,500,000 USD, as well as machine made, for a total of 4,650,000 dollars.

Other negative affects extend to “imports of supplies, packaging materials, accessories, replacement parts and other provisions vital to the cigarette and machine made cigar industry. Currently these operations are carried out from third countries, given the impossibility of obtaining such goods from the U.S. market at a lower price, at a cost of over 3,072,500 USD,” stated Rodríguez González.

Damages related to the island’s inability to obtain replacement parts and other supplies from the U.S. market to ensure continued production, is valued at 851,400 USD.

Meanwhile, “the increased cost of shipping; transferring goods, both in regards to imports and exports, a method used to protect ships from being fined; the decision not to dock at U.S. ports after departing from Cuba, in spite of increased shipping time which raises the cost of commercial operations, has meant an addition cost of 797,700 USD,” Rodríguez González noted.

Other negative financial affects have been seen in regards to fluctuating U.S. dollar exchange rates and pressure exerted by that government on foreign banks to discourage them from processing transactions linked to Cuba, all of which have resulted in increased costs of 723,746 USD.

(Granma)

This important work forms part of the import-substitution projects conducted annually by the Ministry of Industry, in accordance with guideline no. 87 of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines of the Party and the Revolution.

Workers at the Ángel Villareal Bravo Base Enterprise Unit (MINERVA), in the province of Villa Clara, are responsible for assembling the different models that will be distributed in hospitals, polyclinics and the Cuban Association of Persons with Physical and Motor Disabilities (ACLIFIM), through the country’s Medical Supplies Enterprise.

Edgar Simón Machado, sales manager of the enterprise, which belongs to the Iron and Steel Industry Business Group (GESIME), told the Cuban News Agency that they are currently manufacturing various models, ranging from 36 inches high for children up to 52 inches for adults.

He noted that a new model that allows patients to keep affected legs elevated, which has been very well received among the population, is being produced following the agreement of health specialists.

He also stressed the rigorous quality control process in each of the production lines.

Machado highlighted that the ACLIFIM tripled its orders for 2017 at the recently concluded Third National Business Fair held in Havana’s Expocuba exhibition center, meaning MINERVA must ensure the raw materials to supply the agreed quantity of wheelchairs.

This enterprise unit has also manufactured tricycles for the disabled and sports wheelchairs for disabled basketball and athletics.

Together with these important products, the enterprise makes traditional and electric bicycles, with are in high demand across the country.

(ACN)

During his visit, Minister Malmierca will be received by his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, who will jointly inaugurate the second meeting between representatives of both countries to discuss the scope and limitations of recently announced modifications of the blockade policy, as well as their impact on bilateral economic-commercial relations.

Malmierca will also meet with members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as well as representatives from the country’s business, political and academic sectors.

The Cuban minister is also scheduled to visit Virginia, on the invitation of state Governor, Terry McAuliffe.

(Granma)

Working along these well-defined lines, the Brazilian company, founded over 70 years ago, has been operating for more than four decades in over twenty countries across Latin America and the world, including in the fields of real estate, environmental engineering, power generation and the chemical, petrochemical and agriculture industries.

After introducing itself to Cuba in 2008, Odebrecht began its operations on the island participating in the construction of the Port of Mariel, which was inaugurated in 2014. Just over two weeks ago, the company officially became one of the first authorized to operate in the Mariel Special Zone Development (ZEDM), located in Artemisa, 45 kilometers from Havana.

FROM CONTRACTOR TO AUTHORIZED USER

According to Hueb, Odebrecht considers itself part of the history of the ZEDM and hopes to continue to be. He notes, “We arrived in Mariel when the Zone was just a dream, the credit was arranged with Brazil and moves began on the works, having professionally trained almost eight thousand people recruited from nearby areas.”

As such, according to the director of the South American firm, they consider themselves the first company to set foot in Mariel and it is an honor to now become one of the authorized user companies of the zone they helped to build, together with Cuba.

Characterized by its decentralized structure, providing integrated and innovative solutions, Odebrecht initially approached Cuba to participate in works on the Port of Mariel, at which time it began to asses the strong potential of the country and understand the process of updating the economy.

As Mauro Hueb recalls, the popular consultation, that the country’s economic policy guidelines were submitted to, caught their attention, and they discovered that Cuba was preparing for future economic growth with a correctly supported, solid and serious base.

“There is certainty that, as has happened until now, the ZEDM will attract investors from every region of the world. In fact, in recent months, many leaders and businesspeople from various countries of the world have visited,” he stated.

In addition, Odebrecht’s director in Cuba highlights the number and expertise of Cuban personnel, from laborers and technicians to professionals and administrative staff. “We have been in other countries, but the workers here are impressive because they are highly distinguished, in terms of their educational level, discipline and facility for learning.”

ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES

Supported by the fiscal incentives outlined, very clearly, in the Decree Law No. 313, on the Mariel Special Development Zone, Odebrecht will provide services to other international investors arriving at the ZEDM, as the global organization focuses on engineering and construction.

Similarly, he stressed Odebrecht’s potential to offer a complete range of services, with the addition of further activities demanded by customers: financial support, feasibility studies, commissioning and assisted operations.

Regarding other interests within Mariel, Hueb reported that a request has been submitted for a project in the plastics industry, using either entirely foreign capital, or a joint enterprise, an area in which Odebrecht has extensively experience, particularly in the production of resins.

In this regard, investment in the ZEDM for the treatment of industrial waste is being considered, in what would be an environmental initiative to convert waste into water which can be used in factories, Hueb explains.

Given that one of the premises of the country is import substitution, the director highlights that efforts should be directed toward the domestic market, as it would be of great benefit if Cuba were to produce what is consumed locally, while part of this production could be exported to other parts of the region.

According to Hueb, what investors seek is just this: to add value to their products, have a domestic consumer market, and be able to export their goods to other destinations. With the correct design, the ZEDM will meet the logistical requirements to create competitive products at a very low cost.

Beyond Mariel, Odebrecht Infrastructure will soon begin construction of a new terminal at the José Martí International Airport, a huge project which will double the capacity for international flights.

In this regard, Mauro Hueb stressed that this development may not be sufficient to coping with the expected increase in tourist numbers going forwards.

(Granma)

This statement is part of a package of economic attractions this archipelago has, reinforced after the restoration of diplomatic relations between Washington and Havana, despite that trade restrictions for the blockade on Cuba remain.

This time, the First California Wine Symposium, to which 100 producers are participating in that country, is taking place at the Havana’s Conference Center from Feb. 1 to 3, organizers said.

The event is in charge of U.S. Cava Exports (USCE), based in Sonoma, California, which was founded in 2014 by Darius Anderson. USCE supports U.S. companies in the process of sales of agricultural and food products to this country.

Opportunely, Anderson said he was pleased to lead the delegation of wine producers, in a mission that has a lot to do with tourism.

The executive added that this is an ideal time, generating an unprecedented interest, especially among the growing community of private and family-run restaurants in people’s homes, known as “paladares,” and in the hotel sector providing service to a market of tourism.

The Symposium emerges as of the relationships and enthusiasm regarding the California wine generated in the visit of the first Cuban Sommeliers delegation to that territory in 2014.

Indeed, since 1995, Cuban sommeliers gained strength and some 100 people across Cuba have important studies and even international categories and awards, due to its mastery in this sector.

The California Wine Symposium includes a Grand Tasting at the Conference Center on Feb. 2, and seminars with information about wine regions and products ready for export. As part of this visit, the northern entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to contact with Cuban colleagues and exchange information on wine and tourism.

(Prensa Latina)

This is one of the most absurd laws of the blockade. A regulation which today prevents Cuba from enlisting 500 sailors a year on commercial ships. This in addition to the fact that any vessel that docks at a Cuban port must wait a minimum of 180 days before it can arrive in the U.S., which logically means that not all foreign ships are willing to travel to Cuba.

So, of the island’s 1,100 port facilities currently able to receive cruise ships, today barely 11% are in use due to the effects of the blockade. This figure represents an annual loss of $149.5 million dollars for the country, according to data provided by Juan Carlos González Zamora, director general of the Port Maritime Transport Business Group.

The work of several affiliated entities is also negatively impacted by the blockade, explained the director. For example, that of agents who manage ship services at the port and respond to Cuban authorities. Its logical, the fewer boats that dock the less need for these services, resulting in an approximate annual loss of $2.2 million dollars in revenue for the country.

Likewise, the blockade also greatly affects the port sector in regards to repairs and maintenance of equipment.

Concerning this issue González Zamora explained that said policy limits, for example, access to Internet sites which offer up-to-date technical information. This information would facilitate the repair processes; however we are forced to obtain it from third countries, which means a longer and more expensive procedure.

Despite this, we port sector workers are willing to resist another 50 years of the blockade if necessary; without ceding a single ounce of our dignity; without ever surrendering, stated González Zamora.

(Granma)

On this occasion, the resolution will be presented in the context of a new relationship between the U.S. and Cuba, which began this past December and has led to the reestablishment of diplomatic relations.

Cuban authorities have been clear that progress toward normalization will depend on steps taken to definitively end the blockade, among other critical issues.

The resolution presents updated details describing the economic and financial damage caused by the hostile policy, while emphasizing that modifications made by President Obama, using his executive powers, have had little impact, since fundamental aspects of the blockade remain in full force.

The report recognizes President Obama for the positive steps and the position he has taken, describing the policy as obsolete and calling for its elimination.

Cuba has for two decades consistently received the support of the international community, with only two or three countries in the General Assembly voting against its resolution.

Expected today is another resounding rejection of the blockade, which constitutes the greatest obstacle to development faced by the country.

(Granma)

The initiative of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), part of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, a government agency involved in various scandals regarding the misappropriation of funds, has not caused much amusement inside the United States itself.

“Congress continues to fund efforts that were centerpieces of a decades-long policy of sabotage and confrontation,” wrote Ernesto Londoño, of The New York Times, known for his editorials against the blockade.

“The American government shouldn’t be in the business of commissioning political parody. Our policy toward Cuba has been a joke long enough,” he concluded.

Londoño is not the only one to defend this idea. “It would be nice if someone in the White House and State Department twisted the money spigot off on this dumb waste of taxpayer money,” wrote U.S. academic Sarah Stephens in the Huffington Post.

Stephens, who heads the Center for Democracy in the Americas and has participated in organizing trips to Cuba for members of Congress, even sent a letter to Secretary of State, John Kerry, calling for an end to these programs.

“I think there should be a policy toward Cuba that is based on respect and interaction, and undermining these intentions through government comedy is not funny at all and is a big waste of money,” she told Granma.

Meanwhile, renowned U.S. journalist Tracey Eaton, who announced the OCB’s intentions on her blog “Along the Malecon,” believes that the program reflects the “conflicting and sometimes contradictory” policies of the U.S. government regarding Cuba.

Regarding the level of public scrutiny of OCB activities, a body that annually spends about 30 million dollars on subversive programs, Eaton told Granma that most Americans do not pay much attention to the details of government spending in so-called “programs for the promotion of democracy.”

Nor does the government provide them with information. According to the U.S. journalist specializing in the subject of Cuba, between 1996 and 2012 close to 1,400 Cuba-related programs were carried out.

“And to complicate matters, many of these plans are executed in secret, making it almost impossible for Americans to know exactly what the government is doing with their money.”

Contractors take advantage of the millions of dollars devoted to this purpose across the world, part of which is directed at Cuba. “While these projects have funds, they will take advantage of them, even if they conflict with Obama’s rapprochement.”

It appears that the money will continue to flow.

While the Obama administration battles with Congress for approval of its 2016 budgets, in the Senate and House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committees, million-sum funds continue to be allocated to subversion in Cuba.

The House goes much further than the Senate and proposes to increase these funds from 20 million to 30 million dollars and, in the process, cut maintenance budgets for the new U.S. Embassy in Havana. However, both bodies still need to reconcile their proposals before they are voted on.

U.S. diplomats have been unclear about how these funds will be spent in the future.

“Those programs have changed over time since they began in 1996. I can’t say what changes they may have in the future, but we are constantly looking at how to make them effective,” the then Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Roberta Jacobson, said last May.

Secretary of State, John Kerry, avoided directly clarifying the matter in response to a question fromGranma during the press conference held last August 14 in Havana.

Cuba clearly states that the end of subversive programs is a precondition for the normalization of relations. Parodies like that of the OCB, which threaten this aspiration, do not amuse a people who have suffered the consequences of the U.S. blockade and aggression for over half a century.

( Sergio Alejandro Gómez, Granma)

During the inauguration ceremony, European Council President Donald Tusk, announced the blocs decision to promote a trust fund to support post-conflict actions.

Tusk praised the peace dialog being carried out by the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Forces of Colombia.

He also hailed the process for the re-establishment and normalizations of relations between the United States and Cuba, announced last December 17th.

The EU “hopes for the complete normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States and the end of the embargo”, said Tusk, in reference to the economic, commercial and financial siege imposed to Cuba for the last fifty years.

This unfair policy was also rejected by Ecuador’s Head of State and CELAC pro tempore president Rafael Correa, who hailed the victory of dignity and sovereignty of the Cuban people and the process of re-establishment of relations with the United States.

However, he recalled that it is still necessary to eliminate the inhumane blockade and return to Cuba the illegally occupied territory of Guantanamo Bay.

According to the official program, during the first day of the Summit two closed-door sessions took place, one about the revitalization of the CELAC-EU association and other about the need to face global challenges together.

(Prensa Latina)

(Tlaxcala)

This burgeoning credit crunch in Europe is just one element of a “perfect storm” that is rapidly coming together as we get ready to go into 2012.  The signs of trouble are everywhere.  All over Europe, governments are implementing austerity measures and dramatically cutting back on spending.  European banks are substantially cutting back on lending as they seek to meet new capital requirements that are being imposed upon them.  Meanwhile, bond yields are going through the roof all over Europe as investors lose confidence and demand much higher returns for investing in European debt.  It has become clear that without a miracle happening, quite a few European nations and a significant number of European banks are not going to be able to get the funding that they need from the market in 2012.  The only thing that is going to avert a complete and total financial meltdown in Europe is dramatic action, but right now European leaders are so busy squabbling with each other that a bold plan seems out of the question.

“This is something they need to solve and they have the capacity to solve, both financial capacity and political will”

“We do not in any way believe that additional resources are required from the United States and from American taxpayers.”

Europe’s banks face a $7 trillion lending contraction to bring their balance sheets in line with the US and Japan, threatening to trap the region in a credit crunch and chronic depression for a decade.

France’s budget plans are close to being agreed on; further cuts are likely but will be delayed until after the elections in spring. Italy has yet to vote through a much-revised package of cuts. Spain’s incoming government has promised further spending cuts, especially in regional outlays, in order to meet deficit targets agreed with Brussels.

Even today, the jobless rate for youth is near 10pc in Japan. It is already 46pc in Spain, 43pc in Greece, 32pc in Ireland, and 27pc in Italy. We will discover over time what yet more debt deleveraging will do to these societies.

At this point there is zero possibility that Italy can refinance any portion of its $300b of 2012 maturing debt. If there is anyone at the table who still thinks that Italy can pull off a miracle, they are wrong. I’m certain that the finance guys at the ECB and Italian CB understand this. I repeat, there is a zero chance for a market solution for Italy.

I think the Italian story is make or break. Either this gets fixed or Italy defaults in less than six months. The default option is not really an option that policy makers would consider. If Italy can’t make it, then there will be a very big crashing sound. It would end up taking out most of the global lenders, a fair number of countries would follow into Italy’s vortex. In my opinion a default by Italy is certain to bring a global depression; one that would take many years to crawl out of.

Italy’s new government will have to sell more than EURO 30 billion of new bonds by the end of January to refinance its debts. Analysts say there is no guarantee that investors will buy all of those bonds, which could force Italy to default.

The Italian government yesterday said that in talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Prime Minister Mario Monti had agreed that an Italian collapse “would inevitably be the end of the euro.”

Diplomats are preparing to help Britons abroad through a banking collapse and even riots arising from the debt crisis.

The Treasury confirmed earlier this month that contingency planning for a collapse is now under way.

“We are starting to witness signs that corporates are withdrawing deposits from banks in Spain, Italy, France and Belgium,” an analyst at Citi Group wrote in a recent report. “This is a worrying development.”

Money-market funds in the United States have quite dramatically slammed shut their lending windows to European banks. According to the Economist, Fitch estimates U.S. money market funds have withdrawn 42 percent of their money from European banks in general.

And for France that number is even higher — 69 percent. European money-market funds are also getting in on the act.

The German Chancellor rejected outright Mr Cameron’s opposition to a new EU-wide financial tax that would have a devastating impact on the City of London.

And she refused to be persuaded by his call for the European Central Bank to support the euro. Money markets took a dip after their failure to agree.

“We seem to have entered the last days of the euro as we currently know it. That doesn’t make a break-up very likely, but it does mean some extraordinary things will almost certainly need to happen – probably by mid-January – to prevent the progressive closure of all the euro zone sovereign bond markets, potentially accompanied by escalating runs on even the strongest banks.”