Mas del blog de Nacho/More from Nacho’s blog

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Cubana to continue London route beyond January 2009 / Cubana sigue la ruta de Londres en el 2009
 
 
Me cuentan que los vuelos de Cubanan siguen en el 2009... al menos hasta abril jejeje pero espero confirmacion oficial
 
I hear that Cubana will continue the London route in 2009.... until April ;-) but hopefully beyond. Awaiting official confirmation

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Cuban Weekly News Digest  -  "A compilation of news articles about Cuba, distributed since 1992 in order to encourage a balanced understanding of the Cuban situation and to promote investments in the Republic of Cuba"

Havana – DTC - The Cadillac Hotel, in the eastern Cuban province of Las Tunas, has joined the Hoteles E (Excellence) brand. The establishment underwent reconstruction works to take the building to its original style, based on a naval esthetics that characterized Cuba's architecture some 60 years ago. The three-story hotel offers four matrimonial rooms, two junior suites and two double rooms. The hotel will open in November and will provide breakfast and light food at a cafeteria on the city's historic heart. As a characteristic element of the hotel, the balconies and rounded corners resemble the stern of a ship, and the lobby is decorated with a compass card-shaped wooden clock.

HAVANA, Cuba - (Granma Intl.) - Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is coming to Cuba after attending the Ibero American summit in El Salvador. Cuban authorities said he would preside over a signing ceremony between Brazil's Petrobras and Cuba Petroleo. The Communist Party newspaper Granma reported that both sides would "sign a contract for the production of hydrocarbons," but there were no further details. The Brazilian Embassy in Havana referred reporters to Petrobras, but a company spokes woman said she was not authorized to provide more information or to be quoted by the foreign news media.

Accompanying Lula da Silva will be agricultural experts from a small farmers association who will help island officials begin large-scale soy farming operations on land once used for growing sugar. They said the aim is eventually to have more than 100,000 acres of soy planted on the island. Brazilian officials have hinted in recent months that they would like to see their country become nearly as important a trade partner for Cuba as Venezuela and its socialist president, Hugo Chavez, who ships nearly 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the island at favorable prices. Perez Roque said such a goal "would be possible only if President Lula and the Brazilian government make a very strong effort." "But I can assure you that in the past [several] years, economic relations and political relations between Brazil and Cuba really have been increasing," he said. "Trade, investment, are growing." Lula da Silva's trip comes hours after his country announced it was shipping up to 45,000 tons of rice and 2,000 tons of powdered milk to help hurricane victims in Cuba, Haiti, Honduras and Jamaica.

Calgary Herald – Calgary, Alberta - Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro SA and Cuba's state-run petroleum company have signed an agreement to explore for oil off the Communist island's coastline about 160 kilometres from Key West, Fla. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed the agreement with his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, at a ceremony Friday in Havana. Petrobras, as the Brazilian company is known, and Cuba Petroleo, or Cupet, will explore Block 37, which begins three kilometres from the Caribbean resort town of Varadero and is close to Cuban onshore oil fields.

In September, the U.S. allowed a 27-year-old ban on offshore drilling along much of the U.S. coast, including waters adjacent to Cuba, to lapse. Rio de Janeiro-based Petrobras has been one of the biggest buyers of offshore oil leases in recent years in sections of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico where drilling is allowed. Petrobras is eyeing Cuba as it aims to focus non-Brazilian operations in the Gulf, chief executive Jose Sergio Gabrielli said in the company's 2008-2012 strategic plan. Cupet is seeking technology from Petrobras, which produces more than 80 per cent of Brazil's oil from offshore fields and holds many deepwater drilling records. The agreement allows for a seven-year exploration period. If oil is found, production can continue for 25 more years under a shared production arrangement.

Las Vegas Sun - In April 2006, a couple from northwest Las Vegas traveled deep into the heart of Cuba — into a province called Las Tunas — and experienced life inside a country that has largely secluded itself from the rest of the world for more than 50 years. Maria and Eugenio Lopez documented their two-week journey with a series of vivid photographs that will be exhibited inside the Sahara West Library. "Cuba Por Dentro," or "Inside Cuba," will be on display from Saturday to Dec. 1. Sahara West Library is at 9600 W. Sahara Ave. near the corner of Sahara Avenue and Fort Apache Road. Despite Cuba's economic struggles, Maria Lopez described Las Tunas as a beautiful landscape rich in culture. "The family roots go back very far in that region," she said. "It was definitely the real heart of Cuba. There were no tourists there. We were the only tourists in the whole area."

Although Maria Lopez was born in Cuba, she had never been to Las Tunas. Her husband, Eugenio, was born and raised in that province. Maria Lopez has been a crime scene analyst for Metro Police for the past 14 years while Eugenio, a 6-year resident of Las Vegas, is a professional artist who specializes in ceramics, pottery and photography. "We had to ask permission from the United States government to go on the trip," Maria Lopez said. "You can only travel there once every three years." Their plane flight landed in the province of Holguin, where they took a taxi westward to Las Tunas. The cattle farms and marshy wetlands harvested for sugarcane were a far cry from the glitz and glamour of 1950s-era Havana that many people think of, Maria Lopez said. "It's very rural. We wanted to show the common people and how they live, roasting pork or cleaning their clothes by hand," Maria Lopez said.

Eugenio Lopez described Las Tunas as a very artistic community of more than 500,000 residents. "There are murals and paintings that adorn buildings all over the town," he said. There was not much gasoline available, and of the few cars in the province, most were built in the 1950s. The vast majority of transportation was done via walking, horse-drawn carriage or "bicitaxi'' — a bicycle with two seats in the back. One of the exhibit's photographs, entitled "Pancho," shows a local resident roasting a pig over an open fire, a celebratory tradition in Las Tunas — whether it be for the homecoming of a family member or any other reason. "It's a Cuban tradition, much like how cooking a turkey is here in the United States," Maria Lopez said.

There were only two television channels available — one of them was Cuba's political channel and the other constantly showed episodes of the crime drama "CSI." "Everyone was always glued to the channel with CSI," Maria Lopez said. "It was very strange." Another photograph called "Hope" depicts a man sitting on a curb — with the Cuban flag draped behind him — waiting for a store to open. The photograph symbolizes the Cuban people's hope of an "opening" of their country to the rest of the world through political change and freedom of expression, Maria Lopez said. "We were trying to capture the essence of the people," she said. "It's a much simpler life. There was very little technology. It's the people that make the town."

Havana – DTC - The company Habaguanex S.A., which runs tourist establishments in Old Havana, will improve its hotel infrastructure. Firm executives pointed out that Habaguanex hotels have benefited from constructive improvements, resulting in better services. The company runs a score of hotels and inns, more than 30 restaurants, 60 cafeterias and bars, and more than 80 shops and markets. Habaguanex S.A., which is attached to the Office of the City Historian, was named after one of the first aboriginal chiefs who ruled in the region where the Cuban capital was founded in 1519. Habaguanex's offers meet the demands from a segment of vacationers interested in urban tourism and Old Havana's attractions.

AP - UNITED NATIONS – Cuba's foreign minister says his government expects the next U.S. president to respond to overwhelming international demand and lift the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. After the U.N. General Assembly supported repeal of the economic and commercial embargo by its highest margin ever — 185 to 3 with 2 abstentions, Felipe Perez Roque said in an interview that the winner of the Nov. 4 election should heed the message. "We expect that the new president will change the policy toward Cuba after nearly 50 years," he told the Associated Press.

The United States has no diplomatic relations with Cuba and lists the country as a state sponsor of terror and has long sought to isolate it through travel restrictions and a trade embargo. The embargo, imposed in 1962, has been tightened during President Bush's two terms. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has said he would be willing to meet with Cuban leader Raul Castro without preconditions and would ease restrictions on family related travel and on money Cuban-Americans want to send to their families in Cuba. Republican nominee John McCain has called the offer to meet "the wrong signal," but also has said he favors easing restrictions on Cuba once the United States is "confident that the transition to a free and open democracy is being made."

Perez Roque said the vote in the 192-member General Assembly was "a clear signal of the feeling of the international community in favor of the normalization of the relations between the United States and Cuba, and in favor of the lifting of the embargo." Following the U.S. election, he said, "we hope for the full normalization in the relations between Cuba and the United States." He said Cuba proposed to the Bush administration acting together against drug trafficking, human smuggling and illegal immigration but this proved impossible "because the current government is opposed and its policy towards Cuba is a change of regime."

He said Cuban President Raul Castro has said on several occasions "that we are ready to begin conversation between both parties, of course based on respect, sovereignty and the right of each country to follow its own way." In his speech to the General Assembly, the 43-year-old Cuban minister said the U.S. embargo is older than "everyone in my generation." "Seven out of every 10 Cubans have spent their entire lives under this irrational and useless policy which attempts, with no success, to bring our people to their knees," Perez Roque said. The new president "should decide whether he will admit that the blockade is a failed policy that ... causes greater isolation and discrediting of his country" or whether the United States will continue "to try to defeat the Cuban people through hunger and disease," he said.

Havana – DTC - Santa Lucía beach, in the eastern Cuban province of Camagüey, has become a major tourist destination in the region. One of the major establishments there is the Club Amigo Caracol Hotel, which resembles a marine shell. The hotel, which offers 150 rooms, was designed to allow guests to be in direct contact with nature. The establishment is an excellent place for families and honeymooners, who can enjoy the hotel's restaurants, bars, swimming pools and children's playgrounds, among other facilities. Diving enthusiasts can scuba dive or snorkel in the coral reef, which is inhabited by a myriad of marine species. They can also take catamaran excursions to dive sites.

Intl. Herald Tribune - Cuba's economy grew by 6 percent in the first half of 2008, but won't maintain that pace because of damage caused by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, official media reported Saturday. Economy Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez said the rise in gross domestic product in the year's final six months "won't match the results of the first, which finished with 6 percent" growth, according to the Communist Party newspaper Granma. Hurricane Gustav hit western Cuba on Aug. 30 and Ike slammed into the country's eastern flank barely a week later, then raked most of the island. The government said that the storms caused the greatest storm damage in Cuba's hurricane-battered history, killing seven people, damaging nearly 450,000 homes and crippling food production and infrastructure.

"The principal challenge at this time is the reconstruction of the country, whose losses were initially calculated at $5 billion but which today we calculate will be far more than that," Rodriguez said. He offered no new estimates, however, and no government official was available to provide further information. Cuba's measurement of GDP includes spending on free health care, education through college and monthly food rations provided by the communist system — an uncommon methodology that critics say inflates growth figures. Officially, the economy expanded by 7.5 percent last year and posted a 12.5 percent growth rate in 2006.

Rodriguez projected last year that the economy would grow 8 percent in 2008, but he and other officials began warning in July, even before the hurricanes hit, that rising global food and oil prices would cause "inevitable adjustments and restrictions." Rodriguez told Granma that Cuba's top priority is increasing agricultural production since the government spends nearly $2 billion per year to import food, much of it from the United States. Washington's trade embargo prevents American tourists from visiting Cuba and bans most trade between the two countries, but has allowed sales of food and farm products since 2000, and the United States has become the island's top source of agricultural products. The economy minister said Cuba is watching Tuesday's presidential election in the United States, but that its government "is certain there will not be change in Washington, whoever wins."

Telegraph – UK - In her latest book the tireless Dervla Murphy, still travelling rough in her late seventies, sets out to get to grips with Cuba – a place of impulsive friendship and impenetrable bureaucracy. Along the way, she has a hard time on the trains...

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Thanks to the country's overwhelming bureaucracy, rail travellers are soon frustrated by long delays and inefficiency.

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Passengers pass the time over salsa music and a game of dominoes Photo: GETTY

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A local lady reads Granma, Cuba's only daily newspaper and the Party's voice Photo: AP

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Dervla Murphy is well known as an adventure travel writer and cycling fanatic

In 1837, Cuba acquired Latin America's first railway, originally laid to serve certain cane plantations, then gradually expanded to its present 3,030 miles. Yet Havana's imposing station is almost tourist-free, for reasons which soon become apparent. At "Information", a chatty, elderly woman told me that the only service to Santa Clara was the thrice-weekly especial to Santiago; it would depart next day at 2.15pm, arriving in Santa Clara four hours later, leaving me time to find my friends' house before sunset – new English-speaking friends, met on the Malecón [Havana's promenade] and impulsively hospitable.

Whether you're running a democracy, a dictatorship or an international institution, bureaucracy constipates efficiency. For years Fidel has been condemning the Cuban variety, to no effect; even during the Special Period [after September 1990, when trade with the Eastern Bloc collapsed], with its particular urgent needs, the Faceless Ones resisted most reforming efforts. Cubans are of course the main victims. Tourists usually escape this net, woven of illogicality, but free-range travellers are soon enmeshed. For instance, Havana's railway ticket office is a brisk 10-minute walk away from the station – why?  Moreover, there are two offices in separate buildings, one for Cubans, one for foreigners – why? Arriving at 12.50pm, I was told to return at 1.15; one's ticket must be bought within the hour of departure – why? Then, having queued twice in that office, one has to queue again, within the station, for the ticket to be "Confirmed".

In the spacious concourse, high and wide, the seating seemed like a planning error: long rows of black metal chairs were welded to the floor and packed close together à la cut-price airlines, leaving open expanses between blocks. A six-foot barrier and locked gates allowed no access to the four deserted platforms.  A tall, slim young woman wearing a smart sky-blue uniform labelled "Security Service (Private)" guesstimated that the Santiago especial might leave at five-ish. She and her three colleagues appeared to be in lieu of a police presence. Watching them, I again noted the cold, almost disdainful persona assumed by many Cuban petty officials when dealing with the public. Is this attitude, so unlike the average Cuban's relaxed friendliness, a result of Soviet training? Or is it a symptom of the tension that has come to exist between frustrated citizens and agencies now often despised as corrupt?

Obviously nobody expected this especial to depart at 2.15. My many fellow-passengers looked settled and resigned; most families were lunching, sharing saucepans or bowls of rice and black beans and pork fat. Some men played chess or dominoes while their wives dozed, others read Granma with close attention – surprising to me because Cuba's only daily newspaper is the Party's voice. Small extrovert children romped around the open spaces, making new friends as they went. As the overhead clock registered 2.30, 3.30, no one seemed disgruntled. Beside two of the platforms long trains stretched away into the distance, looking as though they had been stationary for months if not years. And maybe they had.

At 4.10 the especial arrived from Santiago and hundreds disembarked; many carried a musical instrument, some wheeled bicycles. When our departure was announced queues formed at four gates, each line confined between metal bars as in a cattle-crush. Then came a delay, caused by several pairs of porters pushing long handcarts piled with cargo for Santiago. Shouting and laughing, they raced each other along the broad hundred-yard expanse between barrier and buffers, their loads wobbling precariously. Unsmiling young women eventually unlocked the gates and closely scrutinised each ticket and ID document. They wore the railway uniform of purple shorts and tunics with black tights and absurdly high-heeled shoes.

Although foreigners must travel first-class, I had trouble finding my allotted place; all the coaches had gone unpainted for decades. Excitedly chattering groups were being guided to their seats by other uniformed women, one of whom led me to a carriage with torn upholstery and mud-coated windows. My only companion was Raimundo, tall, lean, distinguished-looking and very black. A history professor, specialising in colonial Africa, he spoke fluent English. At 5.15 our engine hooted hoarsely and as we moved, almost imperceptibly, I remarked that we should reach Santa Clara by 9.30. Raimundo looked sceptical and said, "Maybe". Then we stopped, still under the station roof. Raimundo, sorting through papers in his briefcase, glanced at me and chuckled.

For 20 minutes, nothing happened. After we had backed to our starting position, nothing continued to happen. Again all the platforms were deserted, apart from one jovial railway official engaged in private enterprise, selling delicious sausage rolls, more sausage than bread.  At 5.50 we moved again, very slowly. At 6.10 we stopped again. Raimundo closed his briefcase, took off his spectacles and made inquiries. Our engine had broken down, decisively, and must be replaced. As this news spread, other passengers laughed uproariously, tuned up their guitars and began a sing-song. Standing in the corridor, watching our engine being detached, I was joined by an effervescent teenager who offered me a swig from her half-bottle of rum. "Have a drink! Cuba transport bad for tourists, Cuba rum good!" Accepting her offer, I was conscious of Raimundo's disapproving stare. As the defunct engine passed us, on the next track, passengers crowded to the windows, leaning out to cheer and clap ironically. Raimundo smiled at me and said, "That's how we survived the Special Period."

Our replacement engine got going at 6.55, groaning reluctantly as we left the station. Beyond the suburbs shanty homes huddled close to the track – as shanty as any I've seen in the Majority World yet the residents look better nourished than their equivalents elsewhere. For years past many Cubans have had to struggle to supplement their rations but for most it's possible to do so, by being persistently ingenious and/or devious. Beyond flat scrubland the sun was sinking and when Raimundo calculated that we were unlikely to reach Santa Clara (170 miles from Havana) before midnight I decided to sleep in the waiting-room until dawn. Soon the only glimmers of light came from the stars and our engine's weak beam; even in the first-class coaches no one had a torch. "This train years ago lost its illuminations," Raimundo resignedly remarked.

I closed our door, to reduce the salsa decibels, and we stretched out, giving thanks for an uncrowded compartment, and discussed Ché's Congolese débâcle – an almost forgotten fragment of history that Raimundo had closely studied. Then he told me about Santa Clara's origins. For all Cuba's sparse population and distance from the motherland, Spain's Inquisition didn't spare the colony. In 1682, in the prosperous little town of Remedios, when a priest detected demons by the dozen he summoned Inquisitors from Havana to organise the "trial" and incineration of "the possessed" and the torching of their homes and property. This operation prompted many terrorised residents to flee 30 miles inland and found Santa Clara.

At 12.20am my escort handed me on to a long platform, lit by one feeble bulb, and we were about to seek the waiting-room when my friend Tania came hurrying towards us, arms outstretched, apologising for the unreliability of Cuban trains. Raimundo looked immensely relieved; he hadn't approved of my plan – not for security reasons, but because he refused to believe an "abuela" [granny] could sleep soundly on a floor. Undaunted by previous experience, I booked a seat on the twice-weekly Havana-Bayamo train service (alleged dep. 7.25pm). The only alternatives were hitch-hiking, which could take several days, or a Viazul coach.

At 8.50pm we passengers were loosed on to the ill-lit platform and confusion immediately set in; even by daylight the faint print on my ticket, giving coach, compartment and seat numbers, was well nigh illegible. When I opened a coach door at random its inner panel fell off, blocking my way. Clambering over it, I groped down a corridor by a glimmer of platform light and found an empty compartment where I was still alone at 9.45. The engine then made eerie noises, setting it apart from any other engine I've heard, and moved off at a slow walking speed. All this seemed too good to be true; silence and darkness blessed my coach: I could stretch out and sleep, at least until the first stop. Some time later three chain-smoking adults and a fretful toddler woke me. I sat up, eyelids drooping. Soon the adults (two male, one female) were furiously quarrelling and exhaling rum fumes. Cubans tend to shout even when not arguing, possibly because conversations must often compete with insanely amplified music coming from several different directions. This row, inexplicably, quietened the toddler.

An hour or so later, when the last cigarettes had been stamped on the floor and everyone except me was asleep, all hell broke loose nearby. A lady conductor was on the prowl, checking everyone's seating. In Havana, where conflicting views were held about the numbering of 12 unmarked coaches, many passengers had settled wherever they could find space and now resented being moved. Oddly enough, my companions were correctly placed – very clever of them, I thought. Now the combination of her own dying torch and my faintly inked ticket challenged our conductor. Only when one of the men lent his cigarette-lighter could she see that mine was seat three in compartment B in coach six – three coaches away. She then recruited this same man to lead me through total darkness. He wore my rucksack, I carried my shoulder-bag and used my umbrella to steady myself: hereabouts the train was behaving like a small boat on a stormy sea.

One is accustomed to the bits between coaches moving beneath one's feet. In this case, however, there were no bits: one had to leap from coach to coach. As we moved slowly along the corridor of the second coach I felt the floor giving beneath my feet and momentarily I panicked. (But the sinking floor was just another of the Bayamo service's idiosyncrasies and not immediately threatening – though one day those rotting boards may well claim victims. In coach six my guide used his cigarette-lighter to peer at labels, then roused a man comfortably curled up on two seats – his and mine, apparently. Without complaint, he shifted his position as I thanked my guide; until then, he and I had exchanged not a word. With rucksack on lap, because I couldn't see where to store it, I leant back in my seat and received a small but painful scalp wound; it oozed enough blood to matt my hair. Where a headrest had been three sharp metal spikes protruded.

My bag contained one tin of Bucanero [beer], for emergencies. I now felt its time had come and quickly drank it – a mistake...  In due course those 355ml sought the exit and by the light of a full moon, newly emerged from dispersing clouds, I located the "baño" – seemingly occupied. Having waited a reasonable time I tried the door again, pushing hard. It swung open to reveal a vacuum: below was Mother Earth. At a certain point one ceases to believe in the reality of what's happening – it must all be an illusion – yet somehow one has to go along with it. But for the moon, I would have stepped forward to my death – not exactly a premature death but an unpleasant and rather silly way to go. The door bore a prominent notice – DANGER! DO NOT OPEN! – but some more drastic deterrent is required in an unlit train that habitually travels by night. Opposite the "baño" was the coach exit, its steps conveniently missing so that one could pee, more or less accurately, on to the track. But only more or less: such situations provoke penis envy.

The "baño" at the other end of the coach, visited during the day, had no door – or loo or washbasin, though their sites were obvious. Here one had to relieve one's bladder and bowels in full view of passers-by. The latter activity was performed as close as possible to the walls – a much used space, halfway through our 20-hour journey. We covered the first 250 miles in 11½ hours, including a long stop in Santa Clara, while a passenger train and two freight trains passed on their way to Havana. Then, speeding up, we achieved 50 miles in an hour and a half. After that I lost interest in our progress and concentrated on my awakening companions. All five were going to a conference at Bayamo University and their company made the travail of moving to coach six seem worthwhile. Four spoke English – "necessary for our research". Academic salaries left them with no choice but to take this unbelievable train, one third the price of the cheapest bus. My tourist ticket cost about £36; they paid about £2.15.

Moribund sugar mills, their stacks visible from afar, punctuated these hundreds of miles of flatness. My commenting on the job losses brought a sharp response from Aleida, leader of the academics. All those workers had been retrained, given new jobs. When I asked what sort of jobs my tone perhaps suggested scepticism and the Professor snapped, "In factories and municipalities". It would have been too provocative to wonder how those institutions suddenly came to need thousands of extra workers. Aleida seemed to distrust the foreign writer. Her colleagues would, I intuited, have talked more freely but she, their senior in age and status, retained firm control of our exchanges. Sometimes my companions spoke English for my benefit, sometimes they argued in Spanish about Bush, Guantanamo Bay, tourism – and then one sensed the men's hesitancy when disagreements arose. Rather than assert themselves, they exchanged furtively supportive glances.

From Bayamo's station, a 10-minute walk took me to my friend Miranda's rather luxurious "casa particular" where my hostess exclaimed, "Desde Havana en el tren! Muy difícil." "Sí,' I agreed, "pero muy interesante." Later, writing my diary, I recalled a stimulating debate at a literary seminar I had recently attended in Florida: to what (if any) extent is it permissible for travel writers to embellish or exaggerate incidents – even to enhance narratives with fiction if that makes for a "better read"? Our divergence of opinion was decisively age-related. The oldies – Peter Matthiessen, Barry Lopez and myself – were adamantly opposed to any element of fiction and only grudgingly tolerant of embellishments and exaggerations. I think it was Barry Lopez who noted that travel writers have a duty of accuracy. By being strictly factual they can make a small contribution to future generations' knowledge of how things were in countries A, B or C when they went that way.

Someone mentioned Afghanistan as an example. The version of that country's culture and history currently being promoted is counter-balanced or contradicted by such travel writers as Mountstuart Elphinstone, Robert Warburton, George Robertson, Robert Byron, Ella Maillart, Peter Mayne, Eric Newby, Peter Levi (and myself). Incidentally, Peter Levi's perception seems even more painfully keen now than it was when he wrote in 1971: "As a political entity Afghanistan is nothing but a chewed bone left over on the plate between Imperial Russia and British India." All of which leads up to a solemn declaration. I can assure my readers that the foregoing pages give a true and faithful account of the condition of Cuba's Havana-Bayamo rail service in the year 2006 AD. Extracted from The Island That Dared: Journeys in Cuba by Dervla Murphy (Eland Books, £16.99). The book may be ordered through Telegraph Books Direct (0870 428 4112), for £14.99 plus £1.25 p&p.

Havana – DTC - The Pediatric Pharmaceutical and Therapeutic Guide, installed at the Octavio de la Concepción y de la Pedraja Hospital, in the city of Holguín, has contributed to a better use of medications throughout the country. The hospital is the first medical institution in the country to have such a digital tool, which is aimed at improving medical care. The software allows doctors to learn about the availability of drugs for all 35 medical services provided at the hospital. It also provides information about the dose to be administered to patients, side effects and interactions with other drugs. Experts said the use of that tool at children's hospitals throughout the country would result in better medical care and a better and more efficient administration of drugs.

Miami Herald – Miami - Comcast lowered the price to call Cuba. Comcast Digital Voice customers can make calls that terminate to land-line phones in Cuba for 79 cents per minute, decreased from 91 cents a minute. AT&T's land-line calling rates to Cuba start at 92 cents a minute with its Worldwide Value calling plan.

The Daily Evergreen – Pullman, WA - WSU students have a new faculty-led study abroad program option this year. The program, Gender and Sexuality: Current Discourses in Cuban Academics, will take students to Havana for 10 weeks during the spring semester. “It is a unique program in that you can’t just travel to Cuba. You have to have an invitation or a permit from the Cuban government,” said Laurie Quiring, a faculty-led program specialist at WSU. Leading the program will be Luz Maria Gordillo, assistant professor of women’s studies in the College of Liberal Arts at WSU-Vancouver. Academic classes will include courses in Spanish, history and women’s studies.

Gordillo said this particular study abroad program is an amazing opportunity because WSU holds an academic license to travel to Cuba. She said the license is not easy to get because of Cuba’s political state. “We are very lucky in many ways that we were granted this license,” she said. Gordillo said students will witness an important time in Cuba’s history of social justice, as Cuba held its first national GLBT conference last year. Historically, homosexuality was outlawed in Cuba. After the 1959 revolution, the communist government of Cuba attempted to rid the nation of homosexuality. Same-sex relations became legal in 1992. Mariela Castro, daughter of Cuba’s current leader Raúl Castro and niece of Fidel Casto, is the head of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education. The center advocates for tolerance of LGBT issues in Cuba.

Erika Abad, a graduate student in American studies and a women’s studies teaching assistant, said she is looking forward to taking students abroad. “So much can happen in 10 weeks,” Abad said. “It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and very few universities across the country have ever had this opportunity.” Along with WSU-Vancouver Chancellor Hal Dengerink, Gordillo began establishing an alliance in December 2006 with the University of Havana and the Instituto Superior de Arte, where the students will study during the program. The U.S. Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control grants a license to travel to Cuba for educational purposes, Gordillo said. Armando LaGuardia, associate professor of education at WSU-Vancouver, was responsible for obtaining the license. Gordillo traveled to Cuba and worked with both institutes this past summer to finalize the program, she said.

She said the program is a way to bring diversity back to campus. “My goal is to expose students to something new and unfamiliar, such as the culture and language of Cuba,” Gordillo said. Quiring said students will visit many historic sites, and many lectures are planned. Places students will visit include the National Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of the Revolution, the Center for U.S and Cuba Relations, the Women’s Studies center, a castle and a cigar factory. Students will also visit architectural sights. The main academic focus of the program is to help students understand Cuban history and culture, Abad said.

“One required course will focus on the historical, political and gender issues that unite and divide the island nation and its hemispheric neighbors,” she said. “Students interested in stepping outside of their comfort zone would gain an extraordinary experience in visiting a country that approaches government, state relations and social services in a different manner than the U.S.” All students, regardless of major, can sign up for the program. Participants must be undergraduates from any WSU campus with a minimum 2.5 GPA. A minimum of 10 students are needed for the program. Students should talk to an academic adviser to see if the credits will count for the student’s degree or if exceptions can be made, Quiring said.

Havana – DTC - Some 1,300 entrepreneurs from 53 countries will participate in the 26th International Fair of Havana, scheduled for early November in this capital. Officials from the organizing committee noted the participation of delegates from 457 companies, which will show off their products, services and cutting-edge technology in different economic fields. Some 315 firms from 22 sectors, especially the basic and food industries, will represent Cuba. Other Cuban exhibitors are exporters and institutions from the so-called scientific pole, mainly from the genetic engineering and biotechnology fields. According to the experts, this year's trade fair will be larger than previous ones, regarding deals, exhibitors, exchanges and business between Cuba and other countries.

Reuters – HAVANA - Revolutionary allies Cuba and Venezuela will pour billions of dollars into downstream oil projects in Cuba with the goal of tripling its refining capacity to 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2013, Cuban state-run radio said, citing the country’s Basic Industry Minister. Minister Yadira Garcia’s announcement came despite falling oil prices which are expected to slow Venezuela’s plans to build around a dozen refineries in the region. But oil-rich Venezuela is expected to prioritize Cuban investments in Cuba, which currently has the capacity to refine 130,000 bpd, local experts said. Garcia said the two countries planned to build a new refinery in central Matanzas province in addition to expanding a joint venture refinery in central Cienfuegos province and doubling the capacity of a refinery in eastern Santiago de Cuba.

The Cienfuegos refinery, opened a year ago, is producing 65,000 bpd, with plans to eventually produce 150,000 bpd and feed a series of joint venture petrochemical industries at a coast of $3.6 billion. Investment in the refinery expansion in Eastern Cuba, begun earlier this year with the goal of reaching 50,000 bpd, was recently put at $850 million by Venezuela. Garcia’s announcement of plans to build a refinery in Matanzas was the first made in Cuba, though it was previously announced in Venezuela with a capacity of 150,000 bpd and price tag of $4.3 billion. Cuba consumes a minimum 150,000 bpd of petroleum products, of which up to 92,000 bpd comes from Venezuela. The rest is pumped from the northwest coast along with natural gas for power generation.

Under President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela has become a close ally of Cuba which is an enthusiastic supporter of Chavez’s regional integration proposal, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, aimed at countering U.S. influence in the region. As part of bilateral integration efforts, Venezuela is revitalizing Cuba’s downstream operations and plans to use the island as a bridge to supply the Caribbean with crude and derivatives with preferential financing. The increased refining capacity would also be in place to process increased Cuban production if drilling in its Gulf of Mexico waters, scheduled to begin next year, proves fruitful. In addition to the Cienfuegos refinery, the two countries have formed joint ventures to operate a Soviet-built supertanker port on the northern coast, a cross-country pipeline from the port to the refinery, and a joint tanker company to move petroleum products in the Caribbean.

Havana – DTC - A cereal processing plant was inaugurated in the eastern Cuban province of Camagüey. The mill, built in Minas municipality, is expected to produce some 40 tons of flour for the basic shopping basket in October. The plant will also process integral flour to meet the demand from the domestic market. The factory is expected to produce up to 40 tons of pastas a day, including spaghetti and noodles. Therefore, the factory is contributing to diversifying food supplies in the domestic market.

(MENAFN - Arab News) - Cuba foresees stronger relations with the Kingdom following the recent opening of its embassy in Riyadh, said Laureano Rodriguez Castro, the Cuban ambassador to Saudi Arabia, in a press briefing held at the embassy. "We have been maintaining good relations with the Kingdom, but the establishment of the mission in Riyadh will step up cooperation between the two countries. The Cuban mission in the Kingdom is our third station in the Gulf after Kuwait and Qatar," he said. Castro, who was previously the Cuban ambassador to Kuwait from 2004 to 2007, said Saudi Arabia is an important Gulf state, which his country would like to cooperate with in matters of mutual interests.

"Even before the mission was established, Cuba supported the Kingdom on all international issues and we have severed our diplomatic relations with Israel in support of the Palestinians," he added. Thanking Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and senior government officials for facilitating the establishment of the embassy in Riyadh, Castro said he hopes this gesture would be reciprocated with a mission in Cuba. The Saudi mission in neighboring Mexico currently looks after Cuban interests. "Saudi philanthropists sent around $50,000 in voluntary contribution to assist 1.78 million Cubans affected by Hurricane Gustav," the ambassador said, expressing his thanks for the gesture. "There are several

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Esta informacion fue publicada en Penultimos Dias http://penultimosdias.com/2008/10/14/informacion-importante-sobre-entrada-de-alimentos-a-cuba/
 
Aun la considero en categoria de rumor pues no ha sido publicada por ninguna pagina web o publicacion cubana, ni en la pagina de Aduana, ni la Gaceta, ni el Granma.
 
De todos modos, sirve como validacion el hecho que hoy llame a los numeros de telefono apuntados debajo. Son numeros en Cuba, ahi me confirmaron, punto por punto lo que comparto con ustedes
 
Yo
 
 
 
Información importante sobre entrada de alimentos a Cuba

October 14th, 2008 ·
 

La Aduana de la República de Cuba ha autorizado la entrada de alimentos al país. Para ello han sido instruidas las autoridades correspondientes en los puertos de entrada en todo el territorio nacional. Las condiciones son las siguientes:
• Los alimentos deben venir el maletas independientes del equipaje (sólo de alimentos).
• Están exentos de pago, independientemente del país del que procedan.
• Están exentos de pesaje, independientemente del país que procedan.
• Todos los alimentos tienen que estar sellados en su envase o embalaje original, no pueden tener roturas, rasguños ni estar reenvasados.
• Tienen preferencia los alimentos secos, deshidratados, al vacío o enlatados, incluidos ajo y cebolla en polvo (en sus envases originales). En ningún caso se permitirán carnes, quesos, frutas frescas ni semillas.
 
Consultas sobre la nueva normativa: Tlfs (537)883-8282 / 883-7575 o por correo electrónico: publico@agr.aduana.cu

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Experimento le da al peso cubano un valor real 
03 de Octubre de 2008, 12:55PM ET
BAYAMO, Cuba (AP) - Un experimento le está permitiendo a los empleados públicos de esta ciudad oriental gozar de algunos privilegios fuera del alcance del cubano común: una buena hamburguesa, un bar con música de jazz y tragos fuertes.
Los sueldos típicos de 408 pesos (19,50 dólares) mensuales no alcanzan para cubrir la canasta familiar en Cuba, y mucho menos para pagar por una salida nocturna. Pero en Bayamo, el gobierno está haciendo un experimento en el que se le da al peso un poder de compra real.
En el "Paseo", como se conoce a seis cuadras llenas de restaurantes, peluquerías, heladerías y tiendas, los cubanos pueden hacer la vida de un turista, pagando precios accesibles. Por ejemplo, pueden escuchar música de jazz en vivo hasta las dos de la mañana en el Piano Bar, donde los mojitos cuestan 5,50 pesos, o 30 centavos de dólar.
Una cena al estilo de los años 50, con sabrosos sándwiches de albóndigas, cuesta 50 centavos, o tres centavos de dólar, lo mismo que una buena porción de helado.
"Casi todos los que nos visitan se sorprenden. La música está muy buena. Los cócteles son fuertes", comentó Ernesto Aldana en Piano Bar, donde los Cuba Libre _ron con hielo, cola y lima_ cuestan 4,80 pesos, o menos de 25 centavos de dólar.
"Es como si estuviera pagando en dólares", señaló.
En Cuba rige un sistema con dos divisas y la mayoría de los bienes más apetecibles están fuera del alcance del ciudadano común, que cobra en pesos cubanos, equivalentes a poco más que cuatro centavos de dólar.
Casi la totalidad de los artículos de consumo se cotizan en pesos convertibles, equivalentes a 1,08 dólares.
Cuba instauró el sistema de dos divisas tras el derrumbe de la Unión Soviética, que trajo aparejado a su vez el desplome de la economía nacional, la cual se enfocó a partir de entonces en el turismo. Los negocios para turistas cobran en dólares y cotizan sus artículos a precios internacionales, prohibitivos para el cubano común.
Los cubanos sueñan con el día en que el gobierno instaure una sola moneda y en que los artículos de consumo estén a su alcance. Pero no se ha dado ningún paso en esa dirección desde que Raúl Castro asumió la presidencia a principios de año en reemplazo de su hermano Fidel, cuya salud está resquebrajada.
El gobierno tradicionalmente ensaya posibles cambios en la economía en las provincias. En Bayamo, ciudad de 140.000 habitantes y capital de la provincia de Granma, el Partido Comunista local comenzó a ampliar el poder adquisitivo del peso común en el 2005.
"Normalmente, de hecho hay una brecha entre la calidad de servicio que se le brinda a los extranjeros y el servicio a los cubanos", expresó Isidro Alonso, del Comité de Ideología del Partido Comunista de Bayamo. "Queremos borrar esto. Estamos en eso".
Para ello se necesitan grandes subsidios del gobierno. Los comercios del Paseo embolsan entre 1.000 y 1.700 pesos (50 a 80 dólares) diarios. Y el programa despegó solo cuando las autoridades de Bayamo lograron que el gobierno central aprobase la venta de productos de la zona como ron, mariscos, cerveza, yogur, carne, helado y quesos, que tradicionalmente eran enviados a otros lugares de la isla.
"Toma como ejemplo la leche condensada. Era un producto de aquí que se vendía en Santiago o donde sea. Y nosotros dijimos, '¿cómo es posible?'. Si lo hacemos nosotros en Granma, deberíamos poder venderlo en Granma", manifestó Alonso.
El alza en los precios de los productos, no obstante, hace que los subsidios resulten cada día más costosos, en momentos en que los huracanes Gustav e Ike afectaron seriamente la producción de alimentos en Cuba.
El gobierno ordenó que todas las provincias contribuyan más alimentos al resto del país y reduzcan la dependencia de las importaciones, indicó Humberto Rondón, director técnico del área de producción de una empresa estatal que produce quesos y helados en las afueras de Bayamo. Granma tendrá que destinar el 80% del queso que produce a otras regiones.
A pesar de los huracanes y de la subida en los precios de los alimentos, el experimento de Bayamo ha sido tan exitoso que el gobierno central sigue destinando 10 millones de dólares anuales, que permiten abrir nuevos negocios y mantener los que ya funcionan, declaró Alonso.
En toda Cuba se pueden comprar mercancías en pesos ordinarios. Pero los productos son malos y el servicio muy flojo.
"Sin divisas, normalmente uno no puede salir a comer, no puede salir nunca el viernes o los fines de semana. Pero aquí sí se puede", comentó Vilna López, quien alquila habitaciones en su casa, a tres cuadras del Paseo.
Hay gente que hace largos trayectos en autobús para poder gastar sus pesos en Bayamo.
"Me gustaría tener esto en casa, y eso que soy de La Habana", expresó Alexey Rodríguez.
El experimento de Bayamo, sin embargo, es demasiado costoso como para poder hacerlo en gran escala. Y no alcanza para compensar las debilidades del sistema de dos divisas.
Ana Luisa González gana 225 pesos al mes limpiando las calles del Paseo. Su hijo trabaja en una fábrica de tampones.
"Con eso vivimos", dijo González. "Los salarios en pesos no valen nada".
Cuando se le menciona todo lo que hay para comprar en el Paseo, la mujer, de 50 años, sacude la cabeza y dice que los precios allí también son prohibitivos para ella. Un pedazo de queso, afirmó, cuesta 80 pesos.
"Si compro dos quesos y dos yogurt, allí se va todo el salario. ¿Y entonces qué hago?", declaró.
 
 
 
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Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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