Russia to give Cuba $1m to restore damage from Hurricane Sandy
25.07.2014 | Source: Pravda.Ru
Officials with the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia would give
Cuba a million dollars for the restoration of damaged housing in the
province of Santiago de Cuba. The document was signed by the Russian
Ambassador in Cuba Mikhail Kamynin and coordinator of the UN system in
Havana Myrta Kaulard.
"Russia will allocate one million dollars for the reconstruction of
housing stock in the province of Santiago de Cuba, damaged in 2012 by
Hurricane Sandy. The Funds will be used to finance the project,
developed by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) . In particular, it
stipulates for the repairs of hundreds of homes, which will give
primarily low-income families an opportunity to return to permanent
places of their residence. Construction materials will be purchased on
the local market, which will contribute to the development of small and
medium-sized Cuban business.
"This project will further strengthen friendly Russian-Cuban relations,
demonstrating the increasing role of Russia as a donor of international
development," a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Representatives of the Cuban Ministry for Foreign Trade and Foreign
Investment attended the signing ceremony, ITAR-TASS reports.
Source: Russia to give Cuba $1m to restore damage from Hurricane Sandy -
English pravda.ru -
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/25-07-2014/128166-russia_cuba_sandy-0/#.U9KJr_mSwx4
Friday, July 25, 2014
Cuba’s Customs and the Import Market
Cuba's Customs and the Import Market
July 24, 2014
Once again putting the cart ahead of the oxen
FERNANDO RAVSBERG*
HAVANA TIMES — In Cuba, hacerse el sueco (literally "playing the Swede")
is a popular idiom that means to play dumb and to pretend not to notice
the obvious. I believe that, following the implementation of the new
customs regulations on the island, more than one Cuban authority has
magically turned into a Scandinavian, looking for a scapegoat where they
can vent their rage.
Cuban Customs has been bombarded with criticisms, even though everyone
in Cuba knows that such regulations aren't established by an institution
that merely complies with the resolutions approved by the government.
The new regulations are not exactly extremist when compared to those of
other countries. Five pairs of shoes is more than enough for one person
(no matter how much they intend to walk), and even the cleanest among us
can make do with a few dozen bars of soaps.
The prices of some products lead to contraband. This piece of cheese
costs the equivalent of a State employee's 2 full monthly salaries.
The problem is not what customs allows us to bring into the country but
what we (Cubans and foreign residents alike) need to bring home in order
to fill the enormous hole produced by shortages and/or the extremely
high prices of the domestic market.
I can solemnly swear that it doesn't please me in the least to have to
travel back from Spain with 4 car tires under my arm. Finding and
packing them isn't easy, let alone finding a cab that's got enough room
to carry them to the airport without protest.
Standing in line to check in for flight to Cuba anywhere in the world is
like going to a street vendor convention where you find people with the
most unusual products: furniture, electrical switches, car parts, light
bulbs, television sets, water pumps and breast implants.
What's defective are not Cuba's customs regulations but the country's
domestic market, and the government must acknowledge that it has always
been so. There has practically been no time in over a half century in
which the country has had a steady supply of products, without shortages
or rationing.
An old joke says that, had Jesus Christ been Cuban, he would never have
been crucified because, if you're lucky to get your hands on a hammer in
Cuba, you'll soon find out that nails are few and far between and wood
is nowhere to be found. In fact, there isn't a single place in Cuba
where you can buy a couple of wooden planks legally.
The black market immediately takes advantage of these shortages. I doubt
there's a single country in the world with a black market as vigorous
and modern as Cuba's. It's even got webpages, like Revolico and
Porlalivre, where you can find anything, at twice the price you can find
it abroad and half what the State charges in Cuba.
From a tube of toothpaste to a state-of-the-art laptop – everything
will be cheaper than at a State store, for black market sellers raise
the price by 100 % while the government does so by 240 %.
Most of the clothes and shoes sold in State stores are old, expensive
and of poor quality. A pair of shoes can last you a month, and there's
nowhere you can go to complain when they break because consumer rights
in Cuba are only theoretical.
With the new customs regulations, the government has placed the cart
ahead of the oxen, forbidding the import of certain products before
having built a commercial system that can satisfy the basic consumer
needs of its citizens.
No one should worry that imports will bring about a crisis in Cuba's
domestic market – the authorities responsible for supplying the market
are more than enough to achieve this. They're not even able to maintain
steady supplies of floor mops at stores.
The worst part of this is that the measures will only affect people who
travel only occasionally but will not put an end to large-scale
contraband, which comes into the country on a daily basis in the luggage
of plane crews or in large packages, let through by corrupt customs
officials.
Source: Cuba's Customs and the Import Market - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=105079
July 24, 2014
Once again putting the cart ahead of the oxen
FERNANDO RAVSBERG*
HAVANA TIMES — In Cuba, hacerse el sueco (literally "playing the Swede")
is a popular idiom that means to play dumb and to pretend not to notice
the obvious. I believe that, following the implementation of the new
customs regulations on the island, more than one Cuban authority has
magically turned into a Scandinavian, looking for a scapegoat where they
can vent their rage.
Cuban Customs has been bombarded with criticisms, even though everyone
in Cuba knows that such regulations aren't established by an institution
that merely complies with the resolutions approved by the government.
The new regulations are not exactly extremist when compared to those of
other countries. Five pairs of shoes is more than enough for one person
(no matter how much they intend to walk), and even the cleanest among us
can make do with a few dozen bars of soaps.
The prices of some products lead to contraband. This piece of cheese
costs the equivalent of a State employee's 2 full monthly salaries.
The problem is not what customs allows us to bring into the country but
what we (Cubans and foreign residents alike) need to bring home in order
to fill the enormous hole produced by shortages and/or the extremely
high prices of the domestic market.
I can solemnly swear that it doesn't please me in the least to have to
travel back from Spain with 4 car tires under my arm. Finding and
packing them isn't easy, let alone finding a cab that's got enough room
to carry them to the airport without protest.
Standing in line to check in for flight to Cuba anywhere in the world is
like going to a street vendor convention where you find people with the
most unusual products: furniture, electrical switches, car parts, light
bulbs, television sets, water pumps and breast implants.
What's defective are not Cuba's customs regulations but the country's
domestic market, and the government must acknowledge that it has always
been so. There has practically been no time in over a half century in
which the country has had a steady supply of products, without shortages
or rationing.
An old joke says that, had Jesus Christ been Cuban, he would never have
been crucified because, if you're lucky to get your hands on a hammer in
Cuba, you'll soon find out that nails are few and far between and wood
is nowhere to be found. In fact, there isn't a single place in Cuba
where you can buy a couple of wooden planks legally.
The black market immediately takes advantage of these shortages. I doubt
there's a single country in the world with a black market as vigorous
and modern as Cuba's. It's even got webpages, like Revolico and
Porlalivre, where you can find anything, at twice the price you can find
it abroad and half what the State charges in Cuba.
From a tube of toothpaste to a state-of-the-art laptop – everything
will be cheaper than at a State store, for black market sellers raise
the price by 100 % while the government does so by 240 %.
Most of the clothes and shoes sold in State stores are old, expensive
and of poor quality. A pair of shoes can last you a month, and there's
nowhere you can go to complain when they break because consumer rights
in Cuba are only theoretical.
With the new customs regulations, the government has placed the cart
ahead of the oxen, forbidding the import of certain products before
having built a commercial system that can satisfy the basic consumer
needs of its citizens.
No one should worry that imports will bring about a crisis in Cuba's
domestic market – the authorities responsible for supplying the market
are more than enough to achieve this. They're not even able to maintain
steady supplies of floor mops at stores.
The worst part of this is that the measures will only affect people who
travel only occasionally but will not put an end to large-scale
contraband, which comes into the country on a daily basis in the luggage
of plane crews or in large packages, let through by corrupt customs
officials.
Source: Cuba's Customs and the Import Market - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=105079
Cuban hijacker appeals 20-year US prison sentence
Posted on Thursday, 07.24.14
Cuban hijacker appeals 20-year US prison sentence
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI -- An American who hijacked a jetliner to Cuba decades ago is
appealing the 20-year prison sentence he received after pleading guilty
to U.S. kidnapping charges.
The attorney for William Potts Jr. filed a notice of appeal Thursday.
Potts has been seeking credit for the 13 years he spent in Cuba after
hijacking the jet in 1984 on its way from New York to Miami.
Potts returned voluntarily from Cuba last year to resolve the U.S. case.
Under his current sentence, the 57-year-old Potts would be eligible for
parole after nearly seven years.
The FBI says the New Jersey native identified himself during the
hijacking as a black militant and claimed in a note to a flight
attendant that he planned to blow up the flight unless it was diverted
to Havana.
Source: MIAMI: Cuban hijacker appeals 20-year US prison sentence -
Nation Wires - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/24/4253858/cuban-hijacker-appeals-20-year.html
Cuban hijacker appeals 20-year US prison sentence
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI -- An American who hijacked a jetliner to Cuba decades ago is
appealing the 20-year prison sentence he received after pleading guilty
to U.S. kidnapping charges.
The attorney for William Potts Jr. filed a notice of appeal Thursday.
Potts has been seeking credit for the 13 years he spent in Cuba after
hijacking the jet in 1984 on its way from New York to Miami.
Potts returned voluntarily from Cuba last year to resolve the U.S. case.
Under his current sentence, the 57-year-old Potts would be eligible for
parole after nearly seven years.
The FBI says the New Jersey native identified himself during the
hijacking as a black militant and claimed in a note to a flight
attendant that he planned to blow up the flight unless it was diverted
to Havana.
Source: MIAMI: Cuban hijacker appeals 20-year US prison sentence -
Nation Wires - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/24/4253858/cuban-hijacker-appeals-20-year.html
Thursday, July 24, 2014
New Measures by Cuban Customs Service Coming in September
New Measures by Cuban Customs Service Coming in September / Ivan Garcia
Posted on July 23, 2014
On September 1, 2014 the Customs Service of the Republic of Cuba will
begin enforcing new regulations intended to combat illegal trafficking
of merchandise by relatives, friends and "mules"* through airports and
port facilities.
It's one more turn of the screw. Every year since 2011 new regulations
have been put in place designed to halt the illegal importation of goods
destined for families and private businesses on the island.
In Spring 2012 the customs service began charging ten dollars for every
kilo above the twenty-kilo limit for personal baggage. For parcel post
the charge was ten dollars per kilo above the five-kilo limit.
According to Onelia, a customs official, "The new measures are intended
to halt the trade in goods brought in by mules."
The military regime quite often resorts to demagogic rhetoric. It
eschews the military uniform and takes on the role of victim when
talking about the economic and financial embargo that the United States
has imposed on Cuba since 1962.
But the embargo does not justify establishing a string of regulations
that affect family well-being, private businesses and the quality of
life for a wide segment of the population.
Simply put, they are applying a set of prohibitions and laws in order
increase sales in the chain of hard-currency stores operated as military
businesses. It is a disgrace.
It is monopoly in its purest form. The government would now find itself
hard pressed to explain how these measures are benefitting its citizens.
Its aberrant customs rules, prohibitions on retail sales of imported
clothing and high taxes on the self-employed are anti-populist edicts.
I asked twenty-eight people — friends, neighbors, taxi drivers, public
and private sector workers — if they approved of these regulations.
Regardless of their political beliefs, the verdict was unanimous: all
twenty-eight were opposed to the current measures as well as to those
scheduled to take effect on September 1.
Some 80% of Cubans have a relative or friend in the United States or
Europe. Some benefit from regular shipments of clothes, food,
appliances, video games, computer tablets or smart phones. Others
receive occasional shipments.
But it is black market commerce, driven scarcity and a system of
economic production that does not satisfy demand, the most important
provider of the things people need.
HP laptops, plasma-screen TVs, instant soups and even major league
baseball hats arrive on the island from Miami, as do Russian car parts
and cloned satellite TV cards, which are banned by the Cuban government.
What businessmen, politicians and exiles living in the United States do
not mention when expressing support for relaxing or repealing the
embargo is the regime's obsession with controlling our private lives.
We must navigate an internet packed with filters, watch TV channels that
the government authorizes, read books over which the mullahs of
censorship pass judgment and pay extortionist prices for cell phone service.
We should be talking more often about the internal blockade the
government imposes on its citizens.
Is it legal for a nation to stifle illegal commerce? Yes, it is. But
before punishing people, it should provide by offering range of products
and prices for the domestic market, living wages and efficient services.
This is not the case in Cuba. State workers earn around twenty dollars a
month. The "basic basket" of goods that a ration book covers barely
lasts ten days. Putting two meals a day on the table is a luxury in many
homes.
The State has become an insatiable overseer. It owns industries that
provide us with overpriced mayonnaise, canned tuna and queso blanco.
At no meeting of the boring and monotonous National Assembly did I hear
any delegate demand that the state set fair prices. Food prices in Cuban
hard currency stores are higher than those in New York.
The price of flat-screen TV or a computer is two and a half times what
it is in Miami. Tiles and bathroom fixtures are five times as expensive.
And a Peugeot 508 sells for an exorbitant price, comparable to that of a
Ferrari.
Thanks to mules, relatives in Florida send us everything from powdered
milk to sanitary pads because the state cannot satisfy the monthly
demand of women or offer such products for sale at affordable prices.
This is what it's about. The new measures attempting to stop trafficking
by mules are intended to benefit state enterprises and businesses, and
to increase their sales, though what becomes of the profits is never
revealed.
They are only hampering the transfer of small ticket items, however, not
of dollars. Greenbacks are still welcome. The more, the merrier.
Before the Obama administration relaxes that relic of the Cold War
called the embargo, those speaking on behalf of the Cuban people should
ask Raul Castro for greater freedom and economic independence for his
citizens.
And don't get me started on the denial of political rights. That's
another story.
Photo: From Univision Colorado.
*Translator's note: Slang term for couriers of goods from overseas.
18 July 2014
Source: New Measures by Cuban Customs Service Coming in September / Ivan
Garcia | Translating Cuba - http://translatingcuba.com/new-measures/
Posted on July 23, 2014
On September 1, 2014 the Customs Service of the Republic of Cuba will
begin enforcing new regulations intended to combat illegal trafficking
of merchandise by relatives, friends and "mules"* through airports and
port facilities.
It's one more turn of the screw. Every year since 2011 new regulations
have been put in place designed to halt the illegal importation of goods
destined for families and private businesses on the island.
In Spring 2012 the customs service began charging ten dollars for every
kilo above the twenty-kilo limit for personal baggage. For parcel post
the charge was ten dollars per kilo above the five-kilo limit.
According to Onelia, a customs official, "The new measures are intended
to halt the trade in goods brought in by mules."
The military regime quite often resorts to demagogic rhetoric. It
eschews the military uniform and takes on the role of victim when
talking about the economic and financial embargo that the United States
has imposed on Cuba since 1962.
But the embargo does not justify establishing a string of regulations
that affect family well-being, private businesses and the quality of
life for a wide segment of the population.
Simply put, they are applying a set of prohibitions and laws in order
increase sales in the chain of hard-currency stores operated as military
businesses. It is a disgrace.
It is monopoly in its purest form. The government would now find itself
hard pressed to explain how these measures are benefitting its citizens.
Its aberrant customs rules, prohibitions on retail sales of imported
clothing and high taxes on the self-employed are anti-populist edicts.
I asked twenty-eight people — friends, neighbors, taxi drivers, public
and private sector workers — if they approved of these regulations.
Regardless of their political beliefs, the verdict was unanimous: all
twenty-eight were opposed to the current measures as well as to those
scheduled to take effect on September 1.
Some 80% of Cubans have a relative or friend in the United States or
Europe. Some benefit from regular shipments of clothes, food,
appliances, video games, computer tablets or smart phones. Others
receive occasional shipments.
But it is black market commerce, driven scarcity and a system of
economic production that does not satisfy demand, the most important
provider of the things people need.
HP laptops, plasma-screen TVs, instant soups and even major league
baseball hats arrive on the island from Miami, as do Russian car parts
and cloned satellite TV cards, which are banned by the Cuban government.
What businessmen, politicians and exiles living in the United States do
not mention when expressing support for relaxing or repealing the
embargo is the regime's obsession with controlling our private lives.
We must navigate an internet packed with filters, watch TV channels that
the government authorizes, read books over which the mullahs of
censorship pass judgment and pay extortionist prices for cell phone service.
We should be talking more often about the internal blockade the
government imposes on its citizens.
Is it legal for a nation to stifle illegal commerce? Yes, it is. But
before punishing people, it should provide by offering range of products
and prices for the domestic market, living wages and efficient services.
This is not the case in Cuba. State workers earn around twenty dollars a
month. The "basic basket" of goods that a ration book covers barely
lasts ten days. Putting two meals a day on the table is a luxury in many
homes.
The State has become an insatiable overseer. It owns industries that
provide us with overpriced mayonnaise, canned tuna and queso blanco.
At no meeting of the boring and monotonous National Assembly did I hear
any delegate demand that the state set fair prices. Food prices in Cuban
hard currency stores are higher than those in New York.
The price of flat-screen TV or a computer is two and a half times what
it is in Miami. Tiles and bathroom fixtures are five times as expensive.
And a Peugeot 508 sells for an exorbitant price, comparable to that of a
Ferrari.
Thanks to mules, relatives in Florida send us everything from powdered
milk to sanitary pads because the state cannot satisfy the monthly
demand of women or offer such products for sale at affordable prices.
This is what it's about. The new measures attempting to stop trafficking
by mules are intended to benefit state enterprises and businesses, and
to increase their sales, though what becomes of the profits is never
revealed.
They are only hampering the transfer of small ticket items, however, not
of dollars. Greenbacks are still welcome. The more, the merrier.
Before the Obama administration relaxes that relic of the Cold War
called the embargo, those speaking on behalf of the Cuban people should
ask Raul Castro for greater freedom and economic independence for his
citizens.
And don't get me started on the denial of political rights. That's
another story.
Photo: From Univision Colorado.
*Translator's note: Slang term for couriers of goods from overseas.
18 July 2014
Source: New Measures by Cuban Customs Service Coming in September / Ivan
Garcia | Translating Cuba - http://translatingcuba.com/new-measures/
China, Cuba sign bilateral agreements
China, Cuba sign bilateral agreements
Raúl Castro is working to attract foreign investment to jumpstart the
ailing Cuban economy
MAYE PRIMERA Miami 23 JUL 2014 - 16:14 CEST
Chinese president Xi Jinping arrived in Havana on Tuesday to sign 29 new
bilateral agreements in finance, biotechnology, agriculture,
infrastructure and renewable energy.
Beijing will finance a new terminal at the port of Santiago de Cuba,
according to the news website Cuba Debate. China and Cuba will also
cooperate on cyberspace issues.
On the economic front, Xi and Raúl Castro agreed on protocols to oversee
the quality of the tobacco and sugar that the island nation exports to
China.
Before the meeting at the Palacio de la Revolución, Xi visited historic
Cuban leader Fidel Castro, 87, and presented him with "the respect" of
the Chinese people.
"You are the founder of the causes of the revolution and the
construction of Cuba, and you are the founder of relations between China
and Cuba," said Xi.
Xi and Castro were also expected to discuss the new conditions of the
Foreign Investment Law approved by the Cuban government in March. This
legislation, part of a government drive to jumpstart the ailing economy,
will allow foreign investors to bring their own workforce over to the
island to work on construction projects.
The Chinese president hopes to get a sense of Cuba's progress on
economic reform, especially with regard to foreign investment, with a
view to reactivating old projects and launching new ones.
This is the fourth and last Latin American stop for Xi before returning
home. Before this, he was in Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela, where he
signed off on multi-million-euro loans and dozens of cooperation agreements.
The government of Raúl Castro hopes for similar treatment, but first
China needs to make sure that Cuba has done its homework.
Both Raúl and Fidel Castro have underscored the key role of Chinese
investment in regional development, especially when it comes to
exploiting the rich oil, mineral and freshwater reserves in Latin
America. "We face the challenge of working toward the industrialization
of our natural and agricultural resources, of increasing and
diversifying our exports, and achieving a more equal trade balance that
will reserve an important role for our ties with the People's Republic
of China," said Raúl Castro in Brazilia on June 17.
China has significant oil interests in Cuba, where it manages several
wells in the northern coast. In June 2011, then vice-president Xi
Jinping signed 13 energy and economic agreements with Havana, including
two projects to expand the Cienfuegos refinery and build a liquid gas
plant in partnership with Venezuela.
China is Cuba's second-most-important trade partner after Venezuela,
with a bilateral trade volume of 1.4 billion dollars in 2013.
In the last 17 years, Raúl Castro has traveled to Beijing three times to
learn about the "Chinese experiment" of economic reform.
Source: China, Cuba sign bilateral agreements | In English | EL PAÍS -
http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/07/23/inenglish/1406124841_312333.html
Raúl Castro is working to attract foreign investment to jumpstart the
ailing Cuban economy
MAYE PRIMERA Miami 23 JUL 2014 - 16:14 CEST
Chinese president Xi Jinping arrived in Havana on Tuesday to sign 29 new
bilateral agreements in finance, biotechnology, agriculture,
infrastructure and renewable energy.
Beijing will finance a new terminal at the port of Santiago de Cuba,
according to the news website Cuba Debate. China and Cuba will also
cooperate on cyberspace issues.
On the economic front, Xi and Raúl Castro agreed on protocols to oversee
the quality of the tobacco and sugar that the island nation exports to
China.
Before the meeting at the Palacio de la Revolución, Xi visited historic
Cuban leader Fidel Castro, 87, and presented him with "the respect" of
the Chinese people.
"You are the founder of the causes of the revolution and the
construction of Cuba, and you are the founder of relations between China
and Cuba," said Xi.
Xi and Castro were also expected to discuss the new conditions of the
Foreign Investment Law approved by the Cuban government in March. This
legislation, part of a government drive to jumpstart the ailing economy,
will allow foreign investors to bring their own workforce over to the
island to work on construction projects.
The Chinese president hopes to get a sense of Cuba's progress on
economic reform, especially with regard to foreign investment, with a
view to reactivating old projects and launching new ones.
This is the fourth and last Latin American stop for Xi before returning
home. Before this, he was in Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela, where he
signed off on multi-million-euro loans and dozens of cooperation agreements.
The government of Raúl Castro hopes for similar treatment, but first
China needs to make sure that Cuba has done its homework.
Both Raúl and Fidel Castro have underscored the key role of Chinese
investment in regional development, especially when it comes to
exploiting the rich oil, mineral and freshwater reserves in Latin
America. "We face the challenge of working toward the industrialization
of our natural and agricultural resources, of increasing and
diversifying our exports, and achieving a more equal trade balance that
will reserve an important role for our ties with the People's Republic
of China," said Raúl Castro in Brazilia on June 17.
China has significant oil interests in Cuba, where it manages several
wells in the northern coast. In June 2011, then vice-president Xi
Jinping signed 13 energy and economic agreements with Havana, including
two projects to expand the Cienfuegos refinery and build a liquid gas
plant in partnership with Venezuela.
China is Cuba's second-most-important trade partner after Venezuela,
with a bilateral trade volume of 1.4 billion dollars in 2013.
In the last 17 years, Raúl Castro has traveled to Beijing three times to
learn about the "Chinese experiment" of economic reform.
Source: China, Cuba sign bilateral agreements | In English | EL PAÍS -
http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/07/23/inenglish/1406124841_312333.html
Cuban migrants repatriated to Cuba from Cayman Islands
Cuban migrants repatriated to Cuba
By: Laura Buttigieg | lbuttigieg@pinnaclemedialtd.com
24 July, 2014
A group of 21 Cuban migrants who were detained at the Immigration
Detention Centre have been repatriated to Cuba.
The group was supervised by Immigration and Prison officials and left on
a chartered flight from Owen Roberts International Airport on Tuesday.
Six Cuban migrants remain at the center, including two women. Five men
who arrived on Cayman Brac on July 20 and requested repatriation will be
moved shorty to the Immigration Detention Centre off Fairbanks Road.
The group forms part of hundreds of Cuban migrants who arrive in Cayman
on their way to the U.S. every year. Since June, more than 100 Cuban
migrants have landed in Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac's coastal waters.
Cuban migrants who enter the Cayman Islands are held at the detention
center while they wait for their paperwork to be processed. Detained
migrants are transported back to Cuba in line with a memorandum of
understanding between Cuba and the Cayman Islands.
During the 2013/14 fiscal year, the cost of housing, feeding and caring
for the migrants in Cayman was more than $500,000.
Repatriation to Cuba has been taking an average of two or three months,
a delay responsible for the backlash in May when a group of Cubans
threatened to burn down the immigration detention center.
During the disturbance, one of the migrants jumped the fence and escaped
before being recaptured by prison officers, and a second man climbed up
onto the roof armed with rocks. The center also recorded an attempted
suicide involving one of the migrants earlier this month.
There have been a number of escape attempts from the center this year,
including more than two dozen migrants who ran from the center in the
middle of the afternoon on March 17. All except one were picked up
immediately by enforcement officials.
A group of 13 escaped on April 16, with 10 captured immediately.
Deputy Chief Immigration Officer Gary Wong told the Cayman Compass
earlier this month sources in Cuba believe the boats being used by Cuban
migrants are built somewhere about 90 miles north of Cayman.
Mr. Wong said immigration officials had received information that the
boat building was financed by Cuban migrants' families who live in the U.S.
Under United Nations conventions, migrants are allowed to make an
application for asylum in the Cayman Islands. However, most migrants do
not qualify for the application.
Source: Cuban migrants repatriated to Cuba :: Cayman Compass -
http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2014/07/24/Cuban-migrants-repatriated-to-Cuba/
By: Laura Buttigieg | lbuttigieg@pinnaclemedialtd.com
24 July, 2014
A group of 21 Cuban migrants who were detained at the Immigration
Detention Centre have been repatriated to Cuba.
The group was supervised by Immigration and Prison officials and left on
a chartered flight from Owen Roberts International Airport on Tuesday.
Six Cuban migrants remain at the center, including two women. Five men
who arrived on Cayman Brac on July 20 and requested repatriation will be
moved shorty to the Immigration Detention Centre off Fairbanks Road.
The group forms part of hundreds of Cuban migrants who arrive in Cayman
on their way to the U.S. every year. Since June, more than 100 Cuban
migrants have landed in Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac's coastal waters.
Cuban migrants who enter the Cayman Islands are held at the detention
center while they wait for their paperwork to be processed. Detained
migrants are transported back to Cuba in line with a memorandum of
understanding between Cuba and the Cayman Islands.
During the 2013/14 fiscal year, the cost of housing, feeding and caring
for the migrants in Cayman was more than $500,000.
Repatriation to Cuba has been taking an average of two or three months,
a delay responsible for the backlash in May when a group of Cubans
threatened to burn down the immigration detention center.
During the disturbance, one of the migrants jumped the fence and escaped
before being recaptured by prison officers, and a second man climbed up
onto the roof armed with rocks. The center also recorded an attempted
suicide involving one of the migrants earlier this month.
There have been a number of escape attempts from the center this year,
including more than two dozen migrants who ran from the center in the
middle of the afternoon on March 17. All except one were picked up
immediately by enforcement officials.
A group of 13 escaped on April 16, with 10 captured immediately.
Deputy Chief Immigration Officer Gary Wong told the Cayman Compass
earlier this month sources in Cuba believe the boats being used by Cuban
migrants are built somewhere about 90 miles north of Cayman.
Mr. Wong said immigration officials had received information that the
boat building was financed by Cuban migrants' families who live in the U.S.
Under United Nations conventions, migrants are allowed to make an
application for asylum in the Cayman Islands. However, most migrants do
not qualify for the application.
Source: Cuban migrants repatriated to Cuba :: Cayman Compass -
http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2014/07/24/Cuban-migrants-repatriated-to-Cuba/
China Grants Credit to Cuba to Build Port Terminal in Santiago
China Grants Credit to Cuba to Build Port Terminal in Santiago
July 23, 2014
HAVANA TIMES — China granted Cuba several new loans on Tuesday,
including one for the construction of a port terminal in Santiago de
Cuba, according to the agreements signed during the visit to the island
by Chinese President Xi Jinping, reported dpa news.
The loans from Peking are interest-free, while there are also new trade
agreements and donations. The official Cuban media did not disclose the
amounts involved.
The new lines of credit for Cuba add to the loans and investment
agreements granted by China to Venezuela and Argentina during the
earlier legs of the trip of President Xi Jinping to the region. Havana
and Santiago de Cuba are his last stops before returning to China later
Wednesday.
The governments of Beijing and Havana signed a total of 29 agreements to
enhance cooperation and economic relations, according to information
released by the state television.
The first "concessional credit line" will be aimed at "building a
multipurpose terminal in the port of Santiago de Cuba," states the text
of the agreement.
Other loans are meant to postpone payment of the Cuban debt with Beijing
and make possible the installing of digital television on the island,
which is being carried out with Chinese technology.
Other contracts provide for cooperation in the sugar and oil industries
as well as Cuba's sale to China of nickel derivatives.
Xi took part in official talks in the afternoon on Tuesday with his
Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro. In the morning he visited former
President Fidel Castro, active in recent days with foreign policy matters.
Xi gave Fidel Castro a bronze bust of 175 kilograms depicting the Cuban
revolutionary in his youth.
In his first visit to Cuba as head of state, Xi was granted the Jose
Marti order, the highest distinction awarded by the Cuban state.
The Chinese leader travels on Wednesday to Santiago de Cuba, from where
he will return to his country. Cuba's second largest city, located in
the east of the country, is still recovering from the devastating
hurricane "Sandy" in October 2012.
Before reaching Cuba, the Chinese leader was in Venezuela and Argentina.
Last week he also participated in the summit of the emerging group of
BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) held in
Fortaleza and Brasilia.
The BRICS group approved the creation of two alternative institutions to
the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), focused on
their interests.
In Venezuela, Xi and President Maduro signed 38 agreements that include
the sharp increase in the South American country's oil sales to China.
Caracas will go from providing the current amount of 524,000 barrels per
day to nearly double. The increase will be covered by a new line of
Chinese credit of US $4 billion, which should ensure the supply of one
million barrels of oil per day through 2016.
Xi also announced in Buenos Aires investments of almost $7 billion for
the construction of two hydroelectric dams and the modernization of the
railway.
Source: China Grants Credit to Cuba to Build Port Terminal in Santiago -
Havana Times.org - http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=105054
July 23, 2014
HAVANA TIMES — China granted Cuba several new loans on Tuesday,
including one for the construction of a port terminal in Santiago de
Cuba, according to the agreements signed during the visit to the island
by Chinese President Xi Jinping, reported dpa news.
The loans from Peking are interest-free, while there are also new trade
agreements and donations. The official Cuban media did not disclose the
amounts involved.
The new lines of credit for Cuba add to the loans and investment
agreements granted by China to Venezuela and Argentina during the
earlier legs of the trip of President Xi Jinping to the region. Havana
and Santiago de Cuba are his last stops before returning to China later
Wednesday.
The governments of Beijing and Havana signed a total of 29 agreements to
enhance cooperation and economic relations, according to information
released by the state television.
The first "concessional credit line" will be aimed at "building a
multipurpose terminal in the port of Santiago de Cuba," states the text
of the agreement.
Other loans are meant to postpone payment of the Cuban debt with Beijing
and make possible the installing of digital television on the island,
which is being carried out with Chinese technology.
Other contracts provide for cooperation in the sugar and oil industries
as well as Cuba's sale to China of nickel derivatives.
Xi took part in official talks in the afternoon on Tuesday with his
Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro. In the morning he visited former
President Fidel Castro, active in recent days with foreign policy matters.
Xi gave Fidel Castro a bronze bust of 175 kilograms depicting the Cuban
revolutionary in his youth.
In his first visit to Cuba as head of state, Xi was granted the Jose
Marti order, the highest distinction awarded by the Cuban state.
The Chinese leader travels on Wednesday to Santiago de Cuba, from where
he will return to his country. Cuba's second largest city, located in
the east of the country, is still recovering from the devastating
hurricane "Sandy" in October 2012.
Before reaching Cuba, the Chinese leader was in Venezuela and Argentina.
Last week he also participated in the summit of the emerging group of
BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) held in
Fortaleza and Brasilia.
The BRICS group approved the creation of two alternative institutions to
the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), focused on
their interests.
In Venezuela, Xi and President Maduro signed 38 agreements that include
the sharp increase in the South American country's oil sales to China.
Caracas will go from providing the current amount of 524,000 barrels per
day to nearly double. The increase will be covered by a new line of
Chinese credit of US $4 billion, which should ensure the supply of one
million barrels of oil per day through 2016.
Xi also announced in Buenos Aires investments of almost $7 billion for
the construction of two hydroelectric dams and the modernization of the
railway.
Source: China Grants Credit to Cuba to Build Port Terminal in Santiago -
Havana Times.org - http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=105054
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