Tag Archives: Cuba-Canada Relations

Baranyi and Legler: “Canada’s long engagement with Cuba: paradoxes and possibilities”

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Arch Ritter

By Thomas LEGLER y Stephen BARANYI, Universidad Iberoamericana (México) y Universidad de Ottawa (Canadá)

América Latina Hoy, 52, 2009, pp. 131-146; Canada’s long engagement with Cuba, paradoxes and possibilities

Professors Legler and Baranyi have produced an interesting analysis of Canadian relations with Cuba and the possible implications for the European Union and the United States which somehow I missed a few years ago. A Spanish language version of  full document is hyper-linked above. Unfortunately it is not available in English.  Here is the Abstract in English however.

ABSTRACT: The European Union, Latin America and even the United States have each initiated distinct processes of dialogue with Cuba. What relevant lessons can be drawn from Canada’s long history of engagement with the Revolution? This article documents the evolution of Canada-Cuba relations since the 1940s, focusing on the ups and downs of these relations since a policy of «constructive engagement» was launched in the mid-1990s. It argues that this approach (in its many guises) has not had a major influence on the liberalization of Cuban politics. Moreover, what little influence Canada had during the «Special Period» has diminished with the economic recovery and the diversification of Cuba’s external relations over the past decade. As such, the authors conclude that the most appropriate strategy for Canada and other «engagers» is to take a coordinated, long-term approach of supporting a variety of endogenous change processes inside Cuba. A realistic strategy should include ongoing but low-profile dialogue with the current regime, cooperation with a wide range of possible reformers within and beyond the state, and support for broader social changes through trade, foreign investment, tourism, academic and cultural exchanges.


ThomasLegler

Stephen baranyi

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Wikileaks on Canadian Relations with Cuba

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Arch Ritter

Embassy of Canada in Cuba

VZCZCXRO0421

RR RUEHQU DE RUEHOT   #0845/01 3292055

ZNR UUUUU ZZH   R 252055Z NOV 09

FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0092

INFO ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000845

SENSITIVE   SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAN AND WHA/CCA

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: PREL [External Political Relations], ETTC [Trade and Technology Controls], ETRD [Foreign Trade], CU [Cuba], CA [Canada]

SUBJECT: Canadian Relations with Cuba

1. (SBU) Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) interlocutors tell us that Canada continues to promote the advancement of democracy, good governance, and human rights in Cuba. Canada shares the U.S. goals of promoting democracy and human rights in Cuba, while maintaining its self-described policy of “principled engagement” with both the Cuban government and dissident elements. The GOC believes its approach allows it to have a positive impact on human rights and democracy in Cuba. Canada maintains a diplomatic presence in Havana and conducts aid programs worth about C$10 million/year.

2. (SBU) DFAIT Officials said that Canada has engaged and intervened on behalf of human rights and the advancement of democratization in Cuba a number of times over the past six months. According to DFAIT: — Canadian and Cuban officials meet regularly to discuss the harsh treatment of dissidents. Conversations were reportedly “firm and frank.” DFAIT officials said that meeting with dissidents is a normal part of Canadian diplomatic work in Cuba, with everyone from the ambassador downward engaging in human right outreach. DFAIT contacts assert that “Ambassador Juneau and other Embassy staff meet regularly with dissidents, journalists, economists” and that “the Ambassador also discusses human rights in his meetings with the Cuban government.” DFAIT contacts pointed to a Canadian embassy presence on the scene monitoring of “the siege of the house of dissident Vladimiro Roca” by a “Cuban government associated crowd” as typical of their on-going and continuous human rights outreach. DFAIT contacts did not have information on the status of the journalists and economists (independent versus government-affiliated) with whom embassy officers meet regularly. — The Canadian Embassy in Havana had been scheduled to open its eighth Canadian Studies Center in Cuba in July, but did not do so for budgetary reasons. These centers, funded by Canada and run by the Cuban Ministry of Education, reportedly inform the general populace about life in a democratic country with a market-based economy. The Canadian Government also regularly sends speakers to these venues, as well as funds economics professors teaching modern economic theory at the University of Havana. — the Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL), a Canadian government-funded think tank, runs a series of programs (in Canada) on Cuba that focus on support for dissidents and democratization. FOCAL documents all Cuban government actions against dissidents, supports an active dialogue on planning for the post-Castro area, and assists civil society programs on human rights and democracy.

3. (SBU) According to DFAIT officials, high-level diplomatic visits between Cuba and Canada over the past six months have included a visit to Cuba by the Canadian Minister of State for the Americas Peter Kent. The Government of Cuba cancelled his previous visit, planned for mid-May, after Kent told reporters that he aimed to use his scheduled meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro to raise democratic reform and human rights. DFAIT contacts say the Cuban government had also taken offense at that time to strong pro-human rights statements by Prime Minister Harper.

4. (SBU) Kent visited Havana November 12-14, meeting with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, Trade and Foreign Investment Minister Malmierca, and the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Dagoberto Rodriguez, and the Archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Ortega. He did not meet with dissidents because the Cuban government would not have permitted his visit to go forward if he planned to do so, according to DFAIT contacts. DFAIT contacts say Kent did engage in lengthy discussions on human rights with all three of the senior Cuban government officials as well as the Archbishop. DFAIT contacts described the discussions as “good, substantive” ones, covering the need for Cuba to release all political prisoners, accede to a visit by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, and sign on to the two primary UN human rights covenants.

OTTAWA 00000845 002 OF 002

5. (SBU) Minister Kent also met with representatives of Cuban government-sanctioned civil society organizations, including the Centro Felix Varela, Inter Press Service, and the Centro Nacional de Educacion Sexual (the organization head by Raul Castro’s daughter Mariela).

6. (SBU) DFAIT interlocutors decline to provide us with information on specific Canadian companies operating in Cuba or confirm open source information about them. Media reports indicate that Canada remains Cuba’s third largest trade partner, with trade growing by 9.4% in 2008. Canadian companies operate in a variety of sectors of the Cuban economy, including tourism, construction, agriculture, bio-technology, and mining. According to Canadian Government statistics, annual two-way trade between Cuba and Canada was C$1.66 billion in 2008. Canadian exports to Cuba in 2008 were worth C$768,389,688. Canadian imports from Cuba amounted to C$895,242,425. Canadian merchandise exports to Cuba rose 36.3% in 2008 to $768.1 million and included machinery, inorganic chemicals, cereals, and vegetables. Imports from Cuba decreased 15.3% in 2008 to $895.2 million and included mineral ores, copper, tobacco, beverages, fish and seafood. Tourism is Cuba’s largest source of foreign exchange and Canada is Cuba’s largest source of tourists, with 818,000 Canadians visiting in 2008, nearly 35 per cent of all visitors to Cuba. Media reports indicate that leading Canadian firms doing business with Cuba: Sherritt International, Pizza Nova, Labatt. Sherritt is the largest foreign investor in Cuba, according to press reports.

7. (SBU) Canada has no bilateral trade agreements with Cuba. According to DFAIT, Canada and Cuba held exploratory talks on a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) in February 2009. Canada is currently consulting with Canadian investors in Cuba before deciding whether to go ahead with further negotiations. In November 2009, Canada and Cuba concluded an expanded air transport agreement. The new agreement provides for up to five designated Canadian airlines (an increase from two) and unlimited points of destination in Cuba, an increase from four points previously available to scheduled carriers. On April 22, 2008, Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and his Cuban counterpart renewed an MOU on agricultural cooperation. This involves Canadian technical assistance in various areas of Cuba’s agricultural sector, for example providing Canadian expertise to train Cubans in livestock production practices and animal genetic techniques, as well as the management of irrigation systems.

8. (U) Canada has no formal exchange programs specific to Cuba. Canada has initiated academic exchanges, including scholarships for Cuban students under the hemisphere-wide C$18-million Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP) announced by Prime Minister Harper at the Summit of the Americas in April. In the first ELAP competition, Canada awarded scholarships to 11 Cuban students for study or research in Canada. Selected ELAP students will have the opportunity to attend a Canadian government designed “Democracy Study tour” in Ottawa to expose students to Canadian models of good governance, including the rule of law, human rights, government accountability, freedom of the press, and multiculturalism. In addition, many exchanges occur informally between organizations such as high school sports teams and cultural groups.

JACOBSON

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From Canada’s Conservative Government: More “Constructive Engagement”

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Arch Ritter

The Canadian Press, 9 September 2012

OTTAWA — The Conservative minister for Latin America is softening some of the Harper government’s previous tough talk on Cuba.

This week, Diane Ablonczy, the junior foreign minister for the Americas, visits the communist Caribbean island — which, at 135 kilometres from the southern tip of Florida, is both the closest sworn enemy of the United States and the favoured vacation choice of a million sun-seeking Canadians each year.

Ablonczy praises the ongoing economic reforms that Cuban President Raul Castro has instituted — opening up private property ownership, new opportunity to hold select private sector jobs, the right to sell a used car — since he took over the country from his legendary and ailing brother, Fidel, almost four years ago. “We see a very significant process of economic reform and liberalization in Cuba,” Ablonczy told The Canadian Press in a pre-trip interview.

Ablonczy does not necessarily believe this will lead to greater democratic freedoms any time soon in a country where the government exerts Soviet-era control over its 11 million citizens. “Political change is not what Cuban leadership has in mind,” she said. “There’s a lot of debate around these things and there’s a lot of caution too. But Canada, as an investor in Cuba, with lots of people-to-people contact, wants to play as positive and constructive role as possible.”

Ablonczy said Canada stands ready to share experiences and best practices “as Cuba moves forward, very gradually, towards some needed changes and modernization.”

Her comments are a marked departure from the language employed by one of her predecessors in the portfolio, Peter Kent, who publicly chided the Castro regime on its human rights record almost three years ago. His comments prompted Havana to rescind an invitation to visit in the spring of 2009. Kent eventually travelled to Cuba in late 2009, and he reported a successful visit that included discussions on trade and human rights.

Cuba is Canada’s largest market in the Caribbean and Central American region, with two-way trade topping $1 billion in 2010. A Canadian oil and gas company, Sherritt International, is the largest foreign investor in Cuba.

Ablonczy, who has travelled widely in the region since her appointment last May, said she wants to form meaningful working relationships with her Cuban counterparts. She said it’s important to be very respectful of her hosts and “what they want to achieve and their own goals and objectives.”

A leading voice in Canada’s non-governmental agency community agreed there is opportunity for the government to have a meaningful impact on reform in Cuba. Robert Fox, head of Oxfam Canada, recently concluded his own working tour of projects in Cuba and said there is good progress being made in municipal governance and in opening up the farming sector to more local participation. That might not sound like much, but both are significant developments in Cuba, where the Castro regime allows no political dissent and virtually no capitalism.

Municipal councils are meeting and coming up with ideas on how they want to live in their communities, within the constraints of the central government’s edicts, said Fox. “In a country like Cuba, a decentralizing dynamic is also a democratizing dynamic.”

Meanwhile, Cuban farmers are working on ways to grow and sell local products locally — a significant step in a country that, despite massive swaths of fertile countryside, still imports most of its food. “Canada continues to be seen in a positive way in Cuba. Canada has never conditioned its aid to Cuba. Cubans are very aware that there are a million Canadians who come to their country every year,” said Fox.

“When we look to the changes in Cuba in terms of opening up to local markets and opening up to global markets, when we look to women’s leadership and gender equality, when we look to municipal governments and local authorities, when we look to the co-op movement — which are all areas that Cubans are taking to a new level — those are all areas where Canada has huge strengths, huge capacity.”

Canadian embassy diplomats in Havana expressed interest to Fox about strengthening municipal authorities and the agricultural sector. Ablonczy said Canada does have expertise to offer in those areas but she said she would wait to see what topics her Cuban hosts raise with her. Canada, she said, does not have all the answers and won’t “take a lecturing approach.”

Ablonczy is expected to have meetings with Cuba’s ministers for foreign affairs, trade and tourism, as well as paying visits to Canadian-funded aid projects. She will also visit Panama and Guatemala in the coming week as well.

Overall, Ablonczy is a staunch defender of her government’s efforts to open up economic opportunities throughout the region, even if it means trading and doing business with governments that have less-than-stellar rights records.

She said engagement can contribute to “important human rights advancement in these countries, providing the economic opportunity that is often key for people breaking free from tyranny and oppression… “We’ve taken a very strong stand on wanting to be an active and positive force while being very clear about our concerns and our desire to see human rights continually addressed and advanced in all countries, including our own.”

Minister of State of Foreign Affairs Diane Ablonczy

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Toronto Globe and Mail: “Scotiabank, Royal Bank eye Cuba operations”

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Arch Ritter

Grant Robertson— Banking Reporter

Original Article Here:  Scotiabank, RBC eye Cuba operation

Published Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011 11:39PM EST

National Bank of Canada has operated an office in Cuba for 16  years, making it a rarity of sorts among Canadian banks, but it may soon have some company.

At least two other Canadian banks are said to be looking at setting up shop in Cuba, according to a report in the London-based Financial Times on Sunday night.

Amid economic reforms on the island, Bank of Nova Scotia has reportedly applied to Cuban authorities to set up a representative office in the capital. Royal Bank is also considering opening an office in Havana, the report said.

Scotiabank, which has extensive operations across South America and the Caribbean, and RBC, Canada’s largest bank, both had branches in the country before the 1959 Cuban Revolution ushered in Communism, and a subsequent U.S. embargo, which slowed foreign investment.

However, economic reforms in Cuba, stemming from the handover of power from long-time president Fidel Castro to his brother, Raúl Castro, are changing the country as the government looks for ways to boost Cuba’s economy.

If RBC and Scotia return to Cuba, they would join Montreal-based National, Canada’s sixth-largest bank, on the island. National opened a representative office in Havana in 1995. The small operation is not a bank branch though, and mostly handles trade finance.

Banco Central de Cuba, the country’s central bank, lists National as having a relationship with the country that dates back more than 28 years, including financing export development, securities and insurance businesses there.

The Cuba Trade and Economic Council lists more than 80 companies in Canada with business ties to Cuba, including Bell Canada, Bombardier, and dozens of oil and gas companies.

Old Bank of Nova Scotia, Havana

Interior, Old Royal Bank of Canada, Havana

The Vault, Banco Central de Cuba, Photo by Arch Ritter, 1993

 

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Canadian Professor John Kirk Receives a Medal from the Government of Cuba

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Arch Ritter

GRANMA: Entregan Medalla de la Amistad a John Kirk

Original Granma Article here: http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2011/12/15/nacional/artic04.html

Dalia González Delgado

La Medalla de la Amistad que otorga el Consejo de Estado de la República de Cuba fue entregada este miércoles al canadiense John Kirk.

John Kirk agradeció el alto reconocimiento.

En la ceremonia, realizada en la sede del Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos (ICAP), Kirk agradeció el alto reconocimiento.

“Soy martiano”, dijo, “Martí me cambió la vida. Aunque he escrito de otros temas, la influencia martiana nunca se ha alejado de mi obra”.

Asimismo, se refirió a las relaciones entre Cuba y Canadá, especialmente al intercambio académico.

John Kirk es Catedrático de Estudios Latinoamericanos en la Universidad de Dalhouisie, Canadá, y especialista en la historia política de Cuba. Ha escrito varios libros sobre nuestro país y es miembro del consejo editorial de las revistas Internacional Journal of Cuban Studies, de Inglaterra y Cuban Studies, de Estados Unidos. Durante los últimos cinco años se ha dedicado a estudiar el internacionalismo médico de Cuba.

En la entrega de la medalla estuvieron presentes Matthew Levin, embajador de Canadá en Cuba, Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, directora de la Dirección de América del Norte del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (MINREX), y Kenia Serrano, presidenta del ICAP.

 

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The “Home Hardware” Cooperative Model and its Relevance for Cuba

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Arch Ritter

By Arch Ritter

As Cuba moves towards a mix of economic institutions with a greater role for the market mechanism as a means of social control over economic activity as well as for private ownership, various forms of co-operative organization have some appeal. Among the many forms of cooperative enterprise that exist and could be considered by Cuba, the Home Hardware variety may have a useful role to play. Already some academic analysts in Cuba are exploring the varieties of cooperative and their relevance for Cuba. ( See New Publication from Cuba: Cooperativas y Socialismo: Una Mirada DesdeCuba).

The Home Hardware Cooperative Model

Home Hardware, is a dealer-owned cooperative, in which about 1000 individual hardware store-owners also own the larger enterprise.  Membership in the cooperative permits the store owners to obtain major economies of scale in terms of purchasing and shared buying power, advertising, comprehensive inventory management and product delivery, and store management techniques. The cooperative has permitted small owner-operated hardware stores to remain viable in small towns and urban neighborhoods. It has permitted them to survive and thrive in the face of the competition from the massive “Big Box” hardware stores such as Rona (in Canada), Home Depot,  Lowe’s Companies Inc., or even Wal-Mart.

Original Home Hardware Store, now “Home Furniture”, St. Jacobs Ontario

The establishment of the Home Hardware co-operative was spear-headed by Walter Hachborn starting at the Hollinger Hardware store in the small town of St. Jacobs Ontario in 1938, working as a stock boy for $8 per week. When Gordon Hollinger died in 1948, Walter took over many of his responsibilities, and purchased the store in partnership with Henry Sittler and Arthur Zilliax in 1950. Hachborn then undertook the difficult task of persuading his fellow retailers to join forces in the Home Hardware’s cooperative – a task requiring diplomacy and determination. (Hachborn, who – full disclosure –  is my Father’s cousin, was awarded “The Order of Canada” as well as the “Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal” in tribute to his business achievements and community service.)

Relevance for Cuba – and Any Country

The Big Box chains exist because of their economic advantages, namely economies of scale in purchasing, marketing and advertising, and management systems plus bargaining power in their relationship with their workers. However there are also a variety of major disadvantages of the Wal-Mart type of Big Box model of retailing or of the “Starbucks” model of service provision.  Among these are:

1.      Major concentrations of income and wealth in the hands of the few owners of the chains. (The Walton family members have estimated assets of $US 92 billion making then the wealthiest family in the world. )

2.      Damage to local communities and neighborhoods as commercial live gets sucked out of them to the sites of the Big Box stores.

3.      Environmental costs as long distance driving to the big stores replaces closer access to community stores.

4.      Exclusion of smaller scale local sources of products in favor of massive low-cost purchases for all their stores from single sources – usually from China, thereby helping to kill off local producers.

5.      Unpleasant shopping experience, (e.g. wandering around large spaces looking for a particular item with no assistance or guidance to be found.)

Already Cuba has a number of state-owned chains of stores,restaurants and hotels such as Tiendas Universo (CUBANACAN S.A.), Tiendas Panamericanas (CIMEX S.A.), Tiendas Caracol (HORIZONTES  Hoteles S.A.), Tiendas y Supermercados de la Sociedad Meridiano S.A. (CUBALSE Corporation; closed in 2009), Tiendas TRD Caribe (GAVIOTA S.A. owned by the militayr), and Tiendas de Habaguanex. If these were to be privatized under concentrated ownership, some of the problems of the Wal-Mart or Starbucks types of conglomerate would be generated or continued.

Tienda Cimex

In the years ahead, it is likely that Cuba will continue to move towards greater private ownership in many areas. If a future government wishes to avoid some of the disadvantages of the Mammoth Enterprise Chain syndrome, it could consider providing encouragement to Cuban-owned cooperative networks or independent enterprises in various activities in retailing and service provision. Possible areas where such a form of organization could be useful might include hardware stores (of course), food stores, bars, coffee shops, variety stores, barber shops, estheticians services and clothing stores, among others.

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Crecimiento económico y sector externo en Cuba

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Arch Ritter

A descriptive analysis of Cuba’s external sector and economic growth has been published by Jorge Mario Sanchez, of the Centro de Estudios sobre la Economia Cubana. Here is the hyperlink:

Jorge Mario Sanchez, Crecimiento económico y sector externo en Cuba

Jorge Mario Sánchez

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Cuba’s Anti-Corruption Drive: Second Canadian Trading Company Shut Down

Posted on September 17, 2011 by Arch Ritter

By Marc Frank | Reuters –
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba has shut down one of the most important western trading companies in the country as an investigation into alleged corrupt import-export practices broadened to a second Canadian firm, foreign business sources said on Friday.

State security agents on Friday watched who entered the building in Havana’s Miramar Trade Center where Ontario-based Tokmakjian Group, one of the top Canadian companies doing business on the communist-run island has its offices. The company offices of the fourth floor were sealed with a notice that it had been closed by Cuban State Security. “We received notice on Monday from the foreign ministry and the Council of State, which is the procedure in such cases, to stop all dealings with the Tokmakjian Group,” said an employee of a Cuban company that does business with the firm. Like other people who spoke to Reuters about the clampdown on the company, she asked that her name not be used.

Miramar Trade Center

Tokmakjian Group is estimated to do around $80 million in business annually with the Caribbean island, mainly selling transportation, mining and onstruction equipment. The company is the exclusive Cuba distributor of Hyundai, among other brands, and a partner in two joint ventures replacing the motors of Soviet-era transportation equipment. Company officials were not immediately available for comment.

Cuban authorities shut down Canadian firm Tri-Star Caribbean on July 15 and arrested company president Sarkis Yacoubian. The company, considered a competitor of Tokmakjian Group, did around $30 million in business with Cuba. “Apparently Tri-Star Caribbean was just the beginning. They brought in more than 50 state purchasers for questioning, arrested some of them and broadened the investigation from there,” a western businessman said. “As far as I know up to now just Canadian firms are involved, but you can bet every state importer and foreign trading company in the country is on edge,” he said.

Cuban President Raul Castro has made fighting corruption a top priority since taking over for his ailing brother Fidel in 2008, and in the past year a number of Cuban officials and foreign businessmen have been charged in graft cases.

Tri-Star Caribbean did business with around half of the 35 Cuban state companies authorized to import, from tourism, transportation and construction to the nickel and oil industries, communications and public health. The whereabouts of the man who founded the family business, Cy Tokmakjian, of Armenian heritage, born in Syria and educated in Canada, was not clear on Friday.He was last seen by Reuters a week ago, the day after his offices were sealed, but another western businessman said he had been detained by Cuban authorities. “They picked up Cy on Saturday and I heard his wife and at least one of his kids flew ion to see what they could do,” he said.

Cuba’s state-run media rarely reports on corruption related investigations until they are concluded and those charged are sentenced.
Tokmakjian, a former mechanic, is a self-made millionaire with interests in Canada and other countries besides Cuba, where he is a well known figure. He made his first deal with the Caribbean island in 1988.

President Castro, a general who headed Cuba’s Defense Ministry for 49 years, has cracked down on corruption as part of his efforts to revive the country’s sagging economy, but to date has done little to change the conditions that foster it, such as low salaries and lack of transparency. There is no open bidding in Cuba’s import-export sector and state purchasers who handle multimillion-dollar contracts earn anywhere from $50 to $100 per month.

Castro has moved military officers into key political positions, ministries and export-import businesses and in 2009 stablished the Comptroller General’s Office with a seat on the Council of State. A source close to the Tri-Star Caribbean case said the Comptroller General’s Office had been brought into the investigation, indicating it most likely was targeting high level officials.

Castro’s crackdown has resulted in the breaking up of high-level organized graft in the civil aviation, cigar and nickel industries, at least two ministries and one provincial government. An investigation into the communications sector and another into shipping are also under way.

Cy Tokmakjian

Cy Tokmakjian

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Up-Date on Canadian-Cuban Economic Relations

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Arch Ritter

By Arch Ritter

1. Canadian Tourism in Cuba

Canada continues to be the largest national source of tourists in Cuba, a position that it has had consistently since 1990. Canadian tourists numbered 555,872 out of a total of 1,179.963 from January to April 30, 2011, according to Cuba’s Oficina Nacional de Estadisticas. This is almost 10 times more than the second source country, Britain. Excluded from the ONE Chart are visitors from the United States who have been increasing rapidly and at this time must be a not-too-distant second to Canada

Total Canadian tourism to Cuba will likely approach 1 million for all of 2011. It seems almost rare to encounter a Canadian who has not visited Cuba. While many visit only once, many others are repeat visitors, and obviously like their visits to Cuba.

Tourism is of course a major source of foreign exchange earnings for Cuba, larger than any single merchandise export but also smaller than other service exports (mainly medical services.)  Foreign exchange earnings from Canadian tourism were likely in the area of US$ 882 million for 2008, (calculated as 37.6% of total tourism earnings of U.S. $ 2,347.  million.) If one takes both Canadian tourism plus Canadian merchandise imports (mainly nickel) from Cuba into consideration, Canada contributed about U.S. $1.6 billion in 2008, a substantial proportion of Cuba’s foreign exchange availability.

One partial consequence of the steadily increasing contacts between the citizens of Cuba and Canada is the expansion in Cuban immigration to Canada. This has increased slowly but steadily reaching 1,421 individuals in 2009, up from 845 in 2000. (Citizenship and Immigration Canada

www.cic.gc.ca;  http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/statistics/facts2009/permanent/10.asp)

Chart 1.          Principal Sources of Tourists, January to April 2011

Source: ONE, Turismo. Llegada de Visitantes Internacionales Enero – Abril 2011

2. Canadian Foreign Investment in Cuba.

The first trimester of 2011 has been good for Sherritt International, the largest Canadian investment in Cuba by far, as well as for the nickel sector in Cuba. As a result mainly of a 27.5% increase in nickel prices, metals’ earnings from operations were  $57.4 million for January to March 31, 2011 and were $18.6 million higher than in the same period in 2010. Higher operations costs had a small negative impact on metals earnings, however. (Sherritt International Corporation, 2011 FIRST QUARTER REPORT, for the January to March 31, 2011, p.21)

Another major Canadian investor in Cuba is Leisure Canada – headed by the legendary Canadian mining financier Walter Berukoff.  This firm is planning the construction of at least three major hotels, namely Monte Barreto in Miramar Havana, Jibacoa between Havana abnd Varadero (with a small “boutique beach”) and Cayo Largo as well as a golf course and a marina.  Perseverance has won out for Leisure Canada which succeeded in obtaining the rights – a 99 year lease presumably – to a 34,000 square meter-oceanfront property in the Miramar section of Havana.

The Monte Barreto Project

Here is some description of the projects from Leisure Canada’s publicity:

“The Monte Barreto site is located on the last significant piece of oceanfront property in Havana’s Miramar business and trade district. The property is 34,500 square metres and sits across from the new Miramar Trade Center, and adjacent to Havana’s National Aquarium. The proposed 716-room hotel project will have a significant retail and convention/entertainment component. With a planned 737-room hotel accompanying significant convention and retail space, Monte Barreto will stand as Cuba’s foremost luxury hotel catering to the world’s most sophisticated traveler. “ http://www.leisurecanada.com/monte_barreto.htm

“Jibacoa – Leisure Canada’s site spans 5.5 square kilometers of oceanfront property, which is located 65 kilometers east of Havana. The site is being developed as the first high-end destination resort in Cuba, and it will host six luxury hotels, two PGA championship golf courses, and timeshare villas.”

Cayo Largo – This small limestone quay, located 50 kilometers south of the main island of Cuba, possesses the most spectacular white sand beaches in all of the Caribbean. Cayo Largo is also rated as one of the world’s best diving sites. Leisure Canada’s project will involve the construction of 900 rooms, and a central pedestrian village that will offer retail and amenity experiences currently not offered on the island.

Another Canadian enterprise Standing Feather International spear-headed by Vincent McComber from the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve outside Montreal, is planning a 36-hole golf course, a beachfront hotel, spas, shopping centres – and, in a first for the island, villas owned privately by foreigners. This will be in a joint venture arrangement. If the foreign ownership of villas is accepted, it will constitute a major change for Cuba.

 

3. Cuba-Canada Trade

Canadian trade with Cuba has begun to recover from the sharp contraction of 2008-2009 that reflected the impacts of the world recession on commodity prices, notably nickel, and on Cuba’s reduced foreign exchange earnings and lower capacity to purchase imports. Cuba’s exports to Canada continue to far exceed Canada’s exports to Cuba largely because of the importation into Canada of nickel concentrate from the Sherritt operation for refining in Fort Saskatchewan Alberta.

 

Perhaps Raul Likes Golf

 

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Has the US Tourism Tsunami to Cuba Already Begun?

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Arch Ritter

By Arch Ritter

The Economist noted recently that the number of US tourists to Cuba in 2010 reached about 400,000 (January 20, 2011). Surprisingly, the Cuban Oficina Nacional de Estadisticas did not include the United States in its tourism statistics for 2010. (See Oficina Nacional de Estadisticas, Llegada de visitantes internacionales, Diciembre 2010). If the Economist’s number is correct, it represents a huge increase over the 2009 figure of 52,455 tourist arrivals from the United States. The US already appears to be the second source of tourists to Cuba, well ahead of every other country except Canada for 2010.

With the latest easing of travel restrictions for US citizens, one might expect a further large increase in US tourism to Cuba. In 2010, the increase in tourism was likely mainly of a family-reunification character. But in 2011, curiosity tourism will increase dramatically under the new travel rules. Much of this tourism will be in the cities and in Havana in particular – and not in the isolated beach areas where Canadians tend to go. One indeed can expect a surge in tourist services and activities in both the public sector and the reviving private sector. The  Paladares. Casas Particulares and other activities should be in expansion mode and should contribute – along with remittances – to a reconstruction boom in Cuba.

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