Author Archives: Arch Ritter

U.S AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS TO CUBA: COMPOSITION, TRENDS, AND PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Arch Ritter

By Mario A. Gonzalez-Corzo and Armando Nova Gonzalez

New PictureOriginal Article here:  http://www.choicesmagazine.org/magazine/pdf/cmsarticle_341.pdf

 13903139641_7655cbec7c_bMario A. Gonzalez-Corzo and Armando Nova Gonzalez

 

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NEW COMEDY WAVE TESTS LIMITS ON CRITICISM IN CUBA

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Arch Ritter

ANNE-MARIE GARCIA, Associated Press, December 9, 2014

Original article here: New Comedy Wave: Panfilo

 HAVANA (AP) — Panfilo, the elderly protagonist in a weekly show on Cuban state television, has a broken water pipe in his house. When the city repair worker says it’ll take six months to fix, Panfilo bribes her with a bottle of shampoo and the repair is made the following day.

The audience bursts into laughter when the worker shows up in the next scene with her hair fried by Panfilo’s shampoo, stolen from parts unknown and adulterated with mystery chemicals.

 A new wave of Cuban comedians is drawing big broadcast audiences and huge live crowds, using biting humor to take on corruption, shortages, government inefficiency and other everyday problems in a country where the government tolerates little dissent.

 Comedian Luis Silva plays Panfilo, a senior citizen at the center of a circle of friends and family on the Monday night show “Vivir del cuento,” which roughly translates to “Surviving By Your Wits.”

Cuba doesn’t release ratings information, but “Vivir del cuento” is the closest state TV comes to water-cooler popularity for programming that is usually a stultifying mix of public affairs, sports and subtitled shows from the U.S. and other countries.

 On Tuesday mornings, Cubans discuss the jokes from the previous evening’s show. Fans pack clubs and theaters in Havana and other cities for live shows by Silva and comedians with similarly acerbic styles, often waiting for hours to buy 20-peso (80 U.S. cents) tickets.

 Silva “speaks to the social reality of our country with humor. He doesn’t cover things up. He makes us think, and I hope he makes the people in power in this country think, too,” teacher Yahima Morales said as she left a live show in Havana late last month.

 The jokes resonate deeply with Cubans frustrated by petty corruption, scarcity of many goods and the poor quality of even the most basic staples. The comics and their fans say the ability to publicly joke about the failings of Cuba’s stagnant, centrally planned economy is a sign of at least a temporary loosening on the culture front.

 The government has always allowed a certain amount of artistic freedom to criticize the state in films such as “Strawberry and Chocolate” or “Juan of the Dead.” But the new comics poke fun at the struggles of Cuban daily life in a way unimaginable in state media or a state-sanctioned public performance a decade ago.

 “Ten years ago this was unthinkable. Cuban television didn’t touch these complicated topics of Cuban society,” said comedian Carlos Gonzalo, who plays Mentepollo, a yakky know-it-all on the weekly show “Deja que yo te cuente,” or “Let Me Tell You.”

d31b97514dbab430670f6a706700cab2Panfilo

 In a recent live show, Panfilo joked about U.S. customs agents confiscating state-baked rolls he was bringing to his sister in Miami, testing them for traces of drugs and explosives. They found nothing suspicious, but couldn’t believe the products were really bread.”How am I supposed to tell this guy that we actually eat this stuff?” Panfilo asked, as the audience broke into laughter.

Still, the jokes of Silva and his fellow comedians don’t even approach the truly harsh, and often deeply dirty, jokes that Cubans direct at each other and their government in daily life. The comedians also admit that two powerful men remain out of bounds.

 “There’s a limit that goes by the names Fidel Castro and Raul Castro,” said Alejandro Garcia, a founding figure of the social comedy wave who performs under the name Virulo. He added, however, that he avoids criticizing them out of respect for their accomplishments, not from fear or censorship.

 The comedians, like many Cuban artists, work under the formal oversight of the state, in their case for the Ministry of Culture’s 20-year-old Humor Promotion Center, which supervises their contracts with performance venues. The comedians were declared tax-exempt last year, meaning they can keep all of their earnings, but that benefit may not be permanent, said Enrique Quinones, director of the Humor Promotion Center.

 Garcia said he hopes the broader opening in Cuban comedy becomes permanent and sustainable. Other openings, both economic and artistic, have been quickly followed by government crackdowns.

 “The essence of comedy is that it’s subversive, critical, taking on those in power,” he said. “This country has to transform itself and criticism is playing an important role … Hopefully comedy gets us to change and become better.”

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CUBA’S EMERGING SELF-EMPLOYED ENTREPRENEURS: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Arch Ritter

MARIO A. GONZÁLEZ-CORZO and ORLANDO JUSTO,

Journal of Devevelopment Entrepreneurship, 19, 1450015 (2014) [26 pages] DOI: 10.1142/S1084946714500150

The complete essay is available here, though access is restricted, unfortunately, unless your University provides automatic access:  http://www.worldscientific.com/toc/jde/19/03

 Abstract:

This paper examines the evolution of Cuba’s self-employed entrepreneurs since the sector became an officially-recognized alternative to State sector employment in 2010. Despite the expansion of authorized self-employment activities and the implementation of gradual economic reforms to “update” the country’s socialist economic model since 2010, Cuba’s emerging self-employed entrepreneurs still face a series of constraints and limitations, such as an onerous tax system, underdeveloped banking and financial sectors, lack of access to organized input markets and a still hostile business climate that hinder their ability to expand and contribute to the country’s economic growth.

Orlando Justo is in the  Department of Economics and Business, City University of New York (CUNY), Lehman College, Carman Hall, 377, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468, USA

Mario Gonzalez Corzo (Ph.D. Rutgers University) is Associate Professor at the Department of Economics at Lehman College (CUNY). He is also Faculty Fellow at the Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies at The Graduate Center, CUNY, and a Research Associate at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami, FL.  His research interests and areas of specialization include Cuba’s post-Soviet economic developments, agricultural reforms, entrepreneurship, and financial sector reforms in post-socialist transition economies.

MarioMario Gonzalez Corzo

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SOME SMALL ENTERPRISES AND ENTREPRENEURS, HAVANA

Mercado Artesanal 2, on the MaleconCrafts Market, on the Malecon

Picture2dfThe Barrio Chino

24327_1371007285628_1545135432_919301_1742016_nPortrait Photographer, at the Capitolio

Cuba-Spring-2010-002Bicitaxis, Central Havana

Picture2aCrafts Market, by the Plaza de la Catedral

 

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CUBA’S EXTRAORDINARY GLOBAL MEDICAL RECORD SHAMES THE US BLOCKADE; From Ebola to earthquakes, Havana’s doctors have saved millions. Obama must lift this embargo.

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Arch Ritter

cuba ebola B Seumas Milne, The Guardian, Wednesday 3 December 2014 20.07 GMT

Original article here: CUBA’S GLOBAL MEDICAL RECORD

Four months into the internationally declared Ebola emergency that has devastated west Africa, Cuba leads the world in direct medical support to fight the epidemic. The US and Britain have sent thousands of troops and, along with other countries, promised aid – most of which has yet to materialise. But, as the World Health Organisation has insisted, what’s most urgently needed are health workers. The Caribbean island, with a population of just 11m and official per capita income of $6,000 (£3,824), answered that call before it was made. It was first on the Ebola frontline and has sent the largest contingent of doctors and nurses – 256 are already in the field, with another 200 volunteers on their way.

While western media interest has faded with the receding threat of global infection, hundreds of British health service workers have volunteered to join them. The first 30 arrived in Sierra Leone last week, while troops have been building clinics. But the Cuban doctors have been on the ground in force since October and are there for the long haul.

The need could not be greater. More than 6,000 people have already died. So shaming has the Cuban operation been that British and US politicians have felt obliged to offer congratulations. John Kerry described the contribution of the state the US has been trying to overthrow for half a century “impressive”. The first Cuban doctor to contract Ebola has been treated by British medics, and US officials promised they would “collaborate” with Cuba to fight Ebola.

But it’s not the first time that Cuba has provided the lion’s share of medical relief following a humanitarian disaster. Four years ago, after the devastating earthquake in impoverished Haiti, Cuba sent the largest medical contingent and cared for 40% of the victims. In the aftermath of the Kashmir earthquake of 2005, Cuba sent 2,400 medical workers to Pakistan and treated more than 70% of those affected; they also left behind 32 field hospitals and donated a thousand medical scholarships.

That tradition of emergency relief goes back to the first years of the Cuban revolution. But it is only one part of an extraordinary and mushrooming global medical internationalism. There are now 50,000 Cuban doctors and nurses working in 60 developing countries. As Canadian professor John Kirk puts it: “Cuban medical internationalism has saved millions of lives.” But this unparalleled solidarity has barely registered in the western media.

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Cuban doctors have carried out 3m free eye operations in 33 countries, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean, and largely funded by revolutionary Venezuela. That’s how Mario Teran, the Bolivian sergeant who killed Che Guevara on CIA orders in 1967, had his sight restored40 years later by Cuban doctors in an operation paid for by Venezuela in the radical Bolivia of Evo Morales. While emergency support has often been funded by Cuba itself, the country’s global medical services are usually paid for by recipient governments and have now become by far Cuba’s largest export, linking revolutionary ideals with economic development. That has depended in turn on the central role of public health and education in Cuba, as Havana has built a low-cost biotech industry along with medical infrastructure and literacy programmes in the developing countries it serves – rather than sucking out doctors and nurses on the western model.

Internationalism was built into Cuba’s DNA. As Guevara’s daughter, Aleida, herself a doctor who served in Africa, says: “We are Afro-Latin Americans and we’ll take our solidarity to the children of that continent.” But what began as an attempt to spread the Cuban revolution in the 60s and became the decisive military intervention in support of Angola against apartheid in the 80s, has now morphed into the world’s most ambitious medical solidarity project.

Its success has depended on the progressive tide that has swept Latin America over the past decade, inspired by socialist Cuba’s example during the years of rightwing military dictatorships. Leftwing and centre-left governments continue to be elected and re-elected across the region, allowing Cuba to reinvent itself as a beacon of international humanitarianism.

But the island is still suffocated by the US trade embargo that has kept it in an economic and political vice for more than half a century. If Barack Obama wants to do something worthwhile in his final years as president he could use Cuba’s role in the Ebola crisis as an opening to start to lift that blockade and wind down the US destabilisation war.

There are certainly straws in the wind. In what looked like an outriding operation for the administration, the New York Times published six editorials over five weeks in October and November praising Cuba’s global medical record, demanding an end to the embargo, attacking US efforts to induce Cuban doctors to defect, and calling for a negotiated exchange of prisoners.

The paper’s campaign ran as the UN general assembly voted for the 23rd time, by 188 votes to 2 (US and Israel), to demand the lifting of the US blockade, originally imposed in retaliation for the nationalisation of American businesses and now justified on human rights grounds – by a state allied to some of the most repressive regimes in the world.

The embargo can only be scrapped by congress, still stymied by the heirs of the corrupt US-backed dictatorship which Fidel Castro and Guevara overthrew. But the US president has executive scope to loosen it substantially and restore diplomatic ties. He could start by releasing the remaining three “Miami Five” Cuban intelligence agents jailed 13 years ago for spying on anti-Cuba activist groups linked to terrorism.

The obvious moment for Obama to call time on the 50-year US campaign against Cuban independence would be at next April’s Summit of the Americas – which Latin American governments had threatened to boycott unless Cuba was invited. The greatest contribution those genuinely concerned about democratic freedoms in Cuba can make is to get the US off the country’s back.

If the blockade really were to be dismantled, it would not only be a vindication of Cuba’s remarkable record of social justice at home and solidarity abroad, backed by the growing confidence of an independent Latin America. It would also be a boon for millions around the world who would benefit from a Cuba unshackled – and a demonstration of what can be achieved when people are put before corporate profit.

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THE CUBAN QUESTION

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Arch Ritter

December 5, 2014 – The Economist

Original Complete Article: The Cuban Question

HAVING got immigration reform off his chest, will Barack Obama unsheathe his executive-order pen again to tackle another intractable subject on which Congress has blocked change for decades? The United States imposed an economic embargo on Cuba back in 1960 as Fidel Castro was forcing communism on his people. The embargo was meant to topple Mr Castro. Today he enjoys a tranquil retirement in a Havana suburb while his slightly younger brother, Raúl, runs the country.

The embargo has not just failed; it has also given the Castros a potent propaganda weapon. It still has diehard defenders in Congress, which under a law from the 1990s is the only body that can repeal it. Even so, Mr Obama has some scope to change the policy. Indeed, in his first term he lifted restrictions on travel and remittances to the island by Cuban-Americans. There are several reasons why he might now want to do more.

First, support for the embargo across America is crumbling. A nationwide poll taken earlier this year for the Atlantic Council, a think-tank, found that 56% of respondents favoured improving relations, while more than 60% of Latinos and residents of Florida did. Second, Cuba is itself starting to change. Under reforms launched by Raúl Castro, 1.1m Cubans, more than a fifth of the labour force, work in a budding private sector of farms, co-operatives and small businesses. Access to mobile phones and the internet has grown. Opposition bloggers such as Yoani Sánchez, though often harassed, have not been silenced.

The third reason for action is that Cuba is one of the few issues that unites Latin America. The region is unanimous in believing that, notwithstanding its Communist regime, the island should be accorded a normal place in relations in the Americas. That consensus lies behind the decision of Panama to invite Raúl Castro to the Summit of the Americas, a gathering that it is due to host in April. The previous six summits have been restricted to the hemisphere’s democracies.

This leaves Mr Obama with a dilemma. This is not so much over whether or not to attend. He probably will. Rather, it is whether to act between now and then to stop the embargo becoming an issue that dominates the summit. Mr Obama could, for example, issue a general licence for all Americans to travel to Cuba. He could also remove Cuba from the State Department’s list of “state sponsors of terrorism”, on which it sits alongside only Iran, Sudan and Syria. There are no grounds for Cuba still to be there. In October the Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental body, removed Cuba from its watch list of countries doing too little to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

But the administration has not yet asked the State Department to remove Cuba from its terrorism list. Although Mr Obama has little to lose from loosening the embargo, he also has little to gain. Raúl Castro’s economic reforms have stalled recently; he never intended them to lead to political change. The Cubans show no sign of being prepared to release Alan Gross, an elderly American aid worker jailed for illegally handing out telecoms equipment. They want to swap him for three Cuban spies serving life terms for snooping on hardline exiles in Miami.

Even so, it would be surprising if Mr Obama did not take some action on Cuba before the summit. Oddly, pushback from the defenders of the embargo in Congress may take the form of sanctions on Venezuela, which provides the island with a subsidy (in the form of cheap oil) equal to perhaps 15% of its GDP. A bill to deny visas and freeze bank accounts of Venezuelan officials implicated in the repression of protests earlier this year is stalled in the Senate. Once the new Republican majority takes control in January, it is likely to move forward. Anthony Blinken, Mr Obama’s nominee for deputy secretary of state, told a Senate committee on November 19th that the administration “would not oppose” this—a reversal of its previous stance.

For anyone who wants to see change in Venezuela, this is depressing. The plunging oil price and economic mismanagement are weakening President NicolásMaduro’s elected authoritarian regime. The crucial issue is ensuring that a legislative election next year is free and fair. Sanctions, however limited, will boost MrMaduro’s declining popularity and give him an excuse to crack down, as some opposition leaders recognise. The lesson of Cuba is that pressure from Washington does not lead to democratisation. It would be a sad irony if the beginning of the end of one futile embargo coincided with the birth of another.

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RECIPROCITY AND RENT-SEEKING: A STUDY OF THE PARTNERSHIP APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE (A Canada-Cuba Case Analysis)

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Arch Ritter

[I just stumbled again upon this excellent analysis of the Carleton University- Universidad de la Habana Partnership program of 1995-2002, written by my colleague Frances Woolley. It is of broad interest to those interested in development assistance generally and of particular interest to those interested in Cuba. It is a fine article that seems to have slipped under the radar of many analysts of Cuba. I am therefore publishing it again here.  A.R.]

Canadian Journal of Development Studies / Revue canadienne d’études du développement , Volume 23, Issue 2, 2002

Dr. Frances Woolley,  Department of Economics and Associate Dean, Faculty of Public Affairs, Carleton University, Canada

Complete article available here: Frances Woolley, Cuba-Canada Reciprocityand Rent-Seeking 2002 CJDSABSTRACT Under the partnership approach to development assistance, donor agencies fund partnerships between donor-country and host-country institutions. This paper develops a model of development assistance in which project participants attempt to extract rents from donor agencies. The model is applied to an academic exchange between Carleton University and the University of Havana. The behaviour of project participants is rational given the constraints and incentives they face, yet individually rational responses can undermine collective reciprocity and jeopardize both partners’ goals for development assistance. The paper concludes that structural and ideological issues may be easier to account for than personal needs and power.

New Picture (1)untitledFrances Woolley

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EX DUEÑO DE FAMOSO PALADAR HABANERO ABRE RESTAURANTE EN MIAMI

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Arch Ritter

Nora Gámez Torres, EL NUEVO HERALD, 11/30/2014 9:22 PM

Read the full article here:  http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/mundo/america-latina/cuba-es/article4213754.html#storylink=cpy

El recién estrenado restaurante La Fontana Miami pretende emular el éxito alcanzado por un paladar del mismo nombre que abrió en 1995 en La Habana, en pleno Período Especial.

En medio de una aguda crisis económica, Horacio Yaikime Reyes-Lovio y Ernesto Blanco decidieron acomodar el patio de la casa de la abuela del primero para embarcarse en la lucrativa pero arriesgada empresa de montar un negocio privado en Cuba.

Tras casi dos décadas trabajando para hacer de La Fontana una de las paladares más exitosas de la isla, Reyes-Lovio decidió liquidar su parte del negocio y radicarse en Miami para realizar su proyecto “sin obstáculos y sin límites”, dijo refiriéndose a las trabas que todavía obstaculizan el despegue del cuentapropismo en la isla.

Situada en un área de Miami Beach conocida como “La Pequeña Buenos Aires”, La Fontana de Miami abrió apenas hace un par de semanas. Hay personas que viven o trabajan en el área que no han notado que un nuevo restaurante y bar cubano se estableció en la zona, pero el viernes 21, una descarga de jazz inauguró el lugar.

Asimismo, el sábado en la noche se presentó en concierto el grupo cubanoamericano Picadillo. Reyes-Lovio dice que La Fontana en La Habana fue pionera en poner a prueba la fórmula de “la cena-concierto” y se hizo habitual que reconocidos músicos hicieran presentaciones en su restaurante.

El lugar todavía no tiene un anuncio que lo distinga de los negocios vecinos y es modesto, comparado con la opulenta casa que es sede del paladar en la capital cubana, en el barrio de Miramar.

“Lo que más me llamó la atención”—destaca el profesor de Baruch College, Ted Henken, quien asistió a la inauguración del restaurante—es que pensé encontrar un lugar lujoso, un ejemplo del paladar que tenía éxito en Cuba, pero es un lugar normal, un espacio pequeño en una calle alejada del movimiento.”

“Se ve que está comenzando como cualquier otro negocio que empieza de cero”, comentó Henken, que acaba de publicar junto al profesor Archibald Ritter el libro ENTREPRENEURIAL CUBA: THE CHANGING POLICY LANDSCAPE, un estudio sobre la iniciativa privada en la isla que compara las políticas desarrolladas durante los gobiernos de Fidel y Raúl Castro al respecto.

La Fontana original comenzó con un capital de $1500 y la experiencia adquirida por Reyes-Lovio como contador de un famoso restaurant estatal para turistas, El Tocororo. Actualmente, aparece en varias guías de turismo internacionales, posee un certificado de excelencia del sitio especializado en viajes TripAdvisor y ha sido visitada por políticos y celebridades, entre ellos, los cantantes Beyoncé y Jay-Z, en un polémico viaje para celebrar su aniversario de matrimonio.

La paladar cuenta también con un bar, El Edén, y oferta platos inusuales en Cuba como “ravioli de camarón en salsa blanca” y “cobo en jengibre, ajo y pepperoni”.

Estos platos no están al alcance del común de los cubanos. La paladar se nutre sobre todo del turismo y extranjeros que viven en la isla, y es de suponer que el éxito económico de ese negocio le permitió a Reyes-Lovio abrir La Fontana Miami.

Pero Reyes-Lovio es enfático en asegurar que él no es el dueño del restaurante y solo está aportando “el concepto y el nombre de la Fontana”, que ha asegurado a partir de crear varias compañías con nombre similares, lo que se conoce como “nombre ficticios”. En los registros del estado de la Florida, la mayoría de estas compañías aparecen asociadas a su propia compañía Yaikime Enterprises, Corp. o están inscritas bajo su nombre.

………………..

La política de la administración del presidente Barack Obama de otorgar más visas de turismo y visas de entradas múltiples hasta de cinco años de duración ha aumentado el flujo de cubanos entre ambas orillas pero existen, no obstante, limitaciones para que cuentapropistas establezcan sus negocios en los Estados Unidos.

Las sanciones codificadas en las Regulaciones para el Control de Activos Cubanos, que datan de 1963, prohíben la mayoría de las transacciones que involucran a ciudadanos cubanos. Bajo las leyes actuales, La Fontana Miami no podría ser una sucursal de la original en La Habana, y Reyes-Lovio niega que lo sea, aunque no descarta que en el futuro, le gustaría trabajar junto a su antiguo socio Blanco en la creación de un proyecto de ese tipo.

Las sanciones del Departamento del Tesoro contra Cuba, administradas por la Oficina de Control de Activos Extranjeros (OFAC, por sus siglas en inglés) establecen además excepciones para las personas nacidas en Cuba que han obtenido residencia permanente en EEUU, se naturalizaron o están en el país de modo legal, en un estatus diferente al de visitante—por ejemplo, con un “parole” o con una aplicación pendiente para ajustar su estatus migratorio. Los cubanos con visas de turismo, según lo establecido por la OFAC, no pueden establecer sus propias compañías.

El cuentapropismo en Cuba

En su investigación sobre las paladares en Cuba, Henken y Ritter documentan también las limitaciones que encuentran estos negocios en la isla y cómo tienen que recurrir a “estrategias de sobrevivencia” que son usualmente ilegales. Desde 1993, las restricciones que han pesado sobre las paladares han incluido el control de los alimentos a ofertar—la carne de res y la langosta estuvieron prohibidas—, el número de sillas y mesas que pueden tener, así como el número de empleados, para citar algunas.

Reyes-Lovio comenta que durante los periodos en que las paladares fueron más perseguidas, él y su socio tomaron la decisión de cerrar para esperar “a que pasara la ola. Aprovechábamos para hacer re-estructuraciones. Así estuvimos cerrados cuatro, cinco y hasta seis meses en reparación”, señala.

En 1994, a solo un año de su legalización, la policía intervino más de 100 paladares y encauzó a sus dueños por enriquecimiento ilícito.

“Nadie es intocable en Cuba”, afirma Henken, quien entrevistó a más de 15 dueños de paladares para el libro. En este se reseñan los casos de restaurantes privados que, pese a su gran éxito o quizá por este, terminaron siendo cerrados por las autoridades y sus dueños encarcelados.

“Las paladares más exitosas son las que tienen que desarrollar muchas estrategias extra-legales para sobrevivir, porque están más vigiladas o las fuentes de sus productos se agotan y tienen que buscar de pronto otros proveedores; o salen en una revista internacional y eso es demasiada publicidad a los ojos del gobierno”, comenta.

Aunque supuestamente legales, los negocios privados fueron estigmatizados por mucho tiempo y fueron vistos con desconfianza si se desarrollaban más allá de una economía de sobrevivencia, escriben Henken y Ritter en su análisis.

“Aunque hay un aumento bastante significativo en el número de licencias expedidas para el cuentapropismo, la mayoría de las ocupaciones legalizadas son de sobrevivencia, no de crecimiento. No son productivas, no emplean a mucha gente. Hay pocas posibilidades para los profesionales. Tampoco hay acceso a créditos o a insumos”, explica Henken.

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Según cifras oficiales publicadas en julio, el número de personas empleadas en “actividades por cuenta propia” sobrepasó los 471 mil, pero una cifra similar ha entregado sus licencias al constatar que no puede obtener ganancias para cubrir los gastos de operación y los distintos impuestos que deben pagar.

Por otra parte, la mayoría de los nuevos cuentapropistas vinieron del mercado informal y no del sector estatal como planeaba el gobierno, para intentar recortar la fuerza de trabajo empleada por el estado.

“Hasta que no se de un segundo paso, que es técnico pero también político, y se proteja la propiedad privada y se permita la riqueza en manos privadas, no va a existir un cambio de fondo”, considera Henken, quien cree que “el poder en Cuba tiene miedo de la autonomía económica”.

Mientras ese momento llega, Reyes-Lovio quiere establecer su negocio en Miami, “con más tranquilidad” y “libertad”. Henken advierte, no obstante, que “tener éxito en el marco legal en Cuba es una cosa, pero tenerlo en Miami, es otra”.

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NUEVA ERA EN LAS RELACIONES CUBA CON ESPANA

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Arch Ritter

Miriam Leiva, Periodista Independiente

La Habana, 27 de octubre de 2014

 Orifinal here:  www.reconciliacioncubana.com, 

 Dos acontecimientos acapararon titulares y análisis sobre la visita oficial de José Manuel García Margallo, ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de España, a Cuba los días 24 y 25 de noviembre. La conferencia “Vivir la Transición: una visión biográfica del cambio en España”, y no ser recibido por el presidente Raúl Castro, supuestamente por el contenido de esa disertación. Probable, pero nunca hubo certeza sobre tal encuentro. Ciertamente, la tradición implantada por Fidel Castro ha sido mantener al dignatario expectante, lo cual garantiza magnificar el encuentro y que evite disgustar al anfitrión. No obstante el interés por avanzar las relaciones con España, los mandatarios cubanos quizás aún no consideraron oportuna la deferencia de ser recibido por el jefe de todos los poderes en Cuba.

spanish-embassy-in-cuba_434394

Spanish Embassy, Havana

El canciller sostuvo conversaciones con Ricardo Cabrizas, vicepresidente del gobierno, y Rodrigo Malmierca, ministro de Comercio Exterior, donde se abordaron los temas económicos y de inversiones. España es el tercer socio comercial de Cuba, tiene una presencia preponderante en el priorizado sector turístico y podría incrementar su participación en la aspiración de las autoridades cubanas de recibir mega inversiones.

Por su parte, las más de 200 empresas españolas presentes en la isla tienen preocupaciones sobre aspectos restrictivos de la Nueva Ley de Inversiones, que García Margallo planteó, como la necesidad de una contratación de personal más flexible y mayores facilidades para la repatriación de divisas, según la prensa extranjera.

En su encuentro con su homólogo Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Margallo trató la posibilidad de viajar al extranjero y regresar para los 12 prisioneros de conciencia del grupo de los 75 que permanecen en Cuba y de visitar el país quienes salieron en 2010 por acuerdo entre los gobiernos de Cuba, España y la Iglesia Católica, asi como la ratificación de los Pacto Internacionales de Derechos Humanos. Entre los temas bilaterales figuraron la posibilidad de un nuevo edificio para el consulado en La Habana y la apertura de otro en Santiago de Cuba. Los temas internacionales de actualidad tienen relevancia para España por su ingreso como miembro no permanente del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU; al tiempo que procura una amplia participación en la próxima Cumbre Iberoamericana para salvar el mecanismo promocionado por Madrid, cuando proliferan las agrupaciones integradoras en América Latina y el Caribe, como CELAC.

La conferencia magistral de García-Margallo en el Instituto Superior de Relaciones Internacionales (ISRI), ante unos 400 alumnos, académicos, políticos, cuerpo diplomático acreditado, fue notable. De forma concisa y medida, el canciller analizó los antecedentes históricos y la transición en España que salía de una férrea dictadura con los traumas de la guerra civil y el exilio, pero prevaleció el consenso de concordia nacional mediante la firma y ratificación de los Pactos de Derechos Humanos de ONU y la normativa de la OIT, el reconocimiento a los derecho de reunión, asociación y expresión, la derogación de la censura, la amnistía a los presos políticos y la realización de elecciones democráticas. “La sociedad civil toma la palabra prometida por el Rey y (Adolfo) Suárez, y se convierte en actor principal de la Transición, trasladando en todo momento su deseo de concordia”, palabras desde la vivencia de quien ha transcurrido todo el proceso como joven diputado constituyente en la elaboración, debate y votación de la Carta Magna, hasta su actual puesto.

El vicepresidente y supuesto delfín Miguel Díaz Canel se reunió con Margallo antes de partir de Cuba, lo cual denota el interés, e incluso la necesidad, del gobierno cubano de normalizar las relaciones con España y continuar  progresando con la Unión Europea. El encuentro de Raúl Castro con Laurent Fabius se ha comparado a su actitud hacia el español. Son situaciones distintas. Las relaciones con Francia se estrechan desde hace años, y el exprimer ministro evoca la cercanía socialdemócrata como lo hacía el anterior gobierno español, tan próximo a La Habana. Durante la estancia, desde la parte española se resaltó el interés del nuevo Rey Felipe VI, que si bien cierta, desplazó el foco del presidente del gobierno español quien heredó el diferendo por la Posición Común de la Unión Europea y la consiguiente enemistad. Al menos en los medios, se cifró demasiada expectativa en el encuentro Margallo-Raúl Castro y en temas muy álgidos como la liberación de Alan Gross, gestión emprendida sin éxito por personalidades e instituciones muy prominente de Estados Unidos y el mundo. El prologado desencuentro entre dos países y pueblos muy próximos parece retomar cauces ascendentes.

Es encomiable el intento de compartir el disfrute de los principios democráticos expresado fuera de la mesa de negociaciones y la gestión por los prisioneros de conciencia. No obstante, más que poder viajar, el gobierno cubano debería incluirlos en una amnistía, o al menos en un indulto, del que se habla en las inhóspitas y pobladas cárceles cubanas con vistas al fin de año. Recuérdese que Raúl Castro lo otorgó a 2900 prisioneros en 2011, pero no incluyó a quienes viven con la espada de Damocles de la licencia extrapenal.

Oscar-Chepe-y-Mirianm-Leiva-1024x704

Miriam Leiva with the late Oscar Chepe, 2010, Photo by Arch Ritter

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CARIBBEAN VIEW: VENEZUELA IN FINANCIAL DIFFICULTY, WILL PETRO CARIBE SURVIVE?

Posted on November 28, 2014 by Arch Ritter

petrocaribe2-655x436By Sir Ronald Sanders

Thursday, November 27, 2014 – 14:20

Original article here: CARIBBEAN 360  e

 The government of Venezuela is undoubtedly disappointed with the outcome of the 166th meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) held in Vienna, Austria on 27 November 2014.

Despite intense lobbying by Venezuela, the OPEC decided not to cut oil production even in the face of declining oil prices globally.  The official communiqué of the meeting declared that “the Conference decided to maintain the production level of 30.0 mb/d, as was agreed in December 2011”.  This was bad news for Venezuela which needs to sell oil at US$120 per barrel to meet repayments of its loan commitments; finance its domestic social welfare programme; provide the requisite goods and services for its people, including security; and to fund its Petro Caribe arrangements with neighbouring countries in Central America and the Caribbean.

Venezuela wanted oil production to be decreased urgently so that the price of oil could go up against reduced supply.  The country’s foreign minister, Rafael Ramirez, tried to spearhead an effort to cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day by organizing a meeting of non-OPEC oil producers Russia and Mexico with Venezuela and Saudi Arabia in Vienna on 25 November, but the effort came to naught.

Worse yet for Venezuela, its representatives failed to convince many Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia, that the oil production of all the OPEC countries should be cut. The Saudis, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have large foreign currency reserves and therefore can withstand a drop in oil prices for a fairly long time. Their purpose in keeping the price of oil low is to wreck shale oil production in countries such as the United States.  Shale oil companies need a high price of oil to justify investment in production.  Clearly, the Saudis and other powerful OPEC members have calculated that the only way they can remain dominant as oil suppliers in the global market is to keep shale-oil producers out of it.

Before the crucial OPEC meeting, the oil price was hovering close to US$80 a barrel, lower than it has been for many years and largely because of shale-oil production.  Immediately after the Vienna meeting, the price fell as low as US$72.74 a barrel. Even if prices stabilise in the coming weeks to around US$75 a barrel, Venezuela will face a short fall of almost US$40 a barrel – a huge blow to its revenues and its economy.

Against this current background, an undertaking given on 20 November by Ramirez, on behalf of the Venezuelan government, to the 14th meeting of the Petro Caribe Council assumes a huge significance.  Ramirez emphasized that Petro Caribe “is an energy agreement that is perfectly sustainable over time” and he pledged his government’s “firm commitment” to it.   He made this commitment, just one week before the Vienna meeting when it was clear that the majority of OPEC members would not cut oil production in order to hike the price, so he must have done the arithmetic to know that Petro Caribe could be sustained even at a reduced world price for oil.

The fact is that, in economic and financial terms, oil shipments under Petro Caribe, while generous to its recipient countries, are a small portion of Venezuela’s production, and the delayed payment terms have a smaller impact on Venezuela’s revenues in comparison with the bigger blow of a huge drop in the price of its oil sold globally.  It is, therefore, quite likely that, in financial terms, the Venezuelan government will be able to sustain Petro Caribe as foreign minister Ramirez has pledged.

The problem that Petro Caribe poses for the Venezuelan government is more political than financial.  Within Venezuela, opposition parties have demonised Petro Caribe as giving away Venezuela’s financial resources when the people of the country need greater support.  The decline in government revenues, resulting from a loss of almost $40 a barrel for oil, will put severe strain on the government of President Nicolas Maduro, and will embolden the opposition to further paint the picture of Petro Caribe as giving away money that should be spent on the needs of the Venezuelan people.  That is a huge political difficulty for Maduro.

The Petro Caribe beneficiary countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia and Suriname.  With oil at about US$75 a barrel, they can each cope with the price.  So, how Petro Caribe now benefits them is in the deferred payment component.  Many of the beneficiary countries pay 40 % of cash up front for oil shipments, while the balance of the price is converted to a 25-year loan at 1 % with a two-year moratorium on payments.  Many of the beneficiary countries have been using the loan component of the price to pay public service salaries and to fund their recurrent costs.  But the debt has piled-up for several of them.

Sensibly, those countries should now set aside the deferred payment component of the oil price to build-up their foreign-currency reserves  and to help meet the full price of oil should this Venezuelan government –or any other – be compelled to significantly alter or dismantle Petro Caribe.

So, at the moment, despite the unwelcome outcome of the OPEC meeting for Venezuela, Petro Caribe beneficiary countries, including those in the Caribbean, will continue to benefit even as the Venezuelan economy reels from the impact of US$40 a barrel less in income for its oil.

The beneficiary countries have good reason for appreciating the goodwill and co-operation of the Maduro Government.   They would best show it not only by building-up their foreign reserves to cope with future increases in oil prices that will inevitably come, but also by actually repaying the loan component of the oil shipments they now receive.  By doing the latter, they would reduce their own high indebtedness and they would also allow Maduro to show the Venezuelan people a return on the investment that he and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, made in Caribbean and Central American countries.

Sanders is a Senior Fellow at London University

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AUMENTA CIRCULACIÓN DE BILLETES FALSOS EN LA CAPITAL CUBANA

Posted on November 27, 2014 by Arch Ritter

Lisbán Hernández Sánchez

Hablemos Press, noviembre 21, 2014

En la capital cubana aumenta la circulación debilletes falsos en moneda nacional (CUP) y convertible (CUC), alertan trabajadores del sector privado.

Los dueños de negocios se pasan el mensaje de alerta ante la aparición de pesos convertibles falsificados de 5, 10 y 20 CUC, dijo el lunes el dueño de una cafetería del municipio Habana Vieja, quien no quiso dar su nombre.

Asegura el cuentapropista que la desconfianza ante los consumidores se ha incrementado en los meses de octubre y noviembre debido a los constantes intentos por insertar estos billetes en paladares, dulcerías, cafeterías y entre choferes de carros de alquiler, según él ha podido escuchar en su negocio.

“A lo largo de estos dos últimos años, varios trabajadores por cuenta propia se han visto afectados con billetes falsos de 5, 10 y 20 CUC que no han logrado identificar”, dijo al ser consultada una empleada del Banco Metropolitano en la habanera calle Monte.

Ariel Gutiérrez, quien trabaja en una paladar, comentó: “En agosto detecté al menos 5 intentos (de jóvenes de entre 25 y 30 años) de pagarme con billetes falsos”.

Otros cuentapropistas consultados aseguran que han tratado de infiltrarles billetes de iguales cifras. “En estos actos delictivos también participan mujeres, que pasan más desapercibidas”, agregó uno de ellos.

En la isla no solo circulan billetes en CUP y CUC falsos, también haybilletes de 100 dólares americanos y monedas de 1 CUC.

Un artesano dijo que intentaron pagarle con monedas falsas de 1 CUC. “Ya me habían advertido de las monedas de metal de 1 CUC y pude identificarlas con una piedra de imán que tenía en mi cartera para eso”.

En Cuba circulan dos monedas, el CUP (moneda nacional) y el CUC (convertible). Según la tasa de cambio actual 1 CUC equivale a 24 o 25 CUP, según sea a la venta o a la compra.

Odalis López, residente en el municipio Centro Habana, quien realizó una transacción en una CADECA (Casa de Cambio), dijo que ella fue testigo de una conversación donde algunos trabajadores del lugar advertían que “están circulando billetes falsos, y tienen mucha similitud con los billetes reales”.

Lázaro Izquierdo Ramírez, un trabajador de la construcción, comentó que en el mes de junio cambió 10 CUC en moneda nacional en la CADECA de la calle 26 y Puentes Grandes, y al pagar en una juguera con uno de los billetes de 10, le dijeron que era falso. Al revisar, encontró otros tres billetes de a 10 falsos entre los 240 pesos cubanos que le dio la cajera.

“Muchos de los empleados de los bancos, de las Casas de Cambio y hasta de las Tiendas Recaudadoras de Divisas son cómplices de los delincuentes“, indicó Izquierdo, quien dijo que el propio Estado tiene conocimiento de esto.

Otros ciudadanos consultados han recibido billetes falsos de 100 y 50 pesos cubanos como vuelto en cafeterías estatales y negocios por cuenta propia.

La activista Maritza Castro, residente en el municipio Cerro, fue estafada por dos mujeres de la provincia Cienfuegos que le cambiaron 5.000 CUC por dólares americanos que resultaron ser falsos. Un grupo de jóvenes del reparto La Victoria, en Centro Habana, comentaron que uno de sus vecinos estafa a turistas en el casco histórico de la Habana Vieja con billetes Felipe Paso, que circularon hasta 1960.

“Les hace creer que los billetes viejos tienen más valor que el dólar americano. También lo hace con los billetes de 3 pesos con la imagen del Che”, aseguran los jóvenes.

Según un ex prisionero consultado, en el mercado La Cuevita, del municipio San Miguel del Padrón, se pueden conseguir billetes falsos de 5 CUC a 40 CUP.

Aunque varias CADECA exhiben carteles que anuncian cuáles son los billetes falsos en moneda nacional, las autoridades no identifican el problema de fondo; tampoco los medios oficiales alertan a la población. Cabría preguntarse: ¿De dónde sacan los malhechores el papel moneda? ¿Dónde fabrican esos billetes tan realistas?

Publicado originalmente en Hablemos Press

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Tre_pesos_cuba_frontTres Pesos , Moneda Nacional (about $US 0.12):  Not Worth to Counterfeiting?

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