Direct flights from Texas to Cuba expected to increase trade opportunities

<p style="text-align: justify;">Posted on 28 April 2011 by ETR Staff Report. Agricultural trade with Cuba just became a little easier.The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency recently authorized Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to offer direct flights to the island nation. Previously, Texas farmers and ranchers who planned to travel to Cuba for trade purposes encountered extra travel time and expense because only three U.S. airports – Miami International, JFK International and Los Angeles International – were designated for direct flights. Read More

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Cuba Promotes Biological Products in Vietnam

<p style="text-align: justify;">By: Ileana Ferrer Fonte.Hanoi, Apr 28 (Prensa Latina) Cuba hopes to put all its scientific-technical potential at the service of Vietnam, mainly in applied researches, it was reported in this capital on Thursday.Gustavo Junco, director of the Bio Asia Limited Co., assessed the extensive potential Cuba's biological offers has had in this country, and perceived the prompt opening of a new line of products. Read More

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Piñón on Energy: $4 bln for oil imports — what now?

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Jorge Piñón. For the first time since July 2008, this month the average price of Venezuela’s crude oil export basket surpassed the $100 per-barrel mark. This represents a possible negative (replacement cost) cash flow to the Cuban economy of more than $4 billion on an annualized basis.The full impact of the recent price increases for Cuba may be cushioned by the Convenio Integral de Cooperación with Venezuela. Indeed, the October 2000 services-for-oil barter agreement, under which the island receives subsidized payment terms, has become more important than ever. Read More

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Made in Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">By: Margarita Alarcon.Posted: 04/27/11 01:36 PM ET. Mother's Day is a few weeks away and Havana is all geared up for the merchandizing aspect of the day.In the past, due to scarcities, the embargo and the obvious lack of private incentive, the second Sunday in May was celebrated in a very simple and homey fashion: mothers throughout the island would receive lovely cards in the mail and families would gather for a lunch celebrating the day.For a few years now, things have changed. Read More

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Tourism fair to highlight Mexico, multi-destination programs

<p style="text-align: justify;">The 2011 edition of the International Tourism Fair in Havana will focus on Mexico and multi-destination tourism, the tourism ministry said in a press release.During this FITCuba congress, May 2-7 at the Morro-Cabaña fortress in Havana, Mexico will will highlight the nearby attractions of Yucatán and the 10 historical routes program.Mexico is the seventh-largest source market for tourism to Cuba, with 67,000 visitors last year. Cuba welcomed 2.5 million foreign visitors last year, 4.2 percent more than in 2009. Read More

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Cuba's cigar industry: Smoked out

<p style="text-align: justify;">Apr 28th 2011 | HAVANA | What price a Cohiba? ONE of the reforms approved at this month’s Congress of Cuba’s ruling Communist Party was a change in the treatment of the country’s 3,000 or so state-owned enterprises. Their management will enjoy more autonomy, but they will be subjected to thorough audits. The cigar industry was nationalised shortly after the 1959 revolution. But it was only in the late 1980s that Cuba took control of distribution, informing foreign retailers that it would supply only one distributor per region, in return for a 50% stake in the business. Read More

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Over 2.84 million light bulbs distributed to Jamaicans

<p style="text-align: justify;">JIS. Thursday, April 28, 2011. THE initial phase of the Cuba-Jamaica Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) Distribution Project, commonly called the Cuban Light Bulb programme, is now complete.The energy efficiency project is intended to help Jamaicans lower their light bills, and the country to reduce energy demand. Read More

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Cheap Holidays Operator Packyourbags.com Adds New Iberostar Hotels

<p style="text-align: justify;">LONDON, April 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- (RPRN) Packyourbags.com, the UK's leading cheap holidays specialist features Iberostar's newest hotels in the popular destinations of Spain, Greece and Cuba.In an effort to reinforce its presence in some of the world's most popular holiday destinations and continue the hotel chain's steady growth, Iberostar have an impressive 2011 schedule during which they will be opening seven new hotels. Read More

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Cuba’s Fina Garcia Marruz Awarded Queen Sophia Prize for Ibero-American Poetry

<p style="text-align: justify;">2011.04.28 - 12:59:31 / radiorebelde.icrt.cu. Cuban writer Fina Garcia Marruz has been granted the 20th Queen Sophia Prize for Ibero-American Poetry.HAVANA, Cuba.- Cuban writer Fina Garcia Marruz has been granted the 20th Queen Sophia Prize for Ibero-American Poetry, one of the most important awards in this genre given by the Spanish institution Patrimonio Nacional (National Heritage) and the University of Salamanca, as announced on Thursday at the Royal Palace of Madrid. Read More

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Holguin Hosts Event on the Use of Ethanol

<p style="text-align: justify;">Holguin Hosts Event on the Use of Ethanol. By AIN / radioangulo.icrt.cu / Thursday, 28 April 2011 07:12. Food industry must feed the people, not vehicles. Photo: Amauris BetancourtThe disadvantages on the use of ethanol as a biofuel is being takled by the researchers from about a dozen countries attending the 5th Int’l Scientific Conference underway in the Cuban eastern Cuban province of Holguin. Read More

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