Today, Engage Cuba announced the creation of the Engage Cuba Policy Council, a group comprised of renowned Cuba policy experts who will provide their expertise to inform the organization’s work. Amid the complex dynamics of U.S.-Cuba politics, the Engage Cuba Policy Council will be uniquely situated to draw from their combined experiences in academia, policy … Read more
Cuba’s participation in the 36th International Tourism Fair (FITUR) 2016, in Madrid, Spain, showcased the vital link between Spain’s private sector and Cuba’s rapidly expanding travel and tourism sector. The Cuba delegation was led by Cuba’s Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz. The mission was to promote the island nation’s newest top tourist destinations: Varadero, Trinidad, … Read more
An experiment started a few days after the meeting of Cuba’s 2016 National Assembly meeting. The issue is food prices, and the solution – or the experiment – is price controls, which are officially called, “variable.” The National Assembly of People’s Power, held at the Havana Convention Center on December 29, 2015, was called, “Year … Read more
On Saturday, a Pakistani ship set sail carrying around 15,000 tons rice to Cuba. Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, said that Pakistan would extend all possible assistance to help Cuba by reciprocating in the same spirit as Cuba had done by sending teams of doctors following the aftermath of the country’s magnitude 7.6 earthquake … Read more
Unilever Plc will return to Cuba after several years of dispute over joint venture terms. The joint venture will build a $35 million soap and toothpaste factory at Cuba’s Mariel Port Special Development Zone. The Dutch-British company left Cuba in 2012 in a dispute over controlling interest in their joint venture. Unilever NV will have … Read more
AccorHotels will begin construction this year on its forth hotel in Cuba, the Sofitel So La Habana. Eric Peyre, AccorHotel’s Cuba head, says the company’s expansion plans are in anticipation of a wave of American tourists. The French hotel company will partner with Cuban tourism group Gaviota to open the 218-room hotel in Havana in … Read more
Virginia’s Governor, on an official visit to Cuba, indicated today that Virginia’s port authority will become the first US port operator to sign a cooperation agreement with its Cuban counterpart. “We are going to sign an agreement tomorrow between the Port of Mariel and our Port of Virginia which will be a strategic alliance,” Virginia … Read more
In his concluding statement at the year-end-session of Cuba’s closed-door National Assembly, Raul Castro lamented that the recent electoral victory of the Venezuelan opposition to the Socialist President Nicolas Maduro would negatively affect Cuba’s economy in 2016. As a result, growth is expected to be 2%, half of Cuba’s stated growth rate in 2015. The decline in oil … Read more
The Cuba Journal discussed Cuba’s entrepreneurial sector and tech scene with Ted Henken, one of the authors of Entrepreneurial Cuba: The Changing Policy Landscape. The book is wide in scope – but also practical for people interested in Cuba’s fascinating social and economic transformation. After reviewing the evolution of Cuba’s policies since 1959, the authors … Read more
Cuba has concluded a deal with certain of its Paris Club group of creditors to restructure its debt on favorable terms. The Cuba Group of the Paris Club creditors includes 14 of the 19 sovereign, industrialized nations that have existing defaulted debt with Cuba. France is the largest single creditor. The US is not part … Read more
