CubaTrade-January-Flipbook

Healthcare: American MD Students in Havana
The Magazine for Trade, Travel & Investment in Cuba
January / February 2018
GOOD TO
BE BACK
The story of Cuban returnees who have
come home to start businesses
FORECAST
Cuba’s GDP starts to grow again
ENERGY
Creating power from biomass
AGRICULTURE
U.S. exports to Cuba on the rise
EQUITIES
Canada’s Cuba Ventures soars
TOURISM
Catering to US baby boomers
Luis Mario Gell, photographer,
publisher, videographer,
studio founder, and database

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content 01-02/2018
UP FRONT
22 FORECAST
Three different economic analyses
project mild economic expansion in
2018
24 ECONOMY
Hanoi-Havana ties are solid. So
why isn’t Cuba replicating Vietnam’s
economic success?
LIFESTYLE
12 PANORAMA
Castro to stay in power past February:
deals, events and transactions of note
for trade and investment in Cuba
59 FILM
The new Netflix documentary, “Cuba
and the Cameraman,” offers an intimate
look at Cuba since 1972
16 IDEAS + INNOVATION
After a 12-year hiatus, Cuba imports
its first shipment of Russia’s most
popular cars
18 INDEX
As Venezuela-Cuba trade declines, so
does Cuba’s bilateral trade with most
of the Americas
26 IMPORT/EXPORT
An interview with Aurelio Mollineda
Martinez, General Director,
Gecomex
28 AGRICULTURE
As diplomatic relations weaken,
agricultural trade strengthens
32 EQUITIES
Canadian small cap stock Cuba Ventures
soars in value as it expands from
travel to digital currency platforms
60 ART
Popular Cuban artist JEFF pours his
art out in Miami during Art Basel
62 BOOK REVIEW
“Paladares: Recipes Inspired by the
Private Restaurants of Cuba,” is a
panorama of traditional and new
recipes.
DEPARTMENTS
FINAL WORD
20 INTERVIEW
An Interview with Charles Baker,
general manager of Mariel’s
container port terminal
34 ENERGY
In Cuba’s push for renewable
energy, sugar plays a vital role
64 IN CLOSING
Why U.S.- Cuba scientific snd environmental
cooperation must - and will
- continue
4 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

Illustrations courtesy of the Office of the Governor
features
39 COVER STORY: THE RETURNEES
In recent years, hundreds of young Cubans have
returned from abroad to open businesses, building
on skills and market knowledge they gained overseas
46 GETTING YOUR MD FROM HAVANA
More and more American students are signing up
to get their medical degrees from Cuba’s free
universities
50 BRINGING BABYBOOMERS TO
CUBA’S OUTDOORS
How an American tour company traversed Cuba’s
regulatory maze to bring older U.S. travelers to
Cuba’s picturesque terrains
39
ON THE COVER
After years of living in Italy, photographer, producer,
and entrepreneur Luis Mario Gell returned home to
Cuba. Photo by Francesco Meliciani.
46
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50
6 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

editors note
Don’t Leave
a Vacuum
When I wrote the first editorial for this publication, I declared
that Cuba was perhaps the most interesting country in the world.
Few other nations of its size have had the same international
footprint, both today and in the 20th century.
As we enter the new year, Cuba promises to be even more
interesting. For the first time in almost 60 years, someone besides
a Castro may become the president of the nation. That will prove
to be a major test of the ideas of the Revolution, and how socialism
will be defined moving forward.
More than the political landscape, however, the economic
landscape has the potential for big change. Cuba could create a
more vibrant economy as its private sector continues to emerge.
The challenge will be how to balance the benefits that Cubans
enjoy in terms of universal healthcare and free education with the
growing pains of market-oriented changes that will initially leave
some behind as others become more affluent.
For the United States, Cuba remains a nation of great strategic
and financial importance. Not only can Cuba become a significant
market, especially for agricultural goods, but it can also become
the workshop and shipping center of the Americas. Cuba’s
highly educated workforce, coupled with its competitive wages,
creates a potential center for value-added manufacturing, such as
software programming or the production of world-class pharmaceuticals.
The emergence of the Port of Mariel as a transshipment
point for post-Panamax vessels coming to and from Asia opens
possible distribution alliances with Gulf and East Coast ports.
But the U.S. has made a series of strategic Cuba blunders
this past year. As numerous stories in this issue and on our
website attest, our country has pulled back from rapprochement,
making it harder to travel there and to do business there.
This is a huge mistake, and it is creating a vacuum that will
be happily filled by other countries, including Russia and China.
RT, the Kremlin-backed television network, has already described
Russia’s recently reinvigorated ties with the island as a “renaissance
in relations as the U.S. cuts ties with Cuba.” And even
though Chinese exports to Cuba fell substantially in 2017, the
country is already supplying everything from TV sets and buses
to bicycles and fiber optic installations.
The irony here is that the U.S. pullback from Cuba is based
on distrust of a government that resembles those of Russia and
China – two countries we count as trade partners. Our refusal
to end the embargo against Cuba without regime change is not
only the height of hypocrisy but a fundamental policy error that
violates the Trump administration’s goals of making America safer
and more prosperous. Hopefully the new year will see clearer
heads prevail. H
J.P. Faber. Editor-in-Chief
Publisher
Richard Roffman
Editor-in-Chief
J.P.Faber
CEO
Todd W. Hoffman
Director of Operations
Monica Del Carpio-Raucci
Art Director
Jon Braeley
Production Manager
Toni Kirkland
Managing Editor
Julienne Gage
Associate Editor
Nick Swyter
Senior Writer
Doreen Hemlock
Writers
Vito Echevarría,
Victoria Mckenzie
William A. Messina, Jr.
Photographers
Gabrielle Jorgensen
Francesco Meliciani
Matias J. Ocner
Yenny Muñoa
Megan Fawn Schlow
Vice President Sales
Sherry Adams
Manager, New Business Development
Magguie Marina
Aviation Consultant
Lauren Stover
Moore & Company, P.A.
Maritime • Art • Aviation Law
Cuba Trade Magazine (ISSN 2573-332X) is published each month by Third Circle
Publishing, LLC, at 2 S. Biscayne Blvd., Suite 2450, Miami, FL USA 33131.
Telephone: (786) 206.8254. Copyright 2017 by Third Circle Publishing LLC. All
rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part of any text, photograph or illustration
without prior written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.
8 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
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Blvd., Suite 2450, Miami, FL USA 33131. Subscription information domestic and
foreign (786) 206.8254. Send general mailbox email and letters to the editor to info@
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panorama
Deals, events
and transactions
of note for trade
and investment
in Cuba
Castro: Too many pressing issues to exit just yet
Castro to stay in power past February
The Cuban parliament announced it will
extend the National Assembly session
until April 19, which means Raúl Castro
will stay on as president for at least two
more months than previously planned.
State-controlled media reported that
the decision was made because Hurricane
Irma forced a postponement in the
already-delayed electoral cycle that was
scheduled to end with the selection of
Castro’s successor on Feb. 24. First Vice
President Miguel Diaz-Canel is widely
considered to be the most likely successor
to Castro.
detentions is happening largely because
the Obama administration ended the “wet
foot, dry foot” policy that gave Cubans
who arrived on U.S. soil without a visa a
pathway to permanent residency.
Castro calls on Cuba to unify dual
currency system
During remarks to the National Assembly,
Raúl Castro once again called on Cuba
to unify its two currencies. He said the
dual-currency situation “cannot be delayed
any longer” and will complicate the country’s
external finances in 2018. Although
it won’t resolve all of Cuba’s economic
difficulties, Castro said it is the “most decisive
process” to advance reforms that were
initiated under his rule.
iselle
Cuba reports economic growth in 2017
Minister of the Economy Ricardo
Cabrisas told lawmakers that the country
rebounded from a recession in 2017. He
said Cuba’s GDP increased by 1.6 percent
in 2017, which is significantly higher than
what many economists projected. He attributed
the growth to strong performance
in the construction, tourism, transportation,
and agriculture sectors.
Cubans in the U.S. to be deported
As of Dec. 9, there are more than 37,000
Cubans in the U.S. with final deportation
orders, according to U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) figures. An
agency spokesperson also said there are
nearly 1,700 Cubans in detention centers.
The increase in Cuban deportations and
More regulations on the private sector
Mariano Murilllo, head of the Cuban
Communist Party’s reform commission,
announced new restrictions on
the country’s burgeoning private sector.
He said private cooperatives can only
operate in the provinces where they are
located and that a member’s income can
be no more than three times the income
of the lowest-earning member, according
to state-controlled media. Business
licenses will also be limited to a single
activity per entrepreneur, which prevents
scenarios such as one person running
a bed-and-breakfast and a restaurant.
Murillo said the changes were made to
“give order, and not limit, the non-state
sector.”
U.S. visas for Cubans plummet
The U.S. is processing fewer visas to Cubans
in the wake of the State Department
withdrawing 60 percent of its Havana
embassy staff in response to mysterious
“attacks” that harmed U.S. diplomats. The
U.S. processed 376 non-immigrant visas to
Cubans in October, which is significantly
lower than the nearly 2,000 that were
issued in July and in August. Of those 376
nonimmigrant visas, the Havana embassy
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12 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

PANORAMA
issued 93 of them. The U.S. only issued 16
immigrant visas to Cubans in October, despite
it issuing more than 800 each month
for the past two years. Of the 16 Cubans
who were issued immigrant visas, 11 traveled
to Bogota, Colombia, for processing.
Still dealing with storm damage
More than 289,800 homes in Cuba still
have unresolved damages from recent natural
disasters, according to state-controlled
media. Most of the homes were damaged
by 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, 2016’s
Hurricane Matthew, and 2017’s Hurricane
Irma. Cuba’s director-general of housing
told members of the National Assembly
that the country aims to boost production
of construction materials to resolve the
damages. Castro said the country needs to
“give greater impetus to the housing situation,”
state-controlled media reported.
Record tourist numbers
Minister of Tourism Manuel Marrero
Cruz told lawmakers that Cuba welcomed
more than 4.3 million tourists through
November, marking a 19.7 percent
increase compared to the same period
in 2016. Cuba saw a record number of
tourists in 2017 despite Hurricane Irma,
a U.S. State Department travel warning,
and new sanctions issued by the Trump
administration.
Russian oil on the table
Cuban President Raúl Castro met with
Igor Sechin, president of Russia’s Rosneft
oil company, on Dec. 16 in Havana. The
two discussed oil supplies to Cuba, joint
oil and gas projects, and the possibility of
collaborating on an upgrade to a refinery
in Cienfuegos, according to a Rosneft
statement. In May, Rosneft shipped some
oil to Cuba and announced a deal to
supply 250,000 tonnes of oil and refined
diesel fuel to the island, according to
Reuters. The Rosneft shipment was the
first major Russian oil delivery to Cuba
since the early 1990s. Cuba is seeking
more oil suppliers since Venezuelan subsidized
shipments have fallen by at least 40
percent since 2014.
Cuba takes Venezuela’s stake in
Cienfuegos refinery
Venezuela’s PDVSA is no longer a partner
with Cuba’s Cupet in a Cienfuegos oil refinery.
“Since August 2017, the Cienfuegos
oil refinery has operated as a completely
Cuban state entity under the direction of
Cupet,” state-controlled media reported
on Dec. 14. Even though cheap oil
deliveries from Venezuela to Cuba have
plummeted due to the country’s economic
crisis, it’s not clear why the partnership
ended. A former Venezuelan government
official said Cuba took PDVSA’s 49 percent
stake in the refinery as payment for
its debts, according to Reuters.
A not-so-sweet exit
Embattled Brazilian construction conglomerate
Odebrecht suspended its
operations at a Cienfuegos sugar mill.
Odebrecht subsidiary Compañia de
Obras e Infraestructura was operating the
mill in conjunction with AZCUBA, the
state-controlled sugar monopoly. An Odebrecht
spokesperson told Martí Noticias
that AZCUBA didn’t have the funds to
execute a contract it signed three years ago.
AZCUBA’s payment difficulties date back
to February 2016, the spokesperson added.
Fight for Havana flights
American Airlines and JetBlue Airways
are seeking additional flights to Havana.
Both airlines submitted applications to
the U.S. Department of Transportation
requesting extra flights in September,
but they amended their applications in
December to request even more routes.
American applied for seven additional
weekly frequencies, on top of the 10 weekly
frequencies it requested in September.
JetBlue requested seven additional weekly
frequencies to launch a Tampa-Havana
route, on top of the 21 it requested in
September. Delta recently announced it
will end six of its weekly flights from New
York’s JFK to Havana in February.
Cuban entrepreneurship program
canceled
Florida International University announced
it will cancel the 2018 edition of
a summer program designed to support
entrepreneurship in Cuba. FIU said
InCubando@FIU will be suspended until
the consular situation at the U.S. Embassy
in Havana is normalized. The six-week
program began in in 2016. It invited Cuban
entrepreneurs to the university to take
business and English courses.
Bright ideas to improve energy
efficiency
The Cuban government intends to
replace 13 million fluorescent lamps
with LED lights over the next few years,
Minister of Energy and Mines Alfredo
Lopez told members of the National Assembly.
Lopez also said the government
will promote the use of electric stoves,
bioelectric plants, solar water heaters, and
solar panels to improve energy efficiency.
He said increased foreign investment
in renewables has helped the country
achieve its energy goals.
Tobacco export boost
Exports from the Internacional Cubana
de Tabacos SA (ICT) joint venture
increased by 3.5 percent in 2017, representing
a $21 million increase, according
to company directors. The company
produced more than 137.7 million
machine-made cigars despite Hurricane
Irma causing delays, said ICT chairman
Ricardo Soler. ICT is a joint venture between
Cuba’s TABACUBA and Imperial
Tobacco Group of the U.K. Its products
are sold in about 120 countries. H
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14 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

IDEAS + INNOVATION
WE GROW TRADE ®
After a 12-year hiatus, Cuba
imports its first shipment of
Russia’s most popular cars
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF TAKING THE BEST OF ARKANSAS TO THE WORLD
Words and Photos By Julienne Gage
In Havana’s Vedado neighborhood, a crowd
of Cuban mechanics with buckets of car parts
work on a 2000 Lada that looks similar to
a 1970s model, albeit less beat up. A failure
with the window lever had them twisting
metal wires through the door frame. “In this
country, you come up with all kinds of inventions,”
one muttered.
Cuba’s most iconic cars may be Chevrolets
from the 1950s, but the vehicles
the Communist government has long
used to transport government officials
and reward hardworking employees is the
Russian Lada.
Cuba hasn’t imported the cars since
2005, and the older models are relics that
spew diesel, jump gears, and sometimes
have holes worn into the metal floors. Still,
they can cost anywhere from $15,000 to
$30,000, a steal compared to the hundreds
of thousands it costs for a new, imported car.
Now, in an effort to get more cars
on the road and lower the costs of public
transportation, Cuba recently purchased
300 new Lada Vestas and Lada Largas
Cross vehicles from Russian automaker
AtvoVAZ. The Ministry of Transportation
said they’ll be used for a new state-run
collective taxi program.
Cuba aspires to create a more
modern, affordable, and environmentally-friendly
mass transit system, but that’s
a long way off. Right now, new cars are
a quick fix, said Cuba’s Vice Minister of
Transportation Eduardo Rodriguez Dávila.
But he insists the embargo still makes it
nearly impossible to import cars from the
Americas, especially considering Cuba’s
limited financing options.
“These vehicles are acquired through
manufacturers who are willing to work
with Cuba, manufacturers who are willing
to create the conditions in Cuba for these
vehicles to last,” he said, adding that Cuba
welcomes the return of the Lada because
its manufacturer is “willing to bet on the
Cuban market again.”
Having earned a college degree in
mechanical engineering in Russia in 1991,
Rodriguez Dávila is familiar with Ladas.
He says they’ve endured because the parts
didn’t change through the years, and with
so many Ladas on the roads, parts were
easy to find. The newer Ladas, however,
will require specialized state mechanics.
The classic Lada’s quirks are a point
of shared humor for many Cubans, and
almost every person has a Lada story.
Recently, a Cuban visiting her family in
Havana asked to drive the family’s 1980s
Lada from the airport to her home.
The mother protested, explaining that
since the car skips second gear, she would
experience a lot of lurching through the
city – although the ride on the expressway
leading into it would be smooth. From the
passenger’s side, her sister joked “it’s really
more of a race car.” H
RICE
TIMBER
POULTRY
SOY
16 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 CUBATRADE
17

INDEX
Commercial Squeeze
As Venezuela-Cuba trade declines, so does
Cuba’s bilateral trade with most of the Americas
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15,000
Bilateral trade between Cuba and the Americas, 2011-2016
Rest
Seven & Nine-Night Cuba
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12,000
15,000
USA
Rest
Millions of CUC
9,000
9,000
6,000
6,000
3,000
3,000
0
0
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Source: Anuario Estadistico 2016 - Sector Externo, Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas e Información
Millions of CUC
12,000
Canada
Mexico
Brazil
USA
Canada
Mexico
Brazil
Argentina
Argentina
Venezuela
Venezuela
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Bilateral trade of goods between Cuba
and countries in the Americas fell by
about 57 percent from 2011 to 2016,
according to Cuba’s National Office for
Statistics and Information (ONEI). In
2011, bilateral trade with the Americas
topped 12 billion CUC (roughly the
same value in U.S. dollars.) By 2016,
Cuba’s bilateral trade with the Americas
had fallen to about $5.1 billion CUC.
Much, but not all, of the decline is
due to plummeting oil deliveries from
Venezuela. Bilateral trade fell by about
18 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
72 percent from 2011 to 2016, according
to ONEI. The trade decline accelerated
after global oil prices fell sharply
in 2014. China replaced Venezuela as
Cuba’s largest trading partner last year
largely due to the reduced oil deliveries.
Cuba has also seen a drop in bilateral
trade with Brazil (30 percent), Canada
(49 percent), and the United States
(40 percent) since 2011, according to
ONEI. Bilateral trade with Mexico has
remained relatively steady since 2011,
hovering at about 475 million CUC
annually.
One bright spot is trade between
Argentina and Cuba, which increased
by about 60 percent from 2011 to 2016.
Bilateral trade was about 428 million
CUC last year, up from about 167 million
CUC in 2011.
Cuba imports far more goods
from countries in the Americas than
it exports. Only about one-fourth of
Cuba’s bilateral trade with countries in
the Americas from 2011 to 2016 was
exports, according to ONEI. H
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INTERVIEW
An Interview with Charles Baker,
general manager of Mariel’s container port terminal
Port executive Charles Baker has a high-profile job in Cuba, running the container port terminal
TC Mariel inside the Mariel Special Economic Development Zone east of Havana. The
three-year-old port, already key for Cuba’s imports and exports, aims to become a hub for containers
transiting between Asia and the Americas, in particular for those passing through the
Panama Canal.
The son of a British port manager and 25-year veteran in ports, Baker came to Cuba in
2012 when the nearly $1 billion Mariel port project was still under construction. He started
with a staff of 24 and now oversees 525 people. Baker works for Singapore’s ports giant PSA,
which operates 40 ports worldwide. Mariel is the only port that PSA runs without an equity
stake. The port is owned by Cuba’s government.
In late 2017, Cuba Trade spoke with Baker in Havana about the status of TC Mariel,
expansion plans, and how operations differ from other countries – like the need to provide bus
routes for staff to get back and forth to the terminal for three shifts a day. In other countries where
workers have their own vehicles, port managers worry instead about providing enough parking,
said Baker.
By Doreen Hemlock
Getting Ready for Asian Cargo: Charles Baker (left) talks about the container port at Mariel (above)
CT: How does TC Mariel compare to other
container terminals in modernity and
volume?
When we opened in January 2014, the
terminal was one of the most modern in
the Americas, with the same state-of-theart
equipment we buy and use anywhere
in the world. Last year [2016], we handled
325,000 TEUs (20-foot-container equivalent
units), and we’ll do about the same this
year [2017]. We have installed capacity for
800,000 TEUs, so there’s plenty of room
for growth.
CT: What kind of goods do you handle and
from where?
Today, we’re handling 90 percent of
Cuba’s containerized cargo, with the rest
going mainly through Santiago and Moa
for those regions. Imports are everything
from household goods to what you find at
hotels and supplies for factories. About 40
percent of imports come from Asia, and a
lot from the Mediterranean, the east coast
of Latin America and northern Europe.
Exports are very low – maybe 20,000 to
25,000 containers a year. They’re bagged
charcoal made from the marabu plant,
some coffee, honey, rum, tobacco, frozen
seafood, and frozen fish. About 85 percent
of containers head out empty.
Compared to neighbors like Costa
Rica and Dominican Republic, the volume
of imported goods per capita may be as
little as one-third, probably because of the
low level of consumer goods.
CT: How much of the container trade is
linked to the nearby Mariel Special Economic
Development Zone, where Cuba is
offering tax breaks and other perks to lure
factories and other businesses?
It’s still not very high, as the Zone is
young. For a huge development like the
Mariel Zone, you have to build infrastructure
and do a global marketing campaign.
Once a project is landed, you have a
construction period of six to 18 months
before production begins. We’re starting
to see production now. The link to the port
is two-fold: Materials that go to the Zone
to be made into finished products for the
Cuban market, plus limited exports of
goods sold to islands around us. We hope
in the future there will be larger factories
and the ability to sell into much larger
markets like the United States.
CT: Is Mariel ready to accept the biggest
ships that can now cross the expanded
Panama Canal and require deeper channels?
Not yet. Dredging is underway to take
the channel from 15.3 meters [50 feet]
to about 16 meters [52 feet] next year
and later to 18 meters [59 feet] probably
in 2019. So, we will try to penetrate the
transshipment market initially for non-
U.S. markets in Central America and the
Caribbean. Our competitors for transshipment
in the region are Freeport in the
Bahamas, Kingston in Jamaica, Caucedo
in the Dominican Republic, and, further
south, Panama.
CT: The terminal plans to eventually reach 3
million TEUs capacity. What is the timetable?
There are no fixed dates. The plan is to
kick off each expansion phase two to three
years before you need it, because it’s not
a quick project… We have 700 meters
[almost 2,300 feet] of pier now. We’d
probably go next to 950 to 1,000 meters
[more than 3,100 feet], which would push
us to about 1.1 million TEUs capacity.
There’s no hurry to reach 3 million TEUs.
Expansion really depends on three
factors. First is Cuba’s national economy
and growth in import-export volumes.
Second is if we can penetrate the
trans-shipment market, where we’re quite
hindered because we’re not allowed by
U.S. legislation to handle U.S. origin/destination
transshipments. We’d like large
vessels to dock in Mariel and rather than
go to multiple U.S. ports, and load containers
onto smaller ships for those U.S.
ports. The same would happen in reverse
for U.S. exports: Containers would be
loaded onto small ships at U.S. ports and
then loaded onto bigger ships in Mariel.
We have a wonderful geographic location
for that type of traffic, with a view to U.S.
Gulf and South Atlantic seaboard ports.
The third factor concerns the U.S.
embargo itself. If U.S.-Cuba trade is loosened
and banks become more liberated in
financing Cuba, we would expect larger
volumes and a review of expansion plans.
CT: How does operating a port in Cuba
differ from operating elsewhere?
The level of enthusiasm, interest and commitment
from the staff at all levels here has
been incredible. They see this as a project of
national importance and strategic interest,
and they’ve thrown themselves into a steep
learning curve. We’re running a very, very
stable operation at levels of productivity
and efficiency commensurate with competitors
in the region and with our global
standards as a company. There’s Cuban
national pride involved, and we’re glad the
staff are proud of what they are doing.
CT: How does hiring work?
All of our staff are hired through contracts
with a [government] agency. For us, the
agency is an aid. It receives thousands of
CVs from applicants and then filters them
down to the ones we’d be interested in,
based on skills sets, prior experience, and
the like. But you don’t necessarily have
to take from those. If I see someone with
a strong CV, I ask the agency to do the
necessary background and medical checks
so we can employ them.
CT: What are the biggest challenges for
operations?
We had a challenge to get some needed
supplies, but Cuba has reacted and given
us the opportunity to import directly. We
now have approvals to buy select goods we
need – like tires, lubricants and spare parts
– from approved suppliers, which cuts the
cycle time to receive supplies.
In logistics, we received two gantry
cranes last year that let us increase capacity
at the on-dock rail terminal. The Ministry
of Transport is investing in rail stock and
locomotives to move more containers by
rail, which is environmentally friendly and
more efficient to get goods to the provinces
on this long, thin island. They’ve also
brought in more trucks to move containers,
and built or renovated warehousing to
accommodate greater cargo demand.
CT: If the embargo were lifted, what would
it mean for the port and Cuba trade?
Additional growth. But bear in mind Cuba
has established long-term relations with
European and Asian suppliers, who will
defend their market share.
Before the embargo, people tell me
Cuba didn’t have many warehouses, because
importers would buy from the United
States, and goods would be shipped in
overnight and direct to stores. If I look at
trade between Great Britain and continental
Europe, you have a plethora of ferries,
a tunnel and even a train handling cargo
back and forth. So, we may need to construct
facilities to let trucks come across the
Florida Straits and then drive off to where
they are needed in Cuba. And obviously,
the transit time for cargo into Cuba would
20 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 CUBATRADE
21

FORECAST
Can Cuba Sustain
Economic
Growth?
Three different economic
analyses project mild economic
expansion in 2018
Percentage
5
3.75
2.5
1.25
0
Cuba's GDP Growth, 2008-2017
By Nick Swyter
-1.25
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016* 2017*
Source: World Bank
*Cuban government figures
Raúl Castro is set to leave the presidency
in April, following the Cuban government’s
announcement of a mild recovery
out of a recession. It’s an unfortunate end
to his rule, which started with grand aspirations
to energize the economy.
Plummeting oil deliveries from
Venezuela, low global prices for key
exports, natural disasters, and a negative
business outlook from fractured U.S.-Cuba
relations all contributed to the Cuban
government reporting 1.6 percent GDP
growth in 2017 and a 0.9 percent contraction
in 2016.
Those factors, among others, will
likely continue to afflict the Cuban
economy in 2018. But some economists
foresee minor growth. The Economist
Intelligence Unit, Moody’s Investor Services,
and the United Nations’ Economic
Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean (CEPAL) recently projected
Cuba’s economic growth in 2018 to be
1.3 percent, 1.1 percent, and 1 percent,
respectively.
The projections are promising for a
country that many economists expected to
end 2017 in a recession, though they still
lag behind the 2.2 percent growth CEPAL
projects for the economies of Latin Amer-
ica and the Caribbean in 2018. It’s also too
early to tell exactly how the Cuban economy
will perform in the hands of somebody
not named Castro – or under one of Raúl’s
relatives who may take the helm.
“On one hand, it creates more uncertainty
and businesses hate uncertainty,”
said Emily Morris, associate fellow of the
University College of London’s Institute
of the Americas. “On the other hand,
some businesses might think that there
might be more possibilities.”
Cuba will continue to count on
tourism for economic growth. The country
welcomed a record 4.3 million visitors by
November 2017, and it’s likely to post solid,
albeit lower, numbers in the new year.
“We do not believe [Cuba] will maintain
its growth rate for 2018, given the
already visible decrease in American tourism
due to the diplomatic crisis generated
by the ‘sonic attacks’ on U.S. diplomats,”
said Emilio Morales, CEO of the Havana
Consulting Group.
The Trump administration’s new regulations
on travel and business with Cuba is
expected to reduce the flow of U.S. visitors,
but it doesn’t shut the door completely.
American leisure travelers can still visit
the island with authorized tour groups
and cruise ships. Cuba can also count on
visitors from other countries. Canada, Germany,
England, France, Italy, Spain, and
Mexico regularly send more than 100,000
tourists each to the island annually.
Besides tourism, Cuba is counting
on the agriculture sector to recover after
sustaining damage from Irma.
Cuba’s dependence on subsidized
Venezuelan oil will continue to impede
the country in 2018. Reduced deliveries of
crude have not only lead to fuel rationing
and blackouts, they have curtailed currency
inflows from the re-export of unused fuel.
The Cuban economy is also expected to
feel the strain of low global prices for two of
its most valuable export commodities: sugar
and nickel. Sugar and tobacco output could
also take a hit in 2018 due to hurricane
destruction. Additionally, Morales projects
reduced remittances from the U.S. because
the Obama administration ended the “wet
foot, dry foot” policy that gave Cubans who
arrived on U.S. soil without a visa a pathway
to permanent residency.
“Under these scenarios, it is very difficult
to foresee the Cuban economy having
a positive performance in 2018,” Morales
said. “The successor of Raúl Castro has a
great challenge ahead.” H
22 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

ECONOMY
The
Vietnam
Scenario
Hanoi-Havana ties are
solid. So why isn’t Cuba
replicating Vietnam’s
economic success?
By Nick Swyter
Photo by: Yenny Muñoa/CubaMINREX
How do we move food
from Hastings to Havana?
Break down barriers.
Children wave flags to welcome former Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang to a Havana school
Vietnam has regularly been identified as a
suitable economic model for Cuba to follow
once it accelerates market-oriented reforms.
The characterization makes sense,
considering both countries have communist
governments, limited natural resources,
and fraught histories with the United
States. Vietnam has experienced economic
growth every year since it initiated socialist-oriented
market reforms known as Doi
Moi in 1986.
The reforms established a resilient
economy propelled by large state-owned
enterprises partnering with global brands,
a growing private sector, diversified
exports, a solid tourism industry, and a
suitable environment for manufacturing.
Those economic accomplishments
happened without Vietnam sacrificing its
single-party rule.
So why isn’t Cuba replicating the Doi
Moi playbook?
Geography and culture play important
roles. It’s impossible for Cuba to
replicate Vietnam’s economic strategy because
the island has less land, people, and
resources, said author and former Mexican
Secretary of Foreign Affairs Jorge
Castañeda. Vietnam also benefits from its
industrial culture, he added.
“In economic terms, [Vietnam] is a
much bigger, more populated country with
24 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
different traditions,” Castañeda said. “The
Cubans do not seem to be organized that
way, and it’s a much smaller and poorer
country.”
Cuba’s ties to its neighbors also
discourage it from adopting Vietnam-style
reforms, said Enrique Pumar, chair of
Santa Clara University’s sociology department.
He said Cubans are likely to expect
more from economic reforms than the
Vietnamese because they compare themselves
to Western European and North
American societies, especially the exile
community in Florida. Vietnam doesn’t
compare itself that way, since its diaspora
community lives further away and many of
its neighbors are less prosperous.
“[The Vietnamese] say, ‘We are doing
ok’ when comparing themselves with
Cambodia and Laos. Maybe even with
some provinces in southern China,” Pumar
said. “But the comparison for Cubans
is very different because it has always been
the United States and Europe, and not
necessarily Latin America.”
Castañeda added that Cuban-Americans
have so far been reluctant to, and
limited from, formally investing in Cuba.
“That’s where a lot of the investment
would come from, and it’s not coming,”
Castañeda said.
While Raúl Castro initiated economic
reforms such as allowing some private
sector activities and leasing government-owned
land to farmers, transformative
changes are unlikely to happen
while his inner circle remains in power,
Pumar said. He noted that Vietnam and
China only made significant changes
after revolutionary leaders Ho Chi Minh
and Mao Zedong died. “If you compare
post-communist societies, these societies
do not make meaningful changes until the
revolutionary leader and his inner circle
are out of the picture,” Pumar said.
Castañeda said whoever succeeds
Raúl Castro in 2018 will probably come
from his inner circle, making significant
economic reforms unlikely.
Even though Cuba hasn’t completely
embraced Doi Moi, the Castro government
has studied the economic model
privately with Vietnam for years. Castañeda
says the discussions haven’t improved
the Cuban economy, but understanding
Doi Moi helps the Cuban government
make economic reforms without political
reforms.
“Maybe one of the reasons why they
haven’t gone further – or they have backtracked
rather systematically – is precisely
because if they go too far they will lose control,”
Castañeda said. “It’s what Fidel Castro
always used to say about Gorbachev.” H
Cargill is committed to helping the world thrive.
© 2016 Cargill, Incorporated
When America farmers are able to freely
export their crops to other countries, it
nourishes the people who need them
most. Opening new markets for US
agriculture boosts food production, spurs
job creation and puts food on more tables
across the globe. That’s why we champion
open trade flows – to raise incomes for
all and build local economies that thrive.
Learn more at cargill.com/food-security.

IMPORT/EXPORT
An interview with
Aurelio Mollineda
Martinez, General
Director, Gecomex
Gecomex (Grupo Empresarial del Comercio Exterior) is the
state corporation responsible for all imports and exports outside
of energy, mining and military needs. It represents some
18 state companies including, most importantly, Alimport,
the entity that imports $2 billion in food annually. Cuba
Trade spoke with Gecomex General Director Mollineda
about the state’s priorities and processes for importing and
exporrting goods to and from Cuba.
By JP Faber
Photos by Jon Braeley
CT: What is the function of Gecomex?
Gecomex is a holding company, a structure
that was created as part of the updating
of the Cuban economic model. The
companies that are part of these holdings
used to belong to other ministries. Within
this structure there are 18 companies…
All are involved in foreign trade and play
an important role within Cuban economy.
We are in charge of importing goods for
[various] sectors of the economy and we
are in charge of distributing the supply of
raw materials and intermediate goods to
anyone who may need it.
CT: What are examples of the companies
that make up Gecomex?
We have a company within our structure
named Quimimport that is in charge of
importing fertilizers and pesticides.... We
have another company in charge of
importing metals, and one for agriculture
machinery, with all the implements, all the
tools… We are also in charge of the export
of cane sugar.
CT: What other things does Gecomex
export?
Honey, charcoal, coffee, cocoa, and sometimes
live animals... We are responsible for
about 36 percent of the imports of Cuba and
about 18 percent of the exports of Cuba.
CT: So, if I am a foreign company, what is
the process by which I make an application
for bringing products into Cuba?
Gecomex works with the selection of its
suppliers in the same way as any other
company worldwide. Internally we don’t
have restrictions for the origin of a product.
It’s only determined by what a given
[Cuban] company wants, and which
[foreign firm] wants to do business with
us. There is no law in Cuba stating that
there is a ban on doing business with
any company in the world. We follow a
normal compliance process. We get to
know each other, so we can know that
this company can provide the product.
We always ask for a bank statement and
get to know the financial situation of a
company. This is a simple process, by
which we can include a company in our
portfolio of suppliers or sellers – although
today I can’t include much in our
portfolio in terms of U.S. suppliers. But
that’s not because of me.
CT: Now, in the other direction, if I am a Cuban
farmer and want to export my mangoes
to the United States, do I need permission
first from Alimport?
In the case of such products, there are
[Cuban] companies that specialize in this
matter. For example, we have Cuba Azucar,
which oversees the export of sugar, and
molasses, which is derived from sugar…
Generally, all products made by farmers
need to go through a process, and almost
all these processes are undertaken in state
owned plants. So, it’s important for you
to know that farming in Cuba is the state.
At the level of private farmers or individual
farmers, they don’t have the necessary
means to produce a product with the quality
to be exported… For example, honey
is collected from all honey croppers and
taken to a processing center. And generally,
all the honey that is exported is validated in
foreign labs. And therefore, we can guarantee
that this product won’t be rejected.
CT: We think there are enormous opportunities
for products from Cuba to enter
the U.S. and while most are prohibited, in
certain cases they’re not … for example
charcoal... So why aren’t more Cuban
products coming to the United States?
It’s because we need authorized requesters
from the United States. I believe this is
no mystery at all for DOC or OFAC. I
have personally explained to them how
complicated it is for a U.S. company to get
a license to do business with Cuba. Unfor-
tunately, this is not part of my competence
because otherwise I would have to hire 10
different law firms for an explanation on
how to get a license... [as for exports to the
U.S.] they want an organic product that
is only produced by a private farmer and
doesn’t go through the hands of any other
state company and that’s very complicated.
I think that they [U.S. buyers] are missing
a great opportunity.
CT: What about other, non-U.S. markets?
We’re in charge of exporting coffee, honey,
organic molasses, cocoa, charcoal, and
that’s basically what we export to Europe
and Asia and Canada. Canada and Europe
are high-end consumers of honey and they
have extensively recognized the quality of
our honey. The coffee that we’re able to
export, whether coffee beans or processed
coffee – the Asian countries buy it up.
They want it all.
CT: Does the U.S. blockade and the difficulties
it creates, especially in banking, make
it more difficult in dealing with the rest of
the world?
So much so that it made me get a master’s
degree in international finance. It’s no
secret to anyone the extraterritorial nature
of the blockade, and that the fines to financial
institutions have made it very hard
to get payments and to make payments.
CT: Tourism is on the rise in Cuba and I
assume this means you will need different
inputs to satisfy the demands of tourists.
How has this affected your planning, and
have you made changes to accommodate
what tourists want?
As a structure, we have been willing to
grow to satisfy the demands that increased
tourism puts on the development of other
sectors of the Cuban economy… there are
many products I import that go into a production
chain that ultimately goes to the
tourism sector. In the short term, because
the demand for packaging increases, I have
to import more plastic resin... A long-term
example would be [tourist demand for]
potatoes. To have more potatoes in Cuba,
more potato seeds must be imported…
Agriculture has increased its production
and many of the products are destined
for the tourism sector, so this means that
I must increase the imports of inputs,
whether it’s fertilizers or machinery…
CT: One thing said by U.S. economists is
that Cuba needs wholesale markets where
individual businesses can buy at a lower
price. Why isn’t there a better wholesale
market for small businesses?
We have limitations when it comes to a
normal flow of goods. We must buy from
many places and at times, far-away places.
We are lacking funds, and where we
could get better financing conditions. The
blockade has affected us – not only in our
trading relations with the United States
but in our relations with many other
suppliers… To create the conditions for a
true wholesale market in Cuba relies a lot
on imports because this must be an open
market… When I’m able to buy 100 thousand
tons at a time, then I can guarantee a
good price in the wholesale markets.
CT: Relatively speaking, how important is
the U.S. market in both directions, and how
important is that relative to the rest of the
world?
The U.S. market has many advantages for
us. It’s very close, they have the technology
and high volumes of production which allow
for good prices. But no country relies
on only one market. We will always share
our goods and purchases. Meaning that we
must approach things normally, not in the
way they are today. Under normal conditions
you find a product, you have a tender
process and then you choose to make the
business [deal]. Since U.S. producers are
outside of these normal conditions, they
are limited [as sources]. H
26 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 CUBATRADE
27

AGRICULTURE
An Uptick in Food Sales
As Diplomatic Relations Weaken,
Agricultural Trade Strengthens
Following up on views he expressed
during the 2016 Presidential campaign,
last June, U.S. President Donald Trump
came to Miami to announce with much
fanfare that the U.S. regulations affecting
U.S. travel and business interactions with
Cuba would be tightened. The implementing
regulations for these changes
went into effect in November.
Beyond that came the more serious
blow to relations resulting from the
“auditory incidents” affecting U.S. diplomatic
personnel posted at its Embassy
in Havana, first reported in late 2016. In
response, the U.S. government in September
removed all but essential personnel
from the U.S. Embassy out of concern for
By William A. Messina, Jr.
their wellbeing. This was soon followed
by the U.S. government announcement
that 15 Cuban diplomats from the Cuban
Embassy in Washington, DC were being
expelled to “ensure equity in our respective
diplomatic operations.”
Despite the diplomatic fallout, it is
interesting to note that Cuban purchases
of U.S. food and agricultural products have
actually increased in 2017. This continues
a trend that began in 2016 (see charts).
Somewhat counterintuitively, during
the renewal of formal diplomatic relations
between the United States and
Cuba that took place in 2015, Cuban
purchases of U.S. food and agricultural
product actually declined nearly 50 percent
that year, from $286 million in 2014
to less than $149 million in 2015. This
was a continuation of the declining trend
taking place since 2008, when U.S. food
sales to Cuba peaked at $700 million. The
value of U.S. sales to Cuba in 2015 was
the lowest level in 14 years and was only
slightly higher than the total value of
sales in 2002, which was just the second
year of sales to Cuba under the Trade
Sanctions and Export Enhancement Act
(TSRA) of 2000.
Cuban agricultural and food purchases
from the United States then recovered
in 2016, increasing more than 47 percent
to nearly $219 million. In addition to this
notable increase in purchases, another
KANSAS
W HE A T
®
28 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 CUBATRADE
29

AGRICULTURE
Composition of U.S. Food and Agricultural Exports to Cuba: 2000 to 2016
700
Millions US$
525
350
175
Millions US$
Composition of U.S. Food and Agricultural
Exports to Cuba: Jan-Sept 2016 and 2017
225
150
75
10 commodities contribute
$10 bilIion to Louisiana’s economy.
Imagine what it could do for Cuba.
0
2002
0
2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 Jan-Sept 2016 Jan-Sept 2017
Source: USDA, GATS database
Source: USDA, GATS database
U.S. Food and Agricultural Exports to Cuba: 2000 to 2016
800
Bulk
Intermediate
Consumer Oriented
Millions US$
600
400
200
U.S. Food and
Agricultural Exports
MARINE FISHERIES FORESTRY RICE POULTRY SOYBEANS
0
2002
2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016
Source: USDA, GATS database
important observation is that the composition
of Cuba’s purchases from the
United States began to change in 2016,
with a sizeable increase in the value of
bulk commodity sales to Cuba (Figure 2).
This was a welcome development for bulk
agricultural shippers in the United States,
whose sales had risen steeply from almost
nothing in 2001 to over $400 million
in 2008, only to collapse to a mere $15
million in 2015.
In 2017, Cuban purchases of U.S.
food and agricultural products have
continued to increase. Through the first
nine months, U.S. sales to Cuba were 28
percent higher than they were during the
same period in 2016. And the trend of increased
sales of bulk commodities continued
in 2017, with sales of consumer-oriented
products also on the rise (Figure
3). Conversely, U.S. sales of intermediate
commodities – those used to produce other
goods – declined significantly, continuing
a trend that started in 2013.
Growth in consumer-oriented product
30 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
sales to Cuba is made up almost entirely of
sales of poultry meat. In fact, poultry meat
has been the largest product category of
sales to Cuba every year since 2009 except
one (2011, when the value of corn sales to
Cuba exceeded that of poultry meat). Since
2014, poultry meat has made up more than
half of the total value of U.S. food and
agricultural product sales to Cuba.
While all of those product sales are
showing trends welcomed by U.S. agricultural
exporters, Cuba is importing
close to $2 billion per year of food, so
the United States only holds a 10 to 15
percent market share. This stands in stark
contrast to 2004, when the United States
held about 40 percent share of Cuba’s total
food imports.
Today’s decline is partly attributable
to a tightening of the terms of TSRA,
which stipulated that Cuba pay cash for
its purchases from the United States. This
already put U.S. sellers at a competitive
disadvantage over suppliers from other
countries who could offer credit (indeed,
some countries have been offering Cuba
terms of 12 or even 24 months for their
food purchases.) Under the George W.
Bush administration, those terms were
made more stringent, requiring advance
payment through non-U.S. banks.
In the face of such challenges, it
is difficult for U.S. farmers to compete,
particularly given Cuba’s cash-strapped
economic situation. Nevertheless, the fact
that Cuba continues to purchase from
U.S. suppliers is an encouraging sign. Also,
Cuba is preparing to export more charcoal
and coffee to the United States – two
commodities that can legally be shipped
from “independent” producers in Cuba.
Together, these trends could indicate that
food trade might, perhaps, foster continued
and strengthening relationships
between entities in the United States and
Cuba, even as U.S.-Cuban diplomatic
relations unravel. H
Willam A. Messina, Jr. is an agriculture
economist at the University of Florida
COTTON AQUACULTURE BEEF CATTLE FEED GRAIN HORSES
Louisiana –The Trade Gateway to Cuba
866.927.2476 • ldaf.state.la.us

EQUITIES
A Canadian Venture
Canadian Small Cap Stock
Cuba Ventures Soars in Value
as it expands from Travel to
digital currency platforms
By Vito Echevarría
Cuba-centric stocks in the international
markets are far and few. But those who
track trading activity on the Toronto Venture
Exchange are likely to have noticed
a security called Cuba Ventures Corp.
(TSX:CUV), which hit a high of CDN
43 cents/share the week before Christmas.
Since Cuba Ventures’ stock was trading for
as little as CDN 2 cents/share last August,
that represents an astonishing 2,050 percent
increase in value.
The stock was born in early 2016,
when a small group of Canadian investors
– whose Vancouver-based company MPH
Ventures Corp. was previously involved in
the mining sector –decided to make the
unusual move of shifting its business to
Cuban tourism. The decision was predicated
on renewed international interest
in that country, due to improved relations
between Havana and Washington under
President Obama. The result was MPH’s
purchase of Spain-based Travelucion S.L.,
which changed its name to Cuba Ventures
Corp. Travelucion’s former owner, British
national Steve Marshall, was appointed
CEO, and Cuba Ventures became a publicly-traded
company on the Toronto Venture
Exchange (TSX:CUV) with a market
capitalization of just over $5 million.
While it included a trade consulting
arm (aimed at prospective investors
interested in pursuing projects in Cuba),
Cuba Ventures main business was an
online travel platform that Marshall had
been building since he first got involved
in that country’s tourism sector some 20
years earlier. The digital assets Marshall
had developed under the Travelucion
name now consist of 432 Cuba-themed
websites that steer traffic to its booking
and e-commerce sites.
Cuba Ventures’ launch in 2016 came
at a time when the Obama administration
had loosened travel restrictions to the
point where ordinary Americans could
visit the country on an individual basis.
This enabled them to book their own
lodging and flights online, an inexpensive
alternative to group travel packages.
The potential mushrooming in American
travel bookings to Cuba was accelerated
when Obama permitted major U.S. air
carriers to conduct commercial flights to
the island for the first time since the Revolution,
along with American cruise ship
voyages from South Florida to Havana.
Still, few investors knew about Cuba
Ventures at the time. Marshall changed
that with a successful brand-building campaign,
touting the firm’s Cuba expertise
on global news networks like Al Jazeera,
BNN (Toronto), CNN, RT (Russian Television),
and Chinese Television (CGTN),
while promoting Travelucion websites to
prospective travelers in various U.S. media
markets. That campaign contributed to
Cuba Ventures’ record breaking gross sales
revenues of CDN $1.6 million in the
period from December 1, 2016 to February
28, 2017, with a gross profit margins of 26
percent. Today, Americans browsing Cuba
Ventures’ travel websites now represent
36.8 percent of the approximately 37 million
annual page views for Cuba travel, up
from just 6 percent in 2014.
In the wake of the firm’s media
campaign and growing travel bookings,
its stock price reached a high of CDN 9
cents/share in April 2016 while Obama
was still in office and then plummeted to
CDN 4 cents/share in December 2016,
just after Trump – who declared his intent
to roll back Obama’s Cuba trade and
travel policies – was elected president.
Cuba Ventures’ stock price dipped further,
to CDN 3 cents/share in June 2017, when
Trump formally announced his more
restrictive Cuba travel & trade policies.
While Trump left Havana-bound
U.S. cruise ships alone, his new Cuba
policy curbed “people to people” individual
U.S. travel to Cuba, limiting ordinary
visitors to more expensive group tours
or to conducting “support for the Cuban
people” activities. To remain relevant
among Cuba-bound American visitors, in
July Cuba Ventures acquired a 19 percent
stake in a Florida-based travel agency that
provides Trump-compliant U.S. group
packages to the island.
With U.S. tourism prospects dampened
for the moment, Cuba Ventures has
moved into other Cuba related business
sectors. In August, the firm signed a LOI
with Dubai-based investor group Al-Fahim
Technologies Group. That deal is set
to create a Cuba Financing system called
CUBAFIN, making available 40 million
Euros for short- and medium-term loans
for active and planned investments in
Cuba. That development would be significant
to Cuba-centric foreign investors,
since Washington’s Treasury Dept. continues
to penalize foreign banks for doing
business with Havana, using the embargo
to deprive the island of credit.
News of that deal likely impacted
Cuba Ventures’ stock price, which spiked
to CDN 8 cents/share that same month,
before dropping to CDN 6 cents/share by
early September 2017.
By November Cuba Ventures’ stock
was up again, this time to a record CDN
16 cents/share, following the official release
of Trump’s new Cuba regulations, which
proved less severe than anticipated. But it
was a deal announced at the end of that
month which sent the stock price skyrocketing:
In partnership with Spain-based
Vesilen Investments, Cuba Ventures announced
it would develop a digital mobile
application called Revolupay® to target
Cuba’s US$ 3.4 billion remittance market
and its US$750 million private sector. Connected
with that structure: Cuba Ventures’
proprietary cryptocurrency ₡CU Coin,
intended for use in the multibillion tourism
markets of the Caribbean and Cuba.
So far that news has been a
game-changer for Cuba Ventures. Since late
November, the firm’s stock rose to unprecedented
levels, reaching CDN 43 cents just
days before Christmas. Some analysts speculated
that the news of its own cryptocurrency
drove investor interest in Cuba Ventures
at a time when the stratospheric rise of
Bitcoin’s value made world news. Others say
that Cuba Ventures’ plan to disrupt Western
Union’s domination of the Cuba remittance
market (which could carry into other international
remittance destinations) was the
decisive factor. “The cryptocurrency aspect I
don’t believe is important,” said one veteran
Morgan trader, who spoke on background.
“However, the challenge to Western Union’s
pay system dominance could be something.
If that got up and running and proved to
be useful, then I think that would turn the
earnings of the stock.”
Revolupay is scheduled to officially
launch in February 2018 for Cuba; if
successful it could be replicated in larger
Latin remittance markets, like nearby
Dominican Republic (which receives
US$5.5 billion in remittances a year) and
Mexico (which receives US$30 billion in
remittances a year).
Ultimately, what could further the
growth of Cuba Ventures’ stock value is
the same thing that could improve all
aspects of foreign investment and travel to
the island: An improvement in U.S.-Cuba
relations. In an interview with BNN,
Marshall asserted that political transition
in Havana – now set for April with Raul
Castro stepping down – will give the
Trump administration an incentive to “cut
a better deal” with that country to reignite
U.S.-Cuban trade. If such developments
occur, they could take Cuba Ventures and
other Cuba-centric investments to a whole
new level. H
32 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 CUBATRADE
33

ENERGY
Sweet Power
In Cuba’s push for renewable
energy, sugar plays a vital role
132
YEARS OF
HISTORIC
CULTURE
For most of the last two centuries, sugar has been a core part of the Cuban
economy—even to its detriment, as the island’s leading export depended on the
vicissitudes of world demand. It is not without irony then that, in its attempts
to create energy from cutting-edge renewable sources, that Cuba aims to produce
14 percent of its electricity from sugar waste and other biomass by 2030 – more
than the share it expects from all other renewable sources combined.
State sugar group Azcuba leads the drive to produce renewable energy
from biomass. Cuba Trade spoke in Havana with engineer Barbara Hernandez,
who heads up electricity generation for Azcuba. She’s focused her
career on energy and worked with the government’s sugar entity, formerly
the Sugar Ministry, since 1998. The interview, translated from Spanish,
has been edited for space and clarity.
Photos by Jon Braeley
By Doreen Hemlock
CT: What is the current status of Cuba’s
electricity production from sugar
waste and biomass?
Cuba now produces 4.7 percent of its electricity
from renewable sources, and sugar
waste generates most of that: 3.7 percent
of all the country’s electricity. The sugar
energy comes from burning the bagasse
waste left after milling the cane and a bit
from the chaff picked up in the harvest.
All of Azcuba’s 56 mills can generate
electricity from sugar waste. We’re now
getting about 37 kilowatt hours of electricity
for every ton of cane milled. We use
about 85 percent of that electricity for factory
operations and provide the remaining
15 percent to the national grid.
Depending on the size of the harvest,
we’re now generating between 700 and
800 gigawatt hours of electricity a year.
We’ve been increasing energy efficiency
at the mills in the past five years or so, in
some cases by installing new boilers. So,
Azcuba’s electric output rose from 439
gigawatt hours in 2011.
CT: Have the mills always sold excess
electricity to the grid?
Sales began after the reorganization of
the sugar industry in Cuba. The 1990s
were a tumultuous time for the industry
worldwide. Prices dropped as low as 4.5
cents per pound, and companies merged,
mills shut. We closed 100 of our 156
sugar mills and moved some of the more
modern equipment to those that stayed
open. The reorganization helped make our
industry more energy-efficient. With the
2000 harvest, we became self-sufficient in
electricity, and in 2002, we began selling
the excess to the grid.
CT: What’s the plan to get to 14 percent
of Cuba’s electricity produced
from sugar waste and biomass?
The plan is to install 25 high-efficiency,
co-generation plants in select sugar mills
and to increase energy efficiency at all
the mills. The new co-generation plants
[with a combined 872MW capacity] are
forecast to produce electricity year-round,
both from stored bagasse and other
biomass.
Initially, the new plants will burn
sugar waste and marabu, the invasive
plant that has taken over much of Cuba’s
farmland. Longer term, there are plans
through the Agriculture Ministry to grow
bio-forests of eucalyptus and other plants
to use as biomass.
Today, most of Azcuba’s electric generating
units have a capacity to generate
2MW or less. The new co-generation
plants will be larger, with capacities of 50
MW or even 62MW in the case of the
Ciro Redondo mill in central Cuba. The
joint venture Biopower with the UK’s Havana
Energy has already started construction
at the Ciro Redondo plant, which
should come online by early 2020.
[CT: Havana Energy’s CEO Andrew
MacDonald has estimated costs for
the Ciro Redondo co-generation plant,
including studies, at $200 million. He
hopes Biopower can develop a total of five
similar biomass plants in Cuba at a cost of
roughly $800 million.]
We’d like to have all 25 of the new
plants start operations in 2027, so there’s a
sense of urgency.
CT: Besides Biopower, who will develop
the 25 co-generation plants that
you are planning to develop in the
next few years?
In historic Ybor City, Tampa Bay’s Cuban roots run deep.
Savor a hand-rolled Cuban-style puro made the same
way for 130 years. Pass through the gates of the
international park dedicated to José Martí, apostle of
Cuban freedom. All before you hop on a flight or cruise
to explore Cuba yourself. Treasure awaits.
Countless ideas. Endless fun.
VisitTampaBay.com
FLORIDA’ s
CULTURAL
GETAWAY
34 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

The plan is to install 25 high-efficiency,
co-generation plants in select sugar
mills and to increase energy efficiency
at all the mills
Photos by Jon Braeley
Harvesting Power: A sugar cane plantation on the western outskirts of Holguin
Azcuba has a unit called Zerus that can
invest in joint ventures. It’s a partner in
Biopower and is open to other partnerships
with foreign investors. Some of the other
25 plants also may be built by the state
without foreign partners. We’re now in
negotiations to develop 11 of the 25 plants.
CT: Is financing the biggest hurdle?
Havana Energy took years to get funded
for Ciro Redondo.
36 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
Yes. Financing is tough, partly because
of the U.S. Helms-Burton law that can
affect investors in Cuban sugar mills and
other state properties formerly owned by
U.S. citizens or Cubans who became U.S.
citizens. Ciro Redondo falls under that
law, but Havana Energy was willing to
take the risk.
Project finance also depends on the
reputation, experience, and credit history
of the companies investing. Havana
Energy was new to these projects, so it
needed time. Plus, it had an additional setback:
General Electric bought the energy
business of Alstom, the French company
set to supply Ciro Redondo. [Because of
the U.S. embargo on Cuba] we had to
re-evaluate that project with a new [non-
U.S.] supplier. Shanghai Electric stepped
in, and they’re now helping finance the
Ciro Redondo plant.
At Azcuba, we’re trying to negotiate
as much as we can with companies with a
proven record in biomass and the ability to
raise funding.
CT: In some nations, biomass plants
falter, because private utilities offer
very low prices to buy their electricity.
But in Cuba, where the state controls
both sugar and electricity, it seems
you could avoid those conflicts of
interest. How does the pricing work to
buy electricity from the mills?
The government’s interest is to buy the
electricity at a price that ensures benefits
both for the investor and the country. The
price of a power purchase agreement is
negotiated for each project. The foreign
investor gets paid in the currency in
which they invested, be that euros, dollars,
or others.
Our system has the advantage that
state companies and the government all
row in the same direction, so it’s a winwin,
especially for the Cuban people. Our
electric company shares the same goal
of getting 24 percent of Cuba’s electricity
from renewable sources by 2030 and
reducing oil and gas imports. We all want
to be as energy independent as possible
and stem the environmental impact of
fossil fuels. H

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In recent years, hundreds of young Cubans
have returned from abroad to open businesses,
building on skills and market knowledge
they gained overseas. Many have entered
tourism-related fields and launched restaurants,
bed-and-breakfasts, and art studios.
Some have set up shop in information technology,
accounting, and other services.
Here are three of their stories.
By Doreen Hemlock
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Photo by Franceseo Meliciani

THE RETURNEES
RETURN OF THE CHEF
Mauricio Estrada had moved to Spain when
opportunity called from Havana, in the form
of an option to buy an old home and convert
it into a restaurant
The proposal from his brother came suddenly in 2014. The
Cuban government had recently authorized the sale of private
homes on the island. There was a Mediterranean-style
house available in Havana’s upscale Miramar neighborhood that
could be perfect for a large restaurant, one of the 50-seat establishments
now allowed. Would Mauricio be willing to come back
from Spain and start up a new venture?
Mauricio Estrada had left Havana in 2003 for love – to join
a woman living in Europe. The couple had married, and years
later, divorced. Mauricio had fared well overseas, made lots of
friends, become accustomed to 24/7 internet, and prospered as a
chef. He’d be giving up plenty to return to Cuba.
“I thought about it for two days. All chefs dream of having
their own restaurants,” said Estrada. He knew the venture would
be risky. He had never run his own business, let alone in Cuba’s
state-dominated economy. Yet the opportunity looked too good
to pass up. “In Europe, to buy a house like this in a good neighborhood
would have cost millions. In Cuba, it was affordable. In
Spain, I’d be just another Spanish restaurant. In Cuba, I’d stand
out.” He took the chance.
Estrada launched Toros y Tapas, a 50-seat eatery that has
become popular with international customers, many of whom
live in the Miramar area and work full-time in Cuba. Patrons
who post on the website TripAdvisor have given it a 4.5 out of
5 in 65 reviews as of early December. They have called the food
delicious and authentic, and the service excellent. Prices average
between 15 and 20 CUC, without wine, in a spacious home decorated
in a bullfighting theme, with dining indoors and outside.
Adapting hasn’t been easy for Estrada on either side of the
Atlantic. Though trained in hospitality in Cuba, Estrada found
that in Spain, “the way of working was so different. In Cuba,
there hadn’t been much private enterprise. And when business is
private, the owner is present and pays closer attention. The work
that three people did in Cuba, one did in Spain. The workload
was much heavier.”
In Spain, Estrada learned to master the ropes as a cook
working in the Barcelona area, Madrid, Ibiza, and the Canary
Islands. He learned how kitchens run most efficiently. But
bringing back some of those best practices to Cuba for his own
business has proven complicated.
Obtaining consistent supplies at reasonable prices is a serious
challenge. While Havana has at least one store that sells items
in bulk, the city lacks markets that sell at wholesale prices. And
many items are not regularly available even in retail shops. When
whipped-cream spray disappeared for a month recently, Estrada
switched to offering desserts that didn’t require it. He typically
chooses daily specials from what’s for sale: “Oh, there’s broccoli.
I’ll make something with that.”
Nor is staff used to working in the way Estrada learned in
Spain. For example, Cuba’s state employees are known to take
home products from work to supplement their limited wages, and
that practice initially spilled into Estrada’s restaurant. “Now I do
inventory every day,” he said. Customer service also has been little
emphasized in state businesses, so Estrada now keeps close tabs
on staff to make sure they’re consistently friendly, attentive and
efficient. “I prefer young people I train to older workers who may
have bad habits,” said Estrada. “And every day, I tell them how
they have to treat the customer.”
Advertising differs, too. With internet access limited and
costly, Estrada depends on word-of-mouth or ads in travel magazines
and the Paquete Semanal, or Weekly Package, which provides
digital content to customers across Cuba on flash drives. “In
Spain, restaurants set up pages on Facebook, and that’s about it,”
said Estrada, who is 50. Still, the chef is glad that he moved back
to Cuba – and right after private home sales and larger restaurants
were allowed. “The early arrivals found things cheaper. Now, this
house would cost double,” he said. What’s more, the Cuban government
has suspended issuing new licenses for restaurants.
More importantly, Estrada is happy to provide work in
Cuba both for a staff topping a dozen people and for masons,
landscapers, plumbers, and others hired for specific projects. He’s
also excited that the opening of new private eateries with more
diverse menus is encouraging local farmers to grow more varied
vegetables, from cherry tomatoes to zucchini, helping to expand
food options for the island. “Restaurants,” he said proudly, “are a
source of jobs for so many people.” H
All chefs dream of having their
own restaurants
––Mauricio Estrada
Photo by Jon Braeley
40 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

THE RETURNEES
ART AND DATABASES
After years of living in Italy, photographer Luis
Mario Gell returned home to make videos, launch
an art gallery and create databases for models,
photos, locations, and prop rentals. And he’s just
getting started.
Luis Mario Gell has so many projects going on that it’s hard
to keep track. Since returning from Italy to Havana five years
ago, the celebrated photographer launched an art gallery. He
co-founded an online cultural magazine. And he’s been making
music videos for Cuba’s top performers and travel videos for the
Ministry of Tourism, some using drones and other technologies
new to the island.
In early 2017, Gell took out a 10-year lease on most of an
old glass factory owned by Cuba’s government, and he’s renovating
it into a TV, film and production studio. This summer,
he started producing a weekly TV show in the space, where he
sometimes hosts dance presentations and jam sessions.
But that’s just a smidgeon of Gell’s wide-ranging projects.
A digital aficionado, he’s built a database of Cuban models
categorized by weight, height, hair color, and other characteristics,
so filmmakers from the island and abroad can choose models
for shoots. He’s created a separate database of photos of Cuba,
organized by city, decade, and other factors to help filmmakers
recreate authentic Cuban scenes and identify locations. And he’s
working on another for rentals by filmmakers, everything from
vintage radios to specialized photo equipment.
Keen on education, Gell plans to offer training programs to
recent graduates of Cuban art, design and film schools to help
them experience how the international film industry really works,
with high standards and tight deadlines. And he dreams of starting
a private photography institute that would be tuition-free
– like most Cuban education – and possibly funded by sales of
stock images taken by the students.
Gell has so many ideas and such contagious energy behind
his Estudio50 venture that an investor from Latin America has
already offered him a significant sum. But he’s developing his
vision locally, recently opting to take out a loan from a Cuban
bank to finance the factory renovation.
“I’d like this to be a 100 percent Cuban project,” Gell said at
his factory space. “I’d like to create a model that lets us operate
with local funding, advertising and filming in the local market.”
None of the new ventures would be possible, Gell said,
without overseas experience. He studied photography at a private
institute in Italy and worked for top architectural firms and luxury
brands such as Bulgari while traveling the world. His decade
abroad even featured over a year in the United States. “But I never
gave up my home in Cuba. I never felt far away,” said Gell, 40.
On a recent workday, Gell drove his family’s old, burgundy
Lada through the metal gate of the factory and parked inside to talk
with CubaTrade. He looked like a typical Italian urbanite, wearing
Ray-Ban sunglasses, an orange Polo T-shirt, well-fitting jeans, and
white leather sneakers, carrying his smart phone in a red case.
He’d been up late building a set for a shoot, yet that morning
was already training a young graduate to be his assistant. During a
fast-paced conversation in Spanish, he seemed comfortable, downto-earth,
and focused while sharing his experience as a returnee.
Gell said he learned photography during childhood from his
father, who kept a dark room at home. Interested in architecture,
he pursued civil engineering but left college for a job in tourism
that offered higher pay than state salaries. He met an Italian
woman, married her, and settled in Rome.
Although his career was thriving, Gell’s brother called and
asked if he’d move back to Cuba to be with their mom. The
brother, a pianist, was heading to Costa Rica to pursue a master’s
degree. Already divorced, Luis Mario returned. He opened an
art gallery in Vedado and later, online magazine “Vistar,” which
helped showcase his photos in hopes of drawing better-paying
gigs for commercial clients.
“When I got here in 2012, commercial photography hardly
existed. But then the private sector took off, and I could explain
the importance of a good photo, showing the impact with statistics,”
said Gell. “Now, more people understand it costs money for
good images for music videos or tourism campaigns.” To be sure,
Gell misses some aspects of his life abroad, from 24/7 access to
the internet, photo supplies such as museum quality paper, and
Europe’s quicker pace of production. He often travels overseas,
recently exhibiting his work in Turkey and visiting friends in Italy.
Yet he sees opportunity in Cuba to share the skills he learned
abroad and to apply them in Cuba’s unique marketplace. Said
Gell: “Optimal adaptation to new circumstances – that’s my
motto for life.” H
But I never gave up my home in
Cuba. I never felt far away
––Luis Mario Gell
Photo by Franceseo Meliciani
42 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

THE RETURNEES
BRINGING THE
BUSINESS HOME
Marta Deus was working for a multinational
in Spain when she saw the opportunity to help
the growing entrepreneurial sector of Cuba
She’s one of the most recognizable entrepreneurs in Havana,
a business advocate who has spoken on Capitol Hill in
Washington, D.C. and sent letters to U.S. leaders urging
greater U.S.-Cuba links.
Just 29 years old, Marta Deus has founded three businesses
in Cuba so far: an accounting and financial consulting firm; a
courier service; and a digital magazine aimed at Cuba’s emerging
entrepreneurs. Often quiet and understated, Deus never set out to
become the face of Cuban business. But a love for her homeland
and a gift for seeing opportunities propelled her to act.
Deus’ family moved to Europe when she was 12, and she
grew up in Spain, where she earned a bachelor’s degree and a
master’s in business administration in Madrid. In 2012, when
Cuba changed its laws to permit more private ventures, Deus decided
to start something in Cuba that could at least help pay for
trips back and forth between Madrid and her beloved Havana.
At the time, Deus was working in Spain for a multinational
telecom company, so the Cuba venture started as a sideline. She
rented a small space in Havana from family friends, fixed it up as
an office, brought in a couple of computers, and with longtime
Cuban pals, in 2013 launched her accounting and business services
firm – though she worked mainly from Spain back then.
The early months were tough: “People don’t know you.
You have to build trust,” Deus told Cuba Trade. Young Cuban
entrepreneurs starting out in restaurants and tech ventures were
among the first clients. New to business, they liked the firm’s
skills, its emphasis on efficiency, and “those who’d traveled outside
Cuba knew of the need to subcontract services,” Deus said.
With business growing, Deus returned full-time to Havana
in 2016. She bought an office and now runs her Deus Expertos
Contables with four staffers. The differences from operating in
Spain are many: Cuba has stricter rules for what businesses are
allowed; there’s little financing available; and access to the internet
is limited. And business takes more time, because it relies less
on emails and more on face-to-face interactions – “which makes
it more humane,” said Deus. “In Cuba, you feel people more.
You really build relationships. You feel the spiritual side of things
more, and that’s so fulfilling.”
While developing her firm, Deus found many fellow entrepreneurs
hungry for support, advice and success stories. So, she and
friends launched the digital magazine “Negolution,” named for a
mashup of the Spanish word for business, negocios, with the word
Revolution. It’s published four or five times a year via the Paquete, a
package of digital entertainment and news distributed via flash drive.
More recently, as her business expanded, Deus saw the need
for couriers to pick up and deliver documents. So she launched
courier service Mandao Express, which subcontracts with messengers.
It now delivers not only not documents but also food
from restaurants and, on such holidays as Mother’s Day, cakes
and other gifts. The fee in Cuba’s roughly dollar-equivalent convertible
CUC currency unit: between 1 and 5.5 CUCs per trip.
Deus said living abroad has helped her identify opportunities
that others may not see. “You know how things work differently
elsewhere, so that lets you be more flexible in your way of thinking,”
she said. To cope with the pressures, Deus looks for ways to
unwind, from practicing yoga to salsa dancing. She’s also become
active with fellow entrepreneurs in advocating for more open
U.S.-Cuban links, even meeting with President Barack Obama
during his trip to Cuba in 2016, then meeting with Congressional
leaders in D.C. and, more recently, writing the Trump
administration to urge stronger U.S-Cuba relations.
“Additional measures to increase travel, trade, and investment,
including working with the U.S. Congress to lift the
embargo, will benefit our companies, the Cuban people, and
U.S. national interests,” said a Dec. 7, 2016 letter to then President-elect
Donald Trump that Deus signed along with more
than 100 Cuban entrepreneurs. She later joined more than 50
female entrepreneurs in a June 13 letter inviting the president’s
daughter Ivanka to Cuba to see how expanded U.S. links have
helped local women and bolstered Cuba’s emerging private sector.
“A setback in the relationship would bring with it the fall of
many of our businesses and, with this, the suffering of all those
families that depend on them,” the letter said.
As Deus pursued business activities, her parents had
remained in Spain. But in 2017, they followed Marta back to
Havana. She sees opportunities for her parents in entrepreneurship,
too. “My mom cooks really well,” said Deus proudly. “I’d like
her to start up in catering.” H
In Cuba, you feel people more.
You really build relationships
––Marta Deus
Photo by Gabrielle Jorgensen/EngageCuba
44 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

Getting Your MD
from Havana
Primary Care Prep: U.S.students in their initial years of medical school at
Cuba’s Latin American Medical School. From left ot right: Kelvin Rojas, Steve
Singh Gill, La’Shelle Anita Manning, Ariana Abayomi, Ivan Smiley
Talk about affordable healthcare: Over the
past two decades, dozens of American students
have signed up to get their medical
degrees from Cuba’s free program, learning
about the practice of medicine in less than
ideal conditions
Words and Photos By Julienne Gage
American citizen Steve Singh Gill, a full-time student at
Cuba’s Latin American Medical School outside Havana,
sits up tall in his lab coat talking with the assurance of
the doctor he will become in a few more years.
“There’s a famous phrase that the doctor who only knows
of medicine knows nothing of medicine, meaning that we have
to be integrated doctors, that we need to know about medicine,
but we (also) need to know about our community. We need to
know that the source of illnesses really lies in community factors,
community conditions, social conditions, economic conditions,
and environmental conditions,” Singh Gill told Cuba Trade.
Singh Gill is one of five U.S. students enrolled in the now
19-year-old school, which goes by the acronym ELAM (short for
Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina). It has now has graduated
over 28,000 foreign-born doctors, including 170 Americans.
The program recruits heavily from poor countries or low-income
communities in more prosperous ones. Students receive six full
years of free room, board, and medical training – seven if they
need to learn Spanish – on the agreement they return to their
places of origin and make serving the underserved populations a
lifelong endeavor.
Singh Gill says that mission was always central to his career
plans, which is why he chose to attend the ELAM. After graduating,
he hopes to return to his native Los Angeles to serve as a
primary care doctor the old-fashioned way: living and practicing
medicine in the same house, or at least in the same neighborhood.
Lowering overhead costs and living close to patients, he
makes it easier for certain sectors of the population to access
affordable healthcare, he explains.
“It really opened my eyes to what the profession could do,”
Singh Gill said, noting that his state has a high concentration of
immigrants and minorities who often lack the time and resources
to see a doctor, much less one who looks and talks like them.
“Latinos are the largest ethnic group in California but less
than 2 percent of the physicians in California are Latino,” said
Singh Gill, who is of Nicaraguan and Indian descent.
How U.S. Students Enroll in the ELAM
About 90 percent of the U.S. doctors trained at the school continue
working in needy communities well after their residencies are
over, notes the New York-based humanitarian nonprofit IFCO/
Pastors for Peace. The organization, one of the nation’s oldest
anti-embargo groups, serves as the main U.S. recruiter for the
ELAM, working to identify and prepare worthy candidates. As
stipulated by ELAM, they generally recruit college graduates aged
25 or under, and the vast majority of them are Americans who
come from areas where access to affordable medical care is low.
On the back end, the California-based organization ME-
DICC (Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba) offers
scholarships to help ELAM graduates defray the cost of their
U.S. medical board exams.
MEDICC founder and Cuba representative Gail Reed says
altruism and social conviction aren’t the only good thing the U.S.
can reap from Cuba’s free program. She says Cuba’s advances in
science and health policy have led to high life expectancy, low
infant mortality, and innovative pharmaceuticals to treat cancer
and diabetes. Cuba’s healthcare system has also had excellent
results in curbing infectious diseases, from HIV/AIDs to malaria
and Zika, all of which plague communities with limited access to
healthcare but also transcend social and class boundaries.
“Uneven access to medical care is bad for everyone’s health, so
46 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

Photo courtesy of Brea Bondi-Boyd
Committed to Universal Healthcare: As rector of the ELAM, Dr. Antonio López Gutiérrez oversees some 2,000 foreign medical students in Cuba.
Serving the Underserved: ELAM grad Dr. Brea Bondi-Boyd says there are “developing world” conditions across the U.S. She now serves the poor in California.
it’s important that best practices are applied across the board,” she
said. “What the ELAM grads bring home is a dedication to making
everyone’s health better by applying their scientific knowledge.”
A lot of what Cuba does best, she says, comes down to
community-based prevention campaigns that start with ensuring
patients get regular check-ups. “For example, they start a hypertension
prescription with exercise and diet rather than a pill, and
the doctors can help them stick with it because they’re right there
in the community,” she said.
What U.S. Graduates Bring Home
Tampa Bay doctor-in-residence Graham Sowa graduated from
ELAM last year. He says he saves patients and clinics time and
money in lab work by operating as he did in Cuba – spending a
few extra minutes talking to the patient to really understand the
problem.
“I think I have a higher threshold for tolerance before ordering
tests,” he told Cuba Trade, after noticing that his U.S.-trained
colleagues often run more lab tests and spend more time analyzing
them via computer in order to come to the same prognosis.
He also said that improved communication helps manage patient
expectations about pain, which can then cut down on prescribed
painkillers. That, he says, can help curb the nation’s skyrocketing
rate of opioid addition.
For him, this efficiency can result in shorter hospital stays.
On the flip side, Dr. Marco Perez, a 2010 ELAM graduate, says
the medical program gave him the skills to ensure patients stay in
the hospital until they feel they’re truly on the mend. “When I
was a medical student there I wasn’t pressured at all about moving
patients and getting them out of the hospital,” said Perez.
Going Global
La’Shelle Anita Manning is excited that her ELAM degree will
set her up for jobs working as a physician in the minority communities
she grew up in around the U.S. Mid-Atlantic, but she
wants her knowledge to influence public health policy the world
over. Having obtained an undergraduate degree in biochemistry
at Ohio’s Oberlin College, and a master’s in public health
from Drexel University in Philadelphia that included fieldwork
in Gambia, she was already on that path when she arrived at
ELAM. But she wanted a medical school program that would
bring her path full circle.
“I didn’t like the idea of medical school in the States because
it would just be all science and medicine. I wanted a program that
had a very social mission,” she said.
Back in the Washington, D.C., area, she’ll have plenty of opportunities
to fulfill that long-term goal as it is home to the U.S.
Congress, the National Institute of Health, the United Nations’
Pan-American Health Organization, and dozens of think tanks
and social and economic development groups.
ELAM Rector Antonio López Gutiérrez says faculty and staff
share her vision. The school was founded in 1999, a year after Cuba
sent medical brigades into the Caribbean and Central America to
care for victims of the devastating Hurricanes George and Mitch.
“The commander in chief,” as he refers to the late Fidel Castro,
“said that the most important thing wasn’t sending doctors
to resolve the health crises that followed but to train doctors
who could continue developing their own health systems,” said
López Gutiérrez, who has been at the helm of ELAM for two
years. Prior to that, he spent ten years working as the rector of the
University of Medical Sciences in Santiago de Cuba, where he
helped to train about 1,000 Haitian doctors.
“There’s power in being able to show that our country has a
lot of economic necessities, as many countries do, and yet we are
able to offer them something they can develop throughout the
rest of the world,” he said. “When I was in Mexico, I saw that
their hospitals had a lot of technology but it didn’t reach everyone,
and in our country, in spite of our economic scarcity, we have
high-quality hospitals where everyone can go.”
Gutiérrez noted that the current ministers of health in
Bolivia and Costa Rica are both ELAM graduates, and that this
year ELAM accepted about 1,000 medical students from Colombia
– part of Cuba’s efforts to support the peace accords between
the Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla movement.
Asked about his own inspiration for teaching medicine, his
eyes grew watery. He said one of the most impactful moments of
his career was serving for two years and two months as a doctor
and professor of medicine in Angola, where in 1975 the Cuban
military assisted in a guerrilla war to overthrow Portuguese colonial
rule, contributing to a civil struggle that would last until 2002.
He said Portuguese medical professors were more likely
to withhold important medical information over fears that up
and coming Angolan doctors would start competing with their
private clinics. On the other hand, Cuban doctors accustomed to
capped Communist salaries had nothing to lose by imparting all
the medical skills they knew.
“I’ll never forget the desire that the Angolan students had
for learning, they were so eager to learn because they saw how
different we were,” Gutiérrez reflected.
The Cultural Connection
Aside from conducting fieldwork, the students generally stick
around the facility because it’s a 45-minute drive from Havana.
At night, they educate and entertain each other with “cultural
galas,” in which groups from around the world showcase their
native foods, dances, dress patterns, and other customs.
“The best part about it to me is being in a community with
people from all over the world that are really in disadvantaged
positions and were given this opportunity. You learn a lot from
those people,” said Perez, who now serves New Mexico’s Navajo
community at Lovelace Westside Hospital in Albuquerque.
During his time at the ELAM, Perez says he was humbled
to meet the best and brightest minds from around the world
and discover that many of them – especially ones coming from
isolated or marginalized communities in places like the Amazon
– first had to play catch up by learning to use a computer.
The Americans could help them with that skill, and in exchange,
those students taught folks like Perez the importance of being
respectful of other ways of life and keeping an open mind.
Continued on page 58
48 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 CUBATRADE
49

BRINGING BABYBOOMERS TO
CUBA'S OUTDOORS
How an American tour
company traversed Cuba’s
regulatory maze to bring
older U.S. travelers to
Cuba’s picturesque terrains
By Victoria Mckenzie
Is there a way to service the niche of older Americans who want
a rugged yet comfortable journey through Cuba’s hinterland?
An Idaho-based company has done just that, making it their
business to take baby boomers from Cuba’s tour buses and put
them onto bikes, into kayaks, and onto mountain trails for immersive
tours of the island’s stunning and varied terrains – with
all the particularities of U.S. customers in mind.
Cuba Unbound, headquartered in the lake resort town of
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, sprang from parent company Row Adventures
shortly after U.S. travel restrictions to Cuba were relaxed in
2015. It offers twelve different five- to 11-day excursions, from
walking tours of Cuba’s national parks to kayaking and cycling
tours, with a few more relaxed itineraries that focus on cultural
history. Guests can also work with an “adventure consultant” to
create a private trip with family and friends. The cost of a tour
ranges between $1,800 and $2,950 per person.
While Cuba Unbound trips can be taken by anyone, Row
Adventures managing director Brad Moss said the company actively
markets to the baby boomer demographic, in part because
they are “extremely active, social and knowledgeable travelers,”
and because the tours they’ve created need clients “who can
invest in experiences.” They also understand that for a generation
of people who came of age during the Cold War, Cuba holds a
particular mystique – a forbidden-fruit quality that isn’t felt as
keenly by younger travelers.
Accessibility to outdoor gear, and especially kayaks, was a
major roadblock. So was transportation. “You can’t just go and
buy a trailer that will carry your kayaks or your bikes – there’s just
no [Cuban] manufacturer who will do that,” explained Moss.
Cuba Unbound joined forces with four Cuban travel agencies
allowed to work with the U.S.: Havanatur, Amistur, San Cristobal,
and Cubanacan. By law, every excursion must have both a leader
representing the U.S. company and a Cuban guide, who also doubles
as an interpreter. The group “people-to-people” educational
requirements for U.S. travelers are fulfilled by local conservationists
and other experts who give presentations on topics such as
marine wildlife, swampland birds, and revolutionary history.
Moss called the program’s first year “inconsistent” for what
he chalked up to differences in culture, life experience, and cus-
50 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 CUBATRADE
51

Top: Row Adventures managing director Brad Moss
Top Right: Tour clients bike Cuba’s mountain roads
Bottom: Kayaks are another way to experience
Cuba’s raw, natural beauty
tomer service. Cuba Unbound responded by offering week-long
training programs for Cuban guides who had little familiarity
with kayaking and long-distance cycling. Still, he says kayaking
and biking are the easy part of the training. The bigger challenges
were “the intangibles,” the soft skills required for relating to U.S.
customers. The extra training made a big difference. “Some of
these guides are saying, ‘No one has ever taken this type of interest
in us, and we appreciate it,’” he said.
They also had to convince Cuban tour agencies that U.S. customers
are interested in active travel, as well demonstrate to the
guides – who earn low wages from the government – that going
the extra mile for American clients has rewards. “The reality
is the United States culture tips better than any other culture,”
Moss told Cuba Trade. Suggested tip amounts are in the tour
literature and reach everyone involved in the trips, from the core
guides to hotel and wait staff.
Moss says Row Adventures has invested “tens of thousands”
more dollars in its Cuba brand than any of the programs it offers
across 32 countries in five continents. When asked about the
tariffs to bring equipment into the country, and whether Row
Adventure’s collaboration with Cuban travel agencies helped pave
the way, Moss only said there were “lots of hoops involved.”
“Now here we are going into Year Three, and it’s looking really
good,” Moss said. “We have some guides that we really love within
those agencies [who] we can request, and they typically request us
back, and so we can kind of hand-select who’s on our tours.”
But Moss is also aware that U.S. travelers have high standards,
so he will offer the training workshop again this year.
“What we really tried to capture is, ‘What’s the mindset of
the U.S. traveler?’” he said.
The typical Baby Boomer who joins the tours is “kind of
a credit card and dream type,” said Landon, one of Row Adventures’
U.S. guides. Her guests are typically between 50 to 75
years old and want something in between a resort and a rugged
outdoor challenge. “People want an authentic experience, but they
still want comfort,” she said.
Indeed, American visitors are still finding their legs after
nearly six decades of estrangement, and part of Landon’s work
is managing travelers’ expectations. She says inconveniences are
inevitable over the course of an 11-day trip taking 15 people to
five different lodging locations. “I can usually expect three pretty
major challenges – whether it be ‘I don’t have running water,’ or ‘I
don’t have power,’ or ‘I need an iron’,” she says.
Many of the guests see their trip as a slim window of opportunity
to experience Cuba before it changes – that is, before
American investors carve out tourist traps across the island. From
the beginning, Landon invites people to embrace challenges, with
friendly reminders like, “That’s what makes this the experience
you’re seeking.” H
Now here we are going into Year Three,
and it’s looking really good
Row Adventures managing director Brad Moss
52 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

Travel Directory
Travel
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A look at travel providers leading
the way for U.S. visits to Cuba.
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Travel Directory
Travel Directory
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Getting Your MD from Havana, continued from page 53
This happens a lot with his Navajo patients, who may ask to
bring a tribal healer to the medical consultation.
“I tell them, ‘I’m a doctor, I know medicine and what I can
give you is my advice. But you’re free to have your spiritual leader
come and give you advice as well,’” he said, noting that while this
slows the appointments, it can make for a speedier recovery back
home because the community joins in the recovery efforts. “They
listen to what you’re saying even more because they can see that
someone’s not judging them for what they believe,” Perez said.
The Luxury of Learning
The U.S. ELAM students know they’ll eventually head back to
a capitalist system, but they won’t be under as much pressure as
peers who rack up tens of thousands of dollars in medical school
debt. U.S. student loans is what prompts many doctors to specialize
in more lucrative medical fields that don’t necessary translate
to public health solutions.
A 2016 study by the Association of American Medical
Colleges projected a shortage of as many as 35,600 primary care
physicians by 2025. It also noted that if more people in low-income
areas could afford to get to the doctor, that shortage could
crest 96,000 doctors.
During her six years of higher studies in the United States,
Manning worked two jobs and still took out loans, which she
stacked with loans from her bachelor’s in biochemistry at Oberlin
College. Medical school tuition in the U.S. would have been
crippling, but as long as she’s studying in Cuba, her expenses are
covered and her U.S. debt is on a long-term deferment plan.
“Here I can focus on studying medicine. I don’t have to worry
every semester about where I am going to get the money from,”
she said. “It’s refreshing. It’s a break – all that stuff is on pause.”
Privileges, Limitations, and Lessons Learned
ELAM says its foreign students have everything they need
during medical school. In fact, it might be more comfortable
than what they had back home. The large facility comes with a
spectacular oceanside view, sports fields, dormitories, cafeterias, a
barber and beauty salons, a computer lab with internet access, and
cable television with up to ten stations.
But over the years, those very luxuries have raised some
concerns among Cubans, especially ones studying in the other
state-run schools, notes Dr. Romy Aranguiz, a Cuban doctor
who works in Fort Meyers, Fla. She began her medical studies in
Cuba and a finished them with a specialization in rheumatology
in the United States. The ELAM program started in 1999, while
she was studying at the University of Medical Sciences of Havana.
Her professors asked students like her to mentor ELAM’s
It really opened my eyes to
what the profession could do
Steve Singh Gill
incoming class, and that stirred up some mixed emotions. Cuba
was barely on the road to recovery after the collapse of the Soviet
Union sent it into an economic crisis.
“We liked the concept that they would go back and help in
poor communities, but we were a little upset because things were
already hard for us,” she said, noting that while ELAM students
had all their expenses covered, their Cuban counterparts had
practically no access to the latest books or transportation to get to
class. “I think it was a normal reaction, but it was also nice because
up until then, we didn’t have access to people from elsewhere. To
meet people from other countries was a great experience,” she said.
She agrees with ELAM faculty and students that Cuba has
one of the best preventative healthcare systems in the world, one
that can stretch limited resources to meet a wide array of needs.
Still, she says her own specialization doesn’t exist in Cuba, which
isn’t focused on the medicines and procedures needed for treating
debilitating muscle and joint problems.
“The population is aging really fast, the middle-aged population
is dying at high rates, there’s not enough young people to
take the jobs – how are you going to keep working with arthritis?
It’s a problem,” she said.
Plus, she added, many ailments can be quickly diagnosed
with just one CT scan or MRI, technology which is hard to come
by in most Cuban hospitals. “You cannot do empirical medicine
without resources,” she said. López Gutiérrez agrees the lack of
resources can create obstacles. For example, even if the U.S. embargo
oallows for the sale of most medicine and medical supplies
to Cuba, medical books and some medical equipment are not.
“It would be so much more cost-effective if we could purchase
these things from Florida,” he said, although he added that
Cuba has defended itself by creating its own medical books, and
coordinating carefully so that schools know exactly what items
they need before going on a supplies mission to Asia.
In addition to campaigning for widespread health education
and preventative medicine, Aranguiz says ELAM graduates could
have a powerful voice for ending the U.S. embargo. “These students
can be advocates for a better future in Cuba,” she said, noting how
the embargo stifles its ability to stay technologically relevant.
Back in Albuquerque, Perez is off to a good start. As the
U.S. healthcare debate rages on, he says he has plenty to discuss.
“When people say that providing healthcare for everyone is very
expensive and not very feasible, I can say I have first-hand experience
working in a country where healthcare is for everyone,” he
said. “The numbers are great, their health indicators are very good
– in some cases better than ours here – and they also spend a lot
less because they have great patient education where the community
knows what to do, when to go to the hospital and when not
to, what to do in certain cases, and how to prevent and manage
chronic diseases.” H
FILM
Chronicling
45 years of
Cuban History
The new Netflix documentary,
“Cuba and the Cameraman,” offers
an intimate look at Cuba through
footage that dates back to 1972
By Odalis Garcia
Gil Scott-Heron wrote in the 1970s that “the revolution will
not be televised.” Jon Alpert sure did try to, though. Alpert
is the director, screenwriter, and producer of the new Netflix
documentary, “Cuba and the Cameraman.” Its opening scenes
are of an eerily quiet morning in Havana’s Malecón boulevard,
the emblematic words “Patria o Muerte” (Fatherland or Death)
painted on a wall on the side of the road.
“We are in mourning,” a taxi driver tells Alpert. Sure enough,
you hear Raúl Castro over national radio announcing the death
of Cuba’s long-standing revolutionary, Fidel Castro. It’s a strong
opening for a film that was released one day before the one-year
anniversary of the iconic leader’s passing.
Alpert first started going to the island with his wife in the
early 1970s after they founded the Downtown Community Television
Center in New York and started to experiment with early
iterations of the video camera, while uncovering the injustices of
everyday living in the city.
“Just over the horizon, down in Cuba, there was a revolution
going on. We heard that Fidel Castro was implementing the
social programs that we were fighting for in New York,” narrates
Alpert, referencing Cuba’s free healthcare, universal education,
and public housing. Alpert wanted a closer look at the revolution
and the ways in which Castro’s policies would transform the
country and the world order.
The documentary, which features footage shot over four
decades, chronicles the rapid changes of the island post-Revolution,
the collapse of the Soviet Union, the dire “special period,”
and the modest economic liberalization of the new millennium.
It also documents what didn’t change under Castro. On
that end are the first friends Alpert made during his first trip
to Cuba, the Borregos family, three farmer brothers and their
sister. In the documentary, Alpert first meets them when they
The Man Behind the Lens: Photographer Jon Alpert on the streets of Havana
are in their sixties, and every time he pays them a visit, they
demonstrate an unflinching commitment to their farm. Indeed,
the highlights of the film are the decades-long connections
Alpert made with ordinary Cubans who experienced the good
and bad times of Castro’s Cuba. He can’t seem to forget them,
nor they him.
We also see the unlikely camaraderie between an American
journalist and the late leader of the Revolution. Sparked by Castro’s
interest in their equipment, Alpert was the only American on
the plane that took Castro from Cuba to New York for his historic
speech to the United Nations General Assembly. Alpert captures
rare footage of Castro, even making his way into the leader’s suite.
The documentary can feel apolitical at times. For example,
it doesn’t explore Cuba’s human rights record under Castro.
Sometimes it even feels like an ode to the commander himself.
But the film isn’t a story about the recent history of Cuba, or why
the Revolution succeeded, or even why it failed. Instead, it creates
a direct line between the viewer and those living on the island.
While many journalists at the time were looking at those
who were fleeing Cuba or already in exile, Alpert chose to fix his
lens on those who stayed – like his friend, Luis Amores, who goes
from dealing in the black market, to prison, to eventually running
his own private hardware business.
More than anything else, “Cuba and the Cameraman” is a
candid window into Cuba from the point of view of its people.
It doesn’t romanticize the poverty or Cuba’s mysterious allure.
Rather, it shows Cubans striving to overcome adverse circumstances
on their own. We watch as many of them improve their
lives by establishing hydroponic gardens, urban farms, and private
businesses, among other ventures.
Ultimately, and most importantly, the film is a beautiful story
that chronicles friendship with the resilient Cuban people. H
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ART
The
Elephant Man
Popular Cuban artist JEFF pours his
art out in Miami during Art Basel
By Odalis Garcia
Jose Emilio Fuentes Fonseca, known as
JEFF, in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District
Every year, thousands of artists from around the world
travel to Miami’s Art Basel and Art Week to display their
work at the event’s main facilities or at satellite galleries
around the city. For artists like Jose Emilio Fuentes Fonseca,
known in his native Cuba as JEFF, it’s one of the best opportunities
to get international recognition.
His 15 small sculptures and lithographs had a sort of guest
appearance alongside a larger exhibit by Florida photographer
Bridges Aderhold at the “My Shining Moment” pop up gallery
in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District.
JEFF’s pieces included two stainless steel hearts with faucets
molded into them, a metaphor for pouring one’s heart out.
“If you leave [the faucet] open, everything pours out and then
you don’t know what to do,” explained the artist to Cuba Trade.
His small exhibit is a sharp contrast to his much larger
artistic presence in Cuba, where he gained recognition for an installation
of almost life-size metal elephants that he would move
around the city by night.
“For me, the success behind contemporary art is in the
staging,” said JEFF, who began his pachyderm project in 2009
with his sponsoring gallery La Casona. The exhibit was a prime
example of how putting your art out there at just the right time
can yield big results. The installation was set up during the 10th
Havana Biennial. Even though the Biennial committee rejected
his project, the Ministry of Culture allowed him to install it in
the Plaza Vieja, Old Havana’s historic city center.
La Manada or The Herd, as the exhibit was known, “ended
up being one of the works the press covered most,” JEFF said. “No
one, not even I, knew the magnitude of what was going to happen.”
He chose the elephants because they are the largest terrestrial
animals on the planet, and they are herbivores. He was drawn
to their peaceful, emotional demeanor, including the way they
mourn and remember their kin. He also noted that many people
see them as good luck symbols. “All kinds of people were able to
connect with the piece,” he says.
Over the course of a week he moved the installation every
night. After the Plaza Vieja, the elephants moved to the Capitol
Building, the University of Havana, and the Plaza de la Revolución.
Shortly thereafter, the Miramar Trade Center agreed to buy
it as a permanent exhibit for their courtyard. The facility is in the
municipality of Playa, one of the most modern parts of Havana’s
metropolitan area. The installation’s transition from Havana’s
colonial heart to a higher-tech business hub represents hope for
Cuba’s progress, JEFF explains. The elephants are “drinking from
the future,” he said.
JEFF was born in the eastern Cuban province of Granma
and moved to Havana as a young boy. At 13, someone noticed
the paintings he was making on cardboard at a children’s outdoor
art workshop and encouraged him to take art classes. In 2003, he
graduated from Cuba’s prestigious Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA),
and he went on to work with galleries across Cuba and Europe,
including Madrid’s Ángel Romero Gallery, around the corner
from the Museo del Prado.
Throughout his career, JEFF’s art has largely focused on the
feelings and experiences of childhood, and how those translate
into adult circumstances. “It’s a language we all understand,
because we were all kids once,” he said.
JEFF returned to Cuba after the show to begin work on two
installations, this time for his hometown Bayamó. Cuba’s national
electric company is sponsoring him to build two giant light posts
in the shape of sunflowers at the entrance of the utility worker’s
school. “Life blooms when there’s electricity,” he explained.
He has also been scavenging through garbage and debris for
materials he plans to use in an exhibit of wooden and stainless
steel soldiers. “The soldiers are like the people, the masses,” he
said, recycling and reinventing themselves to survive. H
La Manada (The Herd) on permanent display at
the Miramar Trade Center, in the municipality of
Playa, one of the most modern parts of Havana’s
metropolitan area
Photo courtesy of the Cuban Cigars, Culture & Lifestyle blog
60 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

BOOK REVIEW
Fried Suffed Potatoes
Plantain Fitters
“Paladares: Recipes Inspired
by the Private Restaurants
of Cuba,” is a panorama of
traditional and new recipes
born of the current, tourismsparked
culinary renaissance
by Julienne Gage
In spite of spending six months studying in Cuba in the late
1990s, I didn’t really know the island’s “traditional” cuisine
until I first moved to Miami in 2002. That’s because my field
studies came on the heels of Cuba’s “Special Period.” Access to
food supplies was still limited, and most Cubans were so eager to
ward off a bout of hunger they overloaded their plates with every
simple protein and starch they could find – fried eggs, fried Malanga,
fried potatoes, beans and rice, hot dogs, and even pizza.
Today’s Cuba visitor will find a far more diverse and well-balanced
array of food options. Whether you’re planning a trip to
Cuba or simply savoring one in your dreams, the new cookbook
“Paladares: Recipes Inspired by the Private Restaurants of Cuba”
can help get you there. The colorful hardback’s 150 recipes are nestled
between hundreds of images by photographer Megan Fawn
Schlow depicting Cuban food and restauranteur profiles written
by award-winning food critic Anya von Bremzem.
Together, the book’s collaborators teach readers everything
they need to know about the return of Cuban classics such as ropa
vieja (‘old clothes’, aka shredded beef ), picadillo (spicy ground
beef) and lechón (roasted suckling pig), as well as the art of the
island’s most celebrated spirits: the mojito, the daiquiri, and the
Cuba Libre. At the same time, it details how – in spite of the
constraints of the U.S. embargo and the glaring lack of a Cuban
wholesale market – Cuba’s culinary creatives still manage to infuse
their restaurants with lighter fare and fusion dishes.
The book highlights this with recipes such as ceviche with
mango and black-eyed peas, avocado salad, okra curry with papaya,
and just about anything containing, oddly enough, blue cheese.
Even traditional Cuban croquets – usually made with chicken,
fish, or pork – get an upgrade with this French fromage, as does
what is quickly becoming my favorite late-night Havana meal
option: pumpkin cream soup with blue cheese crumbles.
Thanks to the book’s meticulous investigation into the most
promising new paladares, I found that soup at the festive bar
of Old Havana’s shabby chic bistro O’Reilly 304, located at the
address of its name. I didn’t have to wander far for desert, because
the book noted that owner José Carlos Imperatori also owns the
appropriately titled El Del Frente (The One Across the Street),
where I found plenty of room for an almond tart and a glass of
sauvignon blanc upstairs on an airy deck, enlivened by a laptop
livestreaming music from radio stations around the globe.
One thing the globally minded will surely note is that
many of the so-called “traditional” Cuban recipes hail from the
madre patria. For example, Casa Pilar makes a succulent Spanish
salmorejo – gazpacho with serrano ham – and Catalonia-inspired
tomato bread, also enhanced by serrano ham. Meanwhile, don’t let
the name O’Reilly 304 fool you. Its lightly-fried papas bravas (spicy
potatoes) are so perfectly crisp and peppery on the outside, and so
soft and warm on the inside that they rival the best tapas of Spain’s
celebrity chef José Andres (who offered praise for the cookbook).
But few of Cuba’s creative establishments can compete with
the artistic flavors and ambiance of Sasha Ramos and Rafael
Muñoz’s El Cocinero between Havana’s Vedado and Miramar
neighborhoods, just past the end of the Malecón. Adjacent to
the popular Fábrica de Arte (Art Factory), an old cooking oil
factory-turned-multi-platform-arts-and-entertainment venue,
it incorporates the factory’s 200-foot smokestack as its entrance.
The fine-dining establishment uses virgin olive oil, herbs, and
yes, more blue cheese to slay visitors with a mouthwatering filet
mignon and a coconut flan drizzled with organic Cuban honey.
Some Cubans – including the young hipsters who now tend
the bars of these delightful haunts – may have been born too late
to remember the hunger and vitamin deficiencies that plagued
those first post-Soviet years. But the creators of “Paladares” see the
island’s ever-growing restaurant scene as a sign of hope for a more
diverse and flavorful future.
And if you ever get nostalgic for the simple life, not to worry.
Salted fried plantains and malanga fritters still reign at these new
Cuban bistros, on the dinner tables of everyday Cubans, and in
the first few pages of “Paladares.” H
Pumpkin Soup with Blue Cheese
FROM THE PRIVATE PLATE
Cuba Libre
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in closing
Can’t Stop,
Won’t Stop
Why U.S.-Cuba cooperation
must - and will - continue
By Daniel Whittle
Daniel Whittle (left) with a boat captain during a scientific exchange in the Gulf of Batabanó
For every person who hesitates, there are others
who are pushing ahead with new initiatives...
Last month I participated in a series of talks in Havana on
the prospects for improving U.S.-Cuba relations during the
Trump era. At the event, hosted annually by Cuba’s Center for International
Policy Research, American and Cuban speakers agreed
that recent actions taken by the Trump administration would only
harm the Cuban people and undermine American interests.
Fortunately, most also believe that these setbacks will be temporary
and that the strategic drivers in favor of normalization remain
strong. For example, popular support for improved relations with
Cuba remains high, even among Cuban-Americans in South Florida.
With time and perseverance, relations can and will get better.
The new restrictions on trade and travel, along with the
severe rhetoric coming out of the White House, are no doubt
creating confusion and prompting many Americans to postpone
or cancel plans to travel to or invest in Cuba. But for every person
who hesitates, there are others who are pushing ahead with
new initiatives, deals, investments, and exchanges in Cuba, still
allowed by U.S. law and policy, and welcomed by Cuban partners.
When asked about the implications recent U.S. policy
changes might have on Environmental Defense Fund’s work with
Cuban scientists, fishermen and conservationists, my colleague
Valerie Miller said it best “We can’t stop and we won’t stop.”
This sentiment is shared by many on both sides of the Straits
of Florida. Several American groups continue to collaborate with
Cuban institutions to research and protect the Island’s remarkable
biodiversity. In November, scientists from the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institute teamed up with Cuban researchers to
study coral reefs in the renowned Gardens of the Queen National
64 CUBATRADE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
Park off Cuba’s south coast. Scientific data collected from this trip
will help managers develop more effective strategies for protecting
imperiled coral reef ecosystems in the region and worldwide.
In November, dozens of farmers, academics, and others from
the U.S. traveled to rural communities on the island to compare
notes and share best practices with Cuban farmers about sustainable
agriculture. Cuba has become a leader in agroecology and
Americans have much to learn from their example – and can help
them succeed in the future.
There are a number of other active collaborations on clean
energy, climate change, public health, livable cities, and other
issues, led by Cubans and Americans who are undaunted by
current politics.
So far, President Trump has left much of President Obama’s
policies on Cuba intact, including the 22 agreements signed
between the two governments between November 2015 and January
2017. Several of these address environmental and scientific
matters, including how the two countries will cooperate to prevent
another catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Though
U.S. environmental officials are temporarily unable to travel to
Cuba because of U.S. State Department restrictions, non-governmental
groups are helping keep these agreements alive by hosting
dialogues and exchanges in the U.S. and third countries.
This is not a time to put normalization on hold. We can’t
stop and we won’t stop. H
Daniel Whittle is the Senior Attorney and the Senior Director of the
Cuba Program at the Environmental Defense Fund
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