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Difference between revisions of "Cuba"
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==Economy of Cuba== | ==Economy of Cuba== | ||
Cuba has a centrally planned economy with increasing opportunities for private business and foreign investment. The Cuban government has had rigidly controlled wages and prices and enforced quota systems since the 1960s, but in 2008, after power changed hands from longtime leader Fidel Castro to his brother Raúl, some of those restrictions were lifted. The main economic institutions are the Central Planning Board, headed by the economics minister; the ministries and national organizations that control the economic sectors and basic activities; the various state and mixed enterprises; and the provincial delegations that direct the work of the factories and related services. The government’s control of several key sectors of the economy—including transportation, construction, agriculture, and retail sales—was significantly reduced in August 2011 as a continuation of the economic reforms initiated by Raúl Castro. This opening of the economy to market factors was accompanied by encouragement for the creation of small businesses. | |||
Cuba received substantial economic aid from the Soviet Union prior to the latter’s breakup in 1991, an event that had disastrous effects on the island’s economy. During the 1980s the Cuban government refused to alter its economic plan, even as the Soviet Union experimented with market mechanisms. Economic growth remained sluggish, and salaries were limited. However, the government kept unemployment low, albeit largely by overstaffing state enterprises. Sugar accounted for more than three-fourths of export earnings—and the largest source of the government’s currency reserves—until the 1990s, when tourism began to grow in importance. By 1997 sugar accounted for less than half of the value of exports. Remittances from relatives living abroad have become a major economic asset since 1993, when the government allowed U.S. dollars to circulate as legal tender. By the late 1990s, remittances accounted for much of the national income. In the early 21st century, the U.S. government drastically reduced the amount of money that authorized travelers could carry into Cuba. It also allowed remittances to be sent only to immediate family members. | |||
*Agriculture, forestry, and fishing | |||
Arable land covers nearly one-third of Cuba. The soil is highly fertile, allowing up to two crops per year, but the highly variable nature of annual precipitation has historically plagued agriculture. Subterranean waters are important for irrigation. A small but increasing share of crops is produced on private land or by cooperatives that are not owned by the state. Under Raúl Castro’s rule, some private farmers have been permitted to cultivate unused government land to increase food production. | |||
The Cuban economy has depended heavily on the sugarcane crop since the 18th century. Vast areas have been leveled, irrigated, and planted in sugarcane, and yields per acre have increased with the application of fertilizers. Sugar output, except in years of drought or sugarcane blight, increased after the introduction of mechanized harvesters in the early 1970s but plunged after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Many of the island’s sugar mills closed, and sugar production continued to decline in the early 2000s. | |||
Apart from sugarcane, the chief crops are rice (the main source of calories in the traditional diet), citrus fruits (which are also an important export), potatoes, plantains and bananas, cassava (manioc), tomatoes, and corn (maize). Fruit trees include such citrus varieties as lemon, orange, and grapefruit; some species of the genus Annona, including the guanábana (soursop) and anón (sweetsop); and avocados and papayas. Tobacco, traditionally the country’s second most important export crop, is grown mainly in the Pinar del Río area in the west and also in the centre of the main island. Coffee grows mainly in the east, where Guantánamo city is known as the “coffee capital” of Cuba. Other products include cacao and beans. Cuba imports large amounts of rice and other foodstuffs, oilseeds, and cotton. | |||
Cattle, pigs, and chickens are the main livestock. The number of cattle increased in the 1960s, as veterinary services advanced and irrigation systems improved, but decreased over subsequent decades. Brahman (zebu) cattle, the dominant breed, thrive in the tropical climate but yield low amounts of milk. Holstein cattle are more productive but prone to illness in the Cuban environment. Cuban farmers raise approximately half as many pigs as cattle. | |||
The supply of Cuban timber is limited. Pine trees are found throughout the country, and durable mahogany is of potential economic importance, while ebony (Diospyros) and granadilla (cocus, or West Indian ebony; Brya ebenus) provide beautiful and valuable wood. | |||
Fishing resources are significant on the coast and at sea. Among the types of fish caught locally are tuna, hake, and needlefish. The overall volume of fish, crustaceans, and other seafood landed increased sevenfold during the period 1959–79, largely because the government, with the help of Soviet financing, invested heavily in fishing vessels and processing plants. Landings subsequently decreased from the late 1980s to the late 1990s, after the breakup of the Soviet Union caused reduced funding. By the early 21st century, Cuba had diversified its fishing activities to include aquaculture (sea bream, sea bass, tilapia, and carp). It also increased the number of processing plants, especially for shrimp and lobster, with foreign investment from Canada and European Union countries. | |||
*Resources and power | |||
Because the supply of river water is limited, wells in La Habana province and elsewhere draw heavily on groundwater supplies. The main hydroelectric power plants are located in southeastern Cuba. | |||
Domestic petroleum and natural gas deposits supply a growing portion of the country’s needs, but the majority is met by imports from Mexico and Venezuela. In fact, since the 1990s Cuba has received free oil from Venezuela in exchange for sending thousands of its doctors to treat Venezuela’s poor. In the mid-2000s Venezuela funded the renovation of a dilapidated oil refinery in the Cienfuegos area of Cuba. The refinery has the capacity to refine hundreds of thousands of barrels of the oil imported from Venezuela. Peat, concentrated in the Zapata Peninsula, is still thֆ�#st extensive fuel reserve. Nickel, chromite, and copper mines are important to Cuba, and beds of laterite (an iron ore) in the Holguín region have considerable potential. Nickel ore, which also yields cobalt, is processed in several large plants, and Cuba is a world leader in nickel production. There are also major reserves of magnetite and manganese and lesser amounts of lead, zinc, gold, silver, and tungsten. Abundant reserves of limestone, rock salt, gypsum, kaolin (china clay), and marble are found on Juventud Island. | |||
*Manufacturing | |||
Industrial production accounts for slightly more than one-tenth of the gross domestic product (GDP). Tobacco, processed foods (including sugar), and beverages are the most valuable products. Chemical products, transport equipment, and machinery are also important. | |||
*Finance | |||
The banking system has been operated by the state since 1966 through the National Bank of Cuba, which sets interest rates, regulates foreign exchange, and issues currency (the Cuban peso and the convertible peso). There are no stock exchanges. Foreign investment was prohibited until 1982, when a joint-venture law was enacted. The government has had increasing success at attracting private capital and foreign-owned commercial banks since the 1990s, especially with European and Canadian investors; however, U.S. investment has been withheld because it violates the Helms-Burton law enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996. | |||
*Trade | |||
Sugar is the main export, followed by nickel and other minerals, fish products, tobacco (notably cigars), and citrus fruits. Among the most important imports are mineral fuels and lubricants, foods, machinery and transport equipment, and chemicals. Cuba’s main trading partners include Venezuela, Spain, Russia, China, Canada, and the United States. | |||
In the 1950s more than two-thirds of Cuban foreign trade was with the United States. By 1961 Cuban-U.S. trade was down to 4 percent, and it soon ceased entirely under U.S. government embargo policies. Trade shifted to the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, and in 1972 Cuba became a full member of the Eastern-bloc Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance; disbanded in 1991). By the end of the 1980s almost three-fourths of Cuba’s trade was with the Soviet Union, on extremely beneficial terms for Cuba. Cuba’s overall trade declined sharply after the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. The United States again became a top trading partner beginning in 2002 when it began to sell food to Cuba under an amendment to the embargo legislation. | |||
*Services | |||
Tourism, government services, education, health care, entertainment, and other services account for about two-fifths of the employment in Cuba. In the 1990s Cuba made great efforts to modernize and expand its tourist business, and several new hotels and resorts were built, notably by Spanish and Canadian investors. Tourists are drawn to Cuba’s white sand beaches and vibrant nightclubs, as well as to the many historic buildings in central Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Trinidad that have been designated UNESCO World Heritage sites. The country’s extensive coral reefs, forested highlands, and lush mangrove swamps are additional attractions. However, the increased dependence on foreign tourism has been accompanied by growing concern over illegal activities (notably prostitution and drug trafficking) and socioeconomic inequalities, wherein tourist areas are provided with many comforts and conveniences that are unavailable to the general public—a situation sometimes described as a “tourism apartheid.” | |||
*Labour and taxation | |||
Th8e rate of unemployment in Cuba is lower than in many Latin American countries. However, numerous jobs were lost in the 1990s as the economy was hit by the breakup of the Soviet Union. Underemployment is a persistent concern among industrial workers. The State Committee for Work and Social Security sets all wages for the government, which is the dominant employer. Moreover, many jobs must be arranged through state agencies. The standard workweek is 44 hours. | |||
The constitution places the needs of the “economy and society” over the demands of individual workers. However, the document also guarantees an eight-hour workday and one month of paid vacation per year. Strikes are illegal, and independent labour unions are discouraged; no known strike has ever been staged under communist rule. The only legally recognized labour organization is the Confederation of Cuban Workers, which is designed to support the government, raise the political consciousness of workers, and improve managerial performance and labour discipline. | |||
Few Cuban workers pay income taxes, although self-employed workers are heavily taxed. Many Cubans make in-kind contributions to the government by participating in mass organizations, volunteering for agricultural work, or meeting production quotas through overtime. Most teenagers are expected to spend several weeks each summer doing agricultural work. The social security program is financed by an enterprise tax. | |||
*Transportation and telecommunications | |||
The most important highway is the Central Highway, built in the 1920s; it runs almost the entire length of the main island. Other major routes link Havana with the Playa Varadero and Baracoa with other eastern cities. A national busing company and several provincial companies handle most passenger traffic. Cuban professionals are less likely to own automobiles than are their counterparts in other Latin American countries, and many of the cars and trucks on the roads date from the 1950s and ’60s. However, the number and variety of automobiles have been expanding, primarily to serve the tourist industry. Road safety is a major concern, partly because of the mixture of automobiles, pedestrians (including numerous hitchhikers), bicycles, and horse-drawn wagons on both urban and rural roads. | |||
A railway constructed between Havana and Bejucal in 1837 was the first in the Americas after those of the United States. The railway system deteriorated in the first years after the 1959 revolution, but much of it has been restored and has continued to serve the sugar industry. Cuba’s merchant fleet can handle only a small percentage of the country’s shipping, and foreign fleets carry out the bulk of trade. The major ports are Havana (which primarily handles fuels, grains, and other commodities), Cienfuegos (sugar exports), Santiago de Cuba, Matanzas, and Nuevitas; in addition, the United States maintains a naval base at Guantánamo Bay. | |||
The Cuban Aviation Enterprise (Empresa Cubana de Aviación), or Cubana, is the state-run airline. International airports operate at Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Camagüey, and Varadero, and domestic airports serve Guantánamo, Holguín, Las Tunas, La Colonia (in Pinar del Río), Nueva Gerona, and several other locations. | |||
The number of cellular phones in use has increased dramatically since the early 1990s. Use of the Internet has also increased. The government regulates and controls access to the country’s Internet service providers. | |||
==Government and Society of Cuba== | ==Government and Society of Cuba== | ||