U.S. farmers ask Trump to stay the course on Cuba

Havana | Reuters — Dozens of U.S. farm and agribusiness groups on Thursday urged President-elect Donald Trump to build upon progress made by the Obama administration in relations with Cuba, calling trade with the former Cold War foe particularly important at a time of a severe downturn in farm incomes. The agricultural trade groups stated […] Read more


Cuba backtracks on food reforms as conservatives resist change

Havana | Reuters –– Cuba decided at a secretive Communist Party congress last week to reverse market reforms in food distribution and pricing, according to reports in official media, reflecting tensions within the party about the pace of economic change. President Raul Castro unveiled an ambitious market reform agenda in one of the world’s last […] Read more

Cuba experiments with wholesale market for farmers

Havana | Reuters — Cuba opened its first wholesale market for farmers in decades on Sunday, an experiment limited to agricultural supplies in one area and the latest market-oriented reform for the communist-run island. While Cuba has allowed nearly 500,000 small-business owners and their employees to operate privately and hundreds of thousands of farmers to […] Read more

Cuban sugar harvest falters; foreign investment sought

Havana | Reuters — For the third consecutive year Cuba’s reorganized sugar industry is failing to perform up to expectations, increasing pressure on the government to open up the once-proud sector to foreign investment. Already one mill, the first since the industry was nationalized soon after the 1959 revolution, is under foreign management, with at […] Read more


Cuba to postpone foreign investment law, diplomats say

Havana | Reuters –– Cuba has postponed plans to adopt a new foreign investment law from March to at least April, a Cuban government official told visiting diplomats this week, as a final version is being fine tuned before adoption by the National Assembly. Cuban President Raul Castro announced in December that the National Assembly […] Read more