Friday, June 5, 2009

Odds and ends

  • Central Bank President Francisco Soberon has resigned. His replacement is Ernesto Medina, head of the Banco Financiero Internacional. Soberon managed a monetary policy that kept the Cuba peso’s value relatively stable, about 20-25 to the dollar, ever since it spiked to about 150 to the dollar in the early 1990’s. The announcement of his resignation said he resigned at is own initiative and had worked “with loyalty and honesty,” as did “the majority of the ministers who were replaced last March.” Reuters story here. La Jornada discusses the change in light of the current liquidity crisis here.

  • Reuters: National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon, leader of Cuba’s delegation in previous rounds of migration talks, says the two sides are “in contact” and adjusting their calendars to prepare for a new round.

  • AP: Venezuela allocates $70 million to lay the undersea fiber optic cable to Cuba.

  • They outfitted a foam raft and headed for the United States and reached…the shore by the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. AP has a story and photos.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is there a link between Cuba's liquidity crisis, Soberon's resignation, and the lack of comments on this website? All I know is that Granma website was posting yesterday's newspaper. Maybe the Old Man croaked and didn't tell anyone the ATM pins.

Vecino de NF

Anonymous said...

as to the rafters in front of USINT, it appears rather staged, as if it were yet another warning to the US that Cuba could unleash yet another mass migration to lessen the simmering discontent and unrest, especially as the long, hot and dark summer approaches.

Anonymous said...

that AP link doesn't go anywhere, could you possibly update it?