Odds and ends

·         Without specifying exactly what the convicts did, Granma reports the convictions and sentences of twelve individuals for “crimes associated with corruption during the process of negotiation, contracting, and execution” of the expansion of the Pedro Soto Alba nickel plant in Moa, which is part of a joint venture with Canada’s Sherritt International.  The convicts include three former vice ministers of basic industries and ranking state enterprise executives.  AP’s sources link these cases to those of arrested executives of a Canadian import-export company and a British investment company.  Reuters story here.

·         The new Cuban customs regulations that take effect next month were previously only explained in the Gaceta Oficial, none too clearly.  This new explanation is a big step forward.

·         Trabajadores: Private carriage drivers in Santa Clara have unionized.

·         Congressman Paul Ryan clarifies his position on Cuba.

Odds and ends

• Independent journalist Miriam Leiva, an a Herald op-ed, on recent leadership changes and a “growing malaise in Cuban society.”

• It may not be the perfect moment to flaunt American prowess in oil drilling technology, but the Houston-based International Association of Drilling Contractors has a license to travel to Cuba and is trying to organize a trip. See report in Cuba Standard.

• Another Granma article on the upcoming conference of Cuba’s small farmers association (ANAP) says the priority will be to discuss measures that substitute imports, make sales to the tourism sector, and increase exports.

• The Export Law Blog dissects a call by a steel producer organization call to keep Chinese steel out of the United States because it may contain Cuban nickel.