Cuba Final Report 2003

COMSATS Institute of information Technology

“Project on CUBA”

“INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS” Submitted To: SIR FRAZ SHAFEEQ Submitted By: MUHAMMAD AZHAR

(CIIT/SP09-MBA-068/LHR)

Department Of Management Sciences CIIT LHR

REPUBLICA DE CUBA

    

Conventional long form Name: Republic of Cuba Local long form Name: Republica de Cuba Capital: Havana Official language Spanish Population 11.2 million; 70% urban, 30% rural

GEOGRAPHY

Cuba is an archipelago of islands located in the Northern Caribbean Sea at the confluence with the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. The United States lies to the north-west, the Bahamas to the north, Haiti to the east, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands to the south, and Mexico to the west. Cuba is the principal island, surrounded by four smaller groups of islands. The main island is 766 km (476 mi) long and is the sixteenth-largest island in the world by land area.

HISTORY The name "Cuba" comes from the Taíno language and though the exact meaning is unclear, it may be translated either as "where fertile land is abundant" (cubao) or as "great place" (coabana). Discovery of the island by CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS in 1492 followed development as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations.

SIGNIFICANT HISTORY EVENTS  May 20, 1902: Cuba gained formal Independence from the United States as the republic of Cuba. After the Spanish-American War, Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris (1898), by which Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam were ceded to the U.S. for the sum of $20 million. Under the same treaty Spain relinquished all claim of sovereignty over the title to Cuba. Under the new constitution, however, the U.S. retained the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and to supervise its finances and foreign relations. Under the Platt Amendment, the U.S. leased the Guantánamo Bay naval base from Cuba. 

Batista As A President later as Dictator

Batista was elected as President democratically in the elections of 1940 First as President, later as Dictator, for two separate non-continuous terms. The preceding president, Ramón Grau, lasted only a year before Batista forced his resignation in 1934. Batista was then the Army's Chief of Staff, and very powerful in Cuba. His influence remained very strong over the years. In 1940, he was elected President of Cuba, gaining approximately 60% of the votes. In 1944, the

hand-picked successor to Batista lost the election to Ramón Grau. Batista tolerated this temporary fall from power until 1952.Batista staged a military coup in 1952, overthrowing Carlos Prío and becoming Dictator of Cuba. After that point, Batista abandoned the Cuban constitution by allowing only staged elections in which his victory would be guaranteed.

 Cuban Revolution

On March 10, 1952, General Fulgencio Batista overthrew the president of Cuba, Carlos Prìo Socarrás, and canceled all elections. This angered the young lawyer Fidel Castro, and for the next seven years he attempted to overthrow Batista’s government. On July 26, 1953, Castro led an attack against the military barracks in Santiago, but he was defeated and arrested. Although Castro was sentenced to 15 years in prison, Batista released him in 1955 in a show of supreme power. Castro did not back down and gathered a new group of rebels in Mexico. On December 2, 1956, he was again defeated by Batista’s army and fled to the Sierra Maestra. He began using guerrilla tactics to fight Batista’s armed forces, and with the aid of other rebellions throughout Cuba, he forced Batista to resign and flee the country on January 1, 1959. Castro became the Prime Minister of Cuba in February and had about 550 of Batista’s associates executed.One estimate is that 15,000 to 17,000 people were executed. He soon suspended all elections and named himself "President for Life", jailing or executing all who opposed him. He established a communist government with himself as a dictator and began relations with the Soviet Union. At the beginning of his rule, The Communist Party strengthened its one-party rule, with Castro as supreme leader.the United States supported Castro in the start however, once he embraced communism, the U.S. attempted to overthrow him.

 RAÚL CASTRO On July 31, 2006 Fidel Castro temporarily delegated his major duties to his brother, First Vice President, Raúl Castro; Later Raúl was elected as the new President. In his acceptance speech, Raúl promised that some of the restrictions that limit Cubans' daily lives would be removed. In March 2009, Raúl Castro purged some of Fidel's officials.

CURRENT POLITICAL SYSTEM & SOCIAL HISTORY THE CONSTITUTION of 1976, which defined Cuba as a socialist republic, was replaced by the Constitution of 1992, which is guided by the ideas of José Martí, Marx, Engels and Lenin. The constitution describes the Communist Party of Cuba as the "leading force of society and of the state". The first secretary of the Communist Party, is concurrently President of the Council of State (President of Cuba) and President of the Council of Ministers (sometimes referred to as Prime Minister of Cuba). Members of both councils are elected by the National Assembly of People's Power. The President of Cuba, who is also elected by the Assembly, serves for five years and there is no limit to the number of terms of office. NO POLITICAL PARTY is permitted to nominate candidates or campaign on the island, though the Communist Party of Cuba has held five party congress meetings since 1975. In 1997 the party claimed 780,000 members, and representatives generally constitute at least half of the Councils of state and the National Assembly. The remaining positions are filled by candidates nominally without party affiliation. Other political parties campaign and raise finances internationally, while activity within Cuba by opposition groups is minimal and illegal. Political party: Cuban Communist Party (PCC); only one party allowed. The country is subdivided into fourteen provinces and one special municipality (Isla de la Juventud).

PEOPLE AND RELIGION: Cuba is a multiracial society with a population of mainly Spanish and African origins. The largest organized religion is the Roman Catholic Church. Officially, Cuba has been an atheist state for most of the Castro era. In 1962, the government of Fidel Castro seized and shut down more than 400 Catholic schools, charging that they spread dangerous beliefs among the people. In 1991, however, the Communist Party lifted its prohibition against religious believers and a year later the constitution was amended to characterize the state as secular instead of atheist.

HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES: The Cuban government has been accused of numerous human rights abuses including torture, arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials, and extrajudicial executions The Human Rights Watch alleges that the government "represses nearly all forms of political dissent" and that "Cubans are systematically denied basic rights to free expression, association, assembly, privacy, movement, and due process of law" Citizens cannot leave or return to Cuba without first obtaining official permission, which is often denied.

CENSORSHIP: There is no independent press or right to independent assembly. Cubans are not able to debate issues publicly. The Cuban government believes that independent political groups are counterproductive in a society that is still "consolidating" the revolution. There is considerable censorship not only of American publications, but also of Soviet and Eastern European publications. All the media are controlled by the government. There are three major national newspapers: Granma, published by the Communist party, Juventud Rebelde, published by the Communist Youth, and Trabajadores, published by the Cuban Federation of Workers. The two national television stations, several national radio networks, and one international network are all administered by the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television.

FOREIGN RELATIONS From its inception the Cuban Revolution defined itself as internationalist, joining Comecon in 1972. Cuba was a major contributor to on SOVIET-UNION supported wars in Africa, Central America and Asia. In Africa, the largest war was in Angola, where Cuba sent tens of thousands of troops. The bad CUBAN-AMERICAN relations were exacerbated the following year by the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Kennedy administration demanded the immediate withdrawal of Soviet missiles placed in Cuba, which was a response to U.S. nuclear missiles in Turkey and the Middle East. The United States continues an embargo against the island of Cuba "so long as it continues to refuse to move toward democratization and greater respect for human rights". United States President Barack Obama stated on April 17, 2009 in Trinidad and Tobago that "the United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba", and reversed the Bush Administration's prohibition on travel and remittances by Cuban-Americans from the United States to Cuba. The EUROPEAN UNION in 2003 accused the Castro regime of "continuing flagrant violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms".In 2008 the EU and Cuba agreed to resume full relations and cooperation activities. Cuba was a friend of the Ethiopian leader Mengistu Haile Mariam. In Africa, Cuba supported seventeen leftist governments. In some countries it suffered setbacks, such as in eastern Zaire, but in others Cuba had significant success. Major engagements took place in Algeria, Zaire, Yemen, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique.

The Cuban government's military involvement in LATIN AMERICA has been extensive. One of the earliest interventions was the Marxist militia led by Che Guevara in Bolivia in 1967, though a modicum of funds and troops were sent. Lesser known actions include the 1959 missions to the Dominican Republic and Panama. The socialist government in Nicaragua was openly supported by Cuba and can be considered its greatest success in Latin America Cuba is a founding member of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas. More than 30,000 Cuban doctors currently work abroad; in countries such as Venezuela and Zimbabwe. But on the other hand the membership of Cuba in the United Nations Human Rights Council has received criticism.

SPAIN is among the most important foreign investors in Cuba. The ruling Zapatero government continues Spain's longstanding policy of encouraging further investment and trade with Cuba. Cuba imports more goods from Spain (almost 13% of total imports) than from any other country. Spanish economic involvement with Cuba is exclusively centered on joint venture enterprises that provide financial benefit to the Cuban Government through state-owned firms.

Cuba has found a new source of aid and support in the People's Republic of China, and new allies in Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela and Evo Morales, President of Bolivia, both major oil and gas exporters.

ECONOMIC CONDITION The Cuban state adheres to socialist principles in organizing its largely statecontrolled planned economy. Most of the means of production are owned and run by the government and most of the labor force is employed by the state. Recent years have seen a trend towards more private sector employment. By the year 2006, public sector employment was 78% and private sector 22%, compared to 91.8% to 8.2% in 1981 NATURAL RESOURCES The most important mineral resource is NICKEL, of which Cuba has the world's second largest reserves after Russia.[91] A Canadian energy company operates a large nickel mining facility in Moa. Cuba is also the world's fifth largest producer of refined COBALT, a byproduct of nickel mining operations. Recent oil exploration has revealed that the North Cuba Basin could produce approximately 4.6 billion barrels (730,000,000 m3) to 9.3 billion barrels (1.48×109 m3) of oil. In 2006, Cuba started to test-drill these locations for possible exploitation.

CUBAN EXPORT STATISTICS Of the commodities that Cubans export is nickel which is by far the most important material that has caused the boom in the economy. The amount for which nickel is exported is considerably high when you consider the state wages that are paid to the employees of the industry. It is estimated that nickel and cobalt exports yielded about $1.3 billion in 2006. The amount of unrefined nickel that was exported weighed in at 74,000 tons. The second biggest exports are in the form of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. Cuba also exports doctors to Venezuela in return for which it is given a considerable amount of oil on credit. Although sugar used to be one of the major exports of Cuba its production and consequently export has declined over the years. This has been largely due to the lack of investment in the industry. The tobacco and cigar

industry has always been one of Cuba’s most steady sources of production and it continues to form a great chunk of the international export products. Other goods that form the exports of Cuba are shellfish, citrus fruits, coffee and state sponsored labor.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

GDP - real growth rate: 4.3% (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 99 7.3% (2007 est.) 12.1% (2006 est.) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.2% (2008 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 20% industry: 19.4% services: 60.6% (2005)

Unemployment rate: 1.6% (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 13 1.8% (2007 est.)

Exports: $3.78 billion (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 119 $3.701 billion (2007 est.) Exports - partners: China 27.9%, Canada 25.3%, Spain 5.7%, Netherlands 5%, Iran 4.3% (2008)

Imports - commodities: petroleum, food, machinery and equipment, chemicals Imports - partners: Venezuela 31.5%, China 11.8%, Spain 10.6%, Canada 6.7%, US 6.6% (2008) Exchange rates: Cuban pesos (CUP) per US dollar: $0.9259 (2008 ) $0.9259 (2007) $0.9231 (2006) note: Cuba has two currencies in circulation: the Cuban peso (CUP) and the convertible peso (CUC); in April 2005 the official exchange rate changed from $1 per CUC to $1.08 per CUC (0.93 CUC per $1) both for individuals and enterprises; individuals can buy 24 Cuban pesos (CUP) for each CUC sold or sell 25 Cuban pesos for each CUC bought; enterprises, however, must exchange CUP and CUC at a 1:1 ratio.

SWOT ANALYSES

Strengths:  People of Cuba are one of the major strength as they are well educated

and the literacy rate touches 99.8% playing an important role in the country’s progress.  Geographical position of Cuba is very important as biggest economic state America is just 90 miles away.  Strong Health care system provides all of its citizens with free health

care. Not only the patients treated well, but the have the best doctorpatient ratio the in world, which is “one doctor to every two hundred patients.

Weakness:  Dictatorship destroyed the institutional system of the country since

1952.  Human resource condition in the country is alarming. People do not

have freedom of expression and facing political imprisonment, travel restrictions and legal and institutional failings.

 Private sector is not contributing as their share in the past was just 8.2%.

OPPORTUNITIES:  By developing good relationships with Europe and especially with America Cuba can open new door for its progress.  Recent oil exploration has revealed that the North Cuba Basin

could produce approximately 4.6 billion barrels oil and there are more chances of oil exploration which need more test drilling.

THREATS:  Worse relationship with neighbor and other world doesn’t allow Cuba to establish its economy.  UN sanctions and travel ban on Cuba is directly affecting the Cuba and its trade with other countries.

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html http://www.history-timelines.org.uk/places-timelines/14-cuban-timeline.htm http://library.thinkquest.org/20176/crevolution.htm http://library.thinkquest.org/18355/fulgencio_batista.html http://www.cuban.pro/articles/5305/Obama-and-Cuba