HAVANA, August 19 (Jesús Zúñiga, Cooperative of Independent Journalists, CPI) - Cuba has a very weak economic presence in the Caribbean, notwithstanding the fact that during the past few years it has intensified its relationship with several countries in the area. Two reasons for this situation is the lack of hard currency and Cuba's high external debt, said an expert on the economy consulted by CPI regarding the meeting of Caribbean nations taking place in the Dominican Republic with the participation of 15 heads of state, including Cuba's President Fidel Castro.
According to Leandro Rodríguez from the Center for World Economy Studies, Cuba has problems paying its external debt due to the lack of hard currency, which is rather difficult to obtain because Cuba is not a member of either the International Monetary Fund (FMI) or the World Bank.
Rodríguez stated that as part of its strategy to enter the world market, the Island has made some progress, but emphasized that "the commercial relationship of Cuba with the Caribbean has traditionally been rather insignificant." The inclusion of Cuba in the Caribbean market is highly important and significant for the future national economy, said Rodríguez, who added that "although the Cuban economy experienced an increase in 1997, the results of this year's sugar cane harvest were again below those anticipated."
The economist told this reporter that unfortunately he must also mention the economic and social anarchy presently taking place in the Island with the justification of a thievery culture rampant at all levels…." Rodríguez went on to say that "everybody steals everywhere, equally." Finally, he said that although he does not belief anything spectacular will transpire with respect to Cuba in this Caribbean Forum, joining the Caribbean Region is a necessity, one of the ways to survive.
On the other hand, the prestigious exiled Cuban economist, Jorge Sanguinetty, of the Cuban Economy Studies Association headquartered in the United States, told this reporter from Washington, D.C., that Cuba does not necessarily need the Caribbean because the Caribbean and Cuba do not have economies that complement each other, but that rather those economies are in competition.
"What the Cuban government has to do is free agriculture, food products, and allow small businesses, which could indeed be done within the present system," declared Sanguinetty, who added that the inclusion of Cuba in the Lomé Convention would partly benefit Cuba's government…. "It would be a marginal benefit, since the member nations would always offer greater help on the condition that Castro make the necessary changes…but Castro maintains an inefficient, bureaucratic and politicized economy, which makes it more inefficient. There is little freedom for production and distribution," said Sanguinetty.
"The first beneficial step would be to free the economy in general, so that tourism and the dollarization effects may grow and be better distributed," declared the Cuban economist, who is also Chairman, CEO and President of Devtech Systems, Inc.
Translated for CubaNet by Elena Treto