[Cmi-lapaz] Cuba's Sugarcane Ethanol Potential: Cuba, Raul Castro, and the Return of King Sugar to the Island & COHA In The News

[Council on Hemispheric Affairs]

Council on Hemispheric Affairs Research MemorandumCouncil on Hemispheric Affairs Research Memorandum
About COHA Contact COHA In the News Internships Cuba’s Sugarcane Ethanol Potential: Cuba, Raul Castro, and the Return of King Sugar to the Island
As the result of a precipitous contraction in the Cuban economy, Cubans have recently experienced crippling energy cutbacks and other shortfalls that are reminiscent of the devastating hardships of the “Special Period,� and industries have continued to falter due to the evaporation of credit and investment flows which largely dried up after the break-up of the Soviet empire. In the first half of 2009, the Obama Administration launched a series of modest initiatives aimed at normalizing U.S.-Cuba relations, most recently exemplified by the loosening of restrictions on travel by Cuba-Americans, lifting controls on remittances, and giving the nod to U.S. telecommunication investments on the island. Though President Obama recently renewed the Trading With the Enemy Act, policy mitigations have prompted speculation that a greater volume of trade and investment is likely to be permitted in the future. These factors, coupled with the current 28-year high in sugar prices and the delicate health of Fidel Castro, lead to the question: would Cuba benefit from, and does it possess the technological and infrastructural means and political will to expand and modernize its sugar and sugarcane ethanol industries to take advantage of the unique developments now taking place around the globe? Based on the following assessment, despite the precipitous collapse of Cuba’s sugar industry beginning in the early 1990s, the country’s economy would benefit from opening its markets to foreign investment and revitalizing its tattered sugar industry for the production of raw sugar, ethanol and electricity.

A Glorious Past and a Conflicted Present

Sugar has served as one of the most important formative influences on Cuba’s socioeconomic development; as according to the Cuban adage, “without sugar, there is no country.� Ever since Columbus introduced sugarcane to Cuba on his second voyage, it has been referred to as “the grass of Cuba,� and the island has been one of the leading producers and exporters of sugar since the 1600s. Even the implementation of Cuba’s railway system in the 1830’s was directly linked to sugarcane planting and cultivation. In the first half of the 20th century, while sugarcane agriculture was spurred by U.S. financial speculation and investment cycles, the industry was all but ruined by a drought of incoming funds brought on by the Great Depression. Later, it was devastated by the U.S.-Cuban embargo, which was in part targeted at undercutting Cuba’s sugar industry. Sugar cultivation had been heavily fostered by Soviet patronage and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) trade bloc, producing an impressive zafra (sugarcane harvest) of 8.5 million tons in 1970. Throughout the 1980s, production was sustained at an annual average of 7.5 million tons with sugar accounting for three quarters of Cuba’s foreign exchange earnings, until the collapse of the Soviet Union led to a devastating 35 percent contraction in the Cuban economy from 1991-1993. 
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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Fellow Nicholas Elledge 
COHA This Week In The News
COHA Interviews

-COHA Director Larry Birns appeared in several interviews these past weeks. He was interviewed on Wednesday, October 28th by the Jamaican Breakfast Club, where he spoke about U.S.-Cuba relations. On October 25th, he was interviewed by Arthur Brice from CNN International. He shared about the upcoming elections in Uruguay. On October 11th he spoke on KGO Radio San Francisco. He discussed the possible lifting of the Cuban embargo and current U.S.-Cuban relations. 

-COHA Research Associate Jorge Aguilar appeared on the Spanish program "El Mundo al Día" from Voice of America on Tuesday, October 20th. He was interviewed by Gonzalo Abarca, and spoke about the current negotiations taking place in Honduras and the prospects of an end to the conflict. 

COHA Article Appearances 

The UN and the OAS: There is a choice to be made By COHA Research Associate Andres Esteban Ochoa:
- SantiagoTimes, Chile

South America and Its Likelihood of a Season of Splendid Little Wars: An Analysis of Arms Races and Regional Geopolitics By COHA Research Fellow Alex Sanchez:
- Petroleum World, Texas 

Rehabilitating Mexico’s Drug War: Drug Challenges Rising in the U.S. and Mexico, By Christina Esquivel:
- Baiganchoka

The School of the Americas: New Legislation Brings Limited Transparency, By COHA Research Associate Nicholas Maliska:
- CommonDreams.org, Maine, USA
- Scoop Independent World News, N.Z
- VHeadline.com, Venezuela

Santos of Semana Magazine Offers Words of Wisdom Coming from Colombia, by COHA Staff:
- Latin American Herald Tribune, Caracas, Venezuela
- El Nacional, Venezuela

Mexico: An oil nation in crisis, By COHA Research Associate Nancy Cruz:
- Petroleumworld.com, Arizona, U.S.
- Ocnus.net 
- Scoop Independent World News, N.Z

Note: On Friday, October 30th at 7:30AM EST, COHA Research Associate Nancy Cruz will speak on the Jamaican Breakfast Club Radio about the current situation in Mexico. 
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This analysis was prepared by COHA Staff 
Thursday, October 29, 2009 | Research Memorandum 09.2 
The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, founded in 1975, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and information organization. It has been described on the Senate floor as being "one of the nation's most respected bodies of scholars and policy makers." For more information, please see our web page at www.coha.org; or contact our Washington offices by phone (202) 223-4975, fax (202) 223-4979, or email coha en coha.org. 

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