Julio Perez drives his 1950 Chevrolet convertible as he looks to provide taxi and tour service to tourists visiting Cuba on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015 (Photo AL DIAZ)

HAVANA,Dec. 6th  In the oldest part of the city, near the famed Parque Central, stands a building that’s being restored from top to bottom.

The project has been under way a long time. Possibly it began before the last time I was here, 21 years ago.

One can only guess the height of the building because it’s been swallowed by vines that now obscure all the scaffolds. From blocks away it looks like a masterpiece of topiary.

Much of Cuba is like this, exotic and deceptive at a distance. Some things change. Some things remain stuck in a time warp.

U.S. tourists are here now, practically everywhere you go. Both enchanted and sobered by what they see. They’re coming in droves. Thousands upon thousands of Cuban Americans make the trip, too, visiting family.

The hotels in Havana are packed. Every charter flight from the States is full. This is new and revolutionary.

It’s never been better to be a taxi driver with a ’52 Chevy, because Americans are suckers for old American cars. The one I took to Morro Castle was powered by its original inline-six engine, a point of pride for the driver. (Some of the Detroit classics here have been refitted with dubious Russian parts.)

Two decades ago, it was hard to find anybody who was optimistic about the future. The economy was a wreck, and Fidel Castro had declared a “special” time of sacrifice for the people.

Roadblocks were erected to prevent farmers from bringing their vegetables to the city and selling them on the streets. One night my friend and I were stopped, and our car was searched by soldiers.

Things are a little better now. Raúl Castro is allowing some private enterprise — restaurants and room rentals, for instance. A tobacco farmer told me 80 percent of his family’s crop goes to the government, and the rest is his to sell.

Most people seem relieved that President Obama has moved to normalize diplomatic relations and happy to see the American flag on display again after half a century.

The main complaint is that change isn’t coming fast enough to Cuba, a place where nothing happens fast. “Only when Raúl and Fidel are gone,” one man asserted.

Basics are still strictly rationed (each person gets five eggs per month), and the pay is still shockingly low. One man talked about his sister, a cardiologist earning the U.S. equivalent of $35 a month. She left for Colombia. He said he’ll probably go, too.

You heard the same kinds of stories in 1994. Today there’s more hope, but also a familiar echo of restlessness and frustration.

The best jobs in Havana are in tourism, because of the tips. A 43-year-old engineer recently quit his job to drive a taxi. A machine worker who made auto parts did the same thing — he shares a small house with a grown daughter and five grandchildren.

Parks where the government has opened internet sites are packed with people willing to pay $2 an hour for limited web access. The median monthly salary in Cuba is only about $20.

Record numbers of Cubans, more than 27,000, have made their way to the United States this year. The new favored path is a dicey overland journey from Ecuador to Texas. It’s safer than a raft trip, but thousands are now stranded in Costa Rica because Nicaragua has shut its borders.

Ironically, the latest surge in migrants is blamed on fears that the United States will end the immigration exception that allows Cubans to stay if they touch land.

Those who aren’t leaving Cuba won’t blame the American embargo for all their hardships and shortages, but it’s in the conversation. Every U.S. politician who still defends this contemptible policy should come and spend a day among those it punishes.

Cuba cannot rebuild without American trade, and even then the effort would take many years and many billions of dollars. There’s simply no money here.

What exists in abundance is a spirit as magnetic as the architecture and landscape. Americans are streaming to the island because it’s a place with a truly beautiful soul.

You understand why those who leave feel they’ve got no choice — and you understand why the others stay. Havana creaks and coughs, yet still casts a spell.
Some things will never change. Some things shouldn’t.

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/carl-hiaasen/article48240050.html#storylink=cpy

HAVANA, 5th Dec.   Javier, who has lived in Miami for the past 12 years, decided several years ago to return to his native Cuba to open a business. But the catch is he still lives in the U.S., and like others who are doing the same, has circumvented existing laws by working through relatives on the island.

Javier, who did not want his real name printed, purchased a large house under his mother’s name in the hopes of transforming the home near the Carretera Central – the highway spanning the island – into a place where travelers can relax, eat a snack, and perhaps stay for the night.

“I tried to do it here but I didn’t have any luck,” Javier said.

It’s not uncommon for Cuban-Americans from Miami -mostly recent arrivals – to travel back to the island after saving enough money to open a business in their home country, boosting not only their incomes but those of their loved ones in Cuba – and also impacting the Cuban economy.

“It’s a trend and I think it’s been going on for a while,” said Cuban-born Pedro Freyre, a Columbia University lecturer and expert in Cuban-American legal relations and chair at Akerman, a Miami-based international law firm. Freyre said he believes this has increased since President Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced last December 17th they were restoring diplomatic ties, which were broken in 1961.

For the past few years, Javier has traveled to Cuba virtually each month to oversee the construction of his business. Most of the supplies were taken from Miami including, all the plumbing and electricity.

Pavel Vidal, a former Cuban Central Bank official who now teaches at Javeriana University in Colombia and writes about the Cuban economy, says about 20 percent of businesses in Cuba operate with foreign investment, while 80 percent are opened by local Cubans with their own money, according to a recent poll he conducted.

Several entrepreneurs who live in Miami and own businesses in Cuba were reluctant to be interviewed on this topic, saying they feared repercussions on the island. The businesses included an ice cream shop, a clothing store, a hostel, and a couple of paladares, which are privately-owned restaurants.

Many of these entrepreneurs ship products from the U.S. to support their operations on the island. Orlando Hernandez, who has owned a shipping company called Cuba Carga Express since 2009, says he has shipped plenty of items for people opening businesses in Cuba. His clients include Cubans as well as Americans and Europeans. One American couple from Florida recently shipped beds and other products to Havana for a guesthouse they opened with the help of a local family.

Some popular items shipped include those for the food industry, like barbecues and smoothie makers as well as items for party rental shops like popcorn machines and bounce houses, for children’s parties.

Leonardo Sanchez-Adega, who worked for the first shipping company to send humanitarian supplies from Miami to Cuba, said he easily serviced about 1,000 customers between 2011 and 2013, who were specifically sending supplies for their businesses. “We sent entire kitchens, entire restaurants, in pieces,” according to Sanchez-Adega, who also created a website to support self-employed people in Cuba.

Since importing products for commercial use is illegal in Cuba, items are sent in multiple shipments. So, an entrepreneur opening a paladar will send a couple of tables at a time to make it appear it’s for home use. Or for someone who owns a clothing store, sending 60 pairs of pants in one shipment would be too obvious, so they send 10 pants to six relatives or friends.

Javier, who works in Miami as a handyman, arrived in the U.S. in 2000, after two failed attempts to cross the Florida straits on a raft and after spending one year in a Bahamian prison when he was intercepted by officials there. When he finally made it to the U.S., he tried to open a business, but said it was impossible because he was unfamiliar with the laws and regulations.

“Here it’s too difficult to open a business,” he said. That’s when he thought of giving it a try back home.

Technically, it’s illegal in both the U.S. and Cuba for an American citizen or resident to own a business on the island. But those doing it are circumventing the law by working with Cubans on the ground.

Freyre said he thinks that while both governments have an understanding this is going on, they won’t clamp down on the entrepreneurs because “they have a lot of other things on their plate.” Javier echoed the same feeling, saying he’s not afraid of running a business in Cuba because the government knows what’s going on. “The government is giving a blind eye because we’re solving a problem for them,” he said.

There is potential for this to have a positive impact on Cuba because the businesses will create jobs and there could be cases where there is a shared enterprise, said Ted Henken, a Baruch College professor and author ofEntrepreneurial Cuba: The Changing Policy Landscape.

But Henken believes the Cuban private sector may be eventually swallowed by a tidal wave of foreign investment. “This is a product of very weak economic rights the Cuban entrepreneurs have,” Henken said. “I think that’s a danger. It makes people more vulnerable.”

Vidal thinks the most important contribution of these businesses is private employment at a time that the government is trying to cut the number of public sector jobs. “This compliments the reforms the government is trying to implement on the public sector,” Vidal said, adding that it also raises the level of productivity, which is necessary in order to have higher state salaries.

But while the U.S. embargo on Cuba continues, the level of U.S. investment in Cuba will be limited. Freyre said what is important is the synergy between the two shores. “They’re ahead of both governments. The governments have to catch up to the reality on the ground,” he said.
Courtesy REY PHOTOGRASPHY
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/despite-laws-miami-cubans-open-businesses-their-home-country-n456796

HAVANA, Dec. 3th. Cuba will expand its clinical trial on a therapeutic vaccine aimed at treating lung cancer, official media reported Wednesday. The vaccine, currently underway in only two provinces, will be dispensed in municipal clinics across the country come 2016.

The ultimate goal, said one of the program’s researchers to news agency ACN, is to standardize the administration of Cimavax EGF, a medication developed by Cuba’s Molecular Engineering Center.

Cimavax EGF is already being used in “at least one clinic per municipality” in Villa Clara and Havana provinces. Lorenzo said, and the trial will be extended to the rest of the country during the course of 2016.

The vaccine is used as a complement to conventional treatments such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy. While it does not prevent or cure lung cancer, it has been shown to improve quality of life for patients, especially those in the advanced stages of the disease.

Low toxicity, comparatively mild side effects and ease of administration via subcutaneous injection make Cimavax suitable for use in the family medical practice offices that serve almost every community in the island, Lorenzo said.

Created to strengthen the immune system’s response to non-small-cell lung cancer, Cimavax EGF was first registered in Cuba in 2008 and since 2012 it has been on the list of basic medications.

More than 3,000 patients have received treatment with the vaccine, which has attracted interest from other countries.

In April, Cuba’s Molecular Immunology Center and Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, signed an agreement that will bring Cimavax to the U.S. for clinical trials.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/health/2015/12/03/cuba-to-expand-use-therapeutic-use-anti-cancer-vaccine/
Based on reporting by EFE

HAVANA, Dec. 3th Cuba’s minister of foreign trade and investment told Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday that he believes the normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States is an inexorable process that won’t be reversed no matter who is elected president in 2016.

Hours later, in a conference call with Texas reporters at the end of his three-day trade trip to Cuba, Abbott said he was convinced that Cuba is dedicated to the path of modernizing and adding private sector elements to its economy.

The governor said he was “impressed with a sense of entrepreneurial spirit, a longing for free enterprise” among Cubans.

Abbott spoke after a previously unscheduled two-hour meeting with Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, vice president of Cuba’s Council of Ministers and a close associate of the Castro brothers since the Cuban Revolution.

Despite the Cuban official’s old guard standing, Abbott said Cabrisas didn’t sound like a man resisting change.

“He seemed like a lead promoter of change,” Abbott said. “One thing that he made clear, and it seems like everyone makes clear, it is that they are going to advance, but it will be at their own speed, at their own doing.”

Abbott said in his conversations with everyday Cubans, “there is a growing sense of freedom and free enterprise here.”

“This is an historic process,” Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz, minister of foreign trade and investment, told Abbott at a Wednesday morning meeting. “It’s historic because it’s been a long time and a lot of administrations and there weren’t any changes, and now is when the changes are taking place. We think this process is irreversible, it’s not going to be taken back.”

“We think whoever gets elected president this process will continue,” he said.

That might not be the case if either U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida or Ted Cruz of Texas are elected president, but Malmierca made no mention of the two Cuban-Americans vying for the Republican nomination for the president.

In the meantime, Malmierca said, “the new situation regarding the U.S.-Cuba relationship has awakened the interest of many businesspeople around the world.”

“They see a light at the end of the tunnel, thinking that the blockade can be lifted someday,” he said, using the terms Cubans use to refer to the embargo, which remains in place despite President Barack Obama re-establishing diplomatic relations this year.

Ending the embargo would require congressional action.

When asked in the conference call with reporters whether it was time to end the embargo, Abbott said, “It is not within the parameter of my job to set the rules, it is my job to stay within the rules and make Texas continue to be the leader in exports.”

“My efforts are not contingent on things changing,” he said. “My efforts are based on the way things are today. We need to operate within the boundaries of the way the law exists today.”

Abbott said he believed the best way to promote freedom in Cuba was to promote free enterprise and contact with Americans – especially Texans.

“Of all the things we export across the entire world,” Abbott said of Texas, “our top export is freedom and free enterprise.”

Malmierca offered an outline for the Abbott delegation of the ways in which Cuba is modernizing its economy to make it operate more efficiently.

“Even though we keep the ideal of maintaining a socialist society, to modernize we mean to make our country more efficient,” he said, outlining three moves the government is making in that direction.

In his remarks to Abbott and the Texas delegation, Malmierca outlined three ways that Cuba is working to make its economy more modern and efficient.

First, he said, while the state will continue to own major enterprises, “the state doesn’t have to manage the enterprise day to day. We need to modernize our state enterprises to make them efficient, and a way to do this is to have an administration that makes decisions separate from the state.”

Second, he said there were small businesses —such as barbershops — for which state ownership was “absurd,” that had been privatized. Because of their nonessential nature, he said, their prices could be guided by the market.

“The price of bread, that price is still controlled by the state in a very complicated process, I am not going to explain this process, because it will bore you,” he said. But, he said, someone can choose to shave their head or grow their hair long, so a trip to the barber is nonessential.

And, the third way to modernize the Cuban economy, Malmierca said, is by encouraging foreign investment, a route that, he said, the U.S. embargo makes infinitely more complicated.

Even if it cannot be eliminated in one fell swoop, he said, “we need at least to continue trying to make it weaker.”
http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/greg-abbott-cuba-dedicated-to-expanding-private-se/npbNR/

HAVANA, Dec. 3th  (FT)  MSC Cruises is to dock a second ship in Havana next year as it looks to gain a lead in the race for Cuban tourism and build on its investment in new ships.

The privately owned cruise operator will become the first global company with a ship in Cuba when the MSC Opera — which set sail from Genoa on Wednesday — arrives in Havana later this month.

The company has said it will now send a second ship, the MSC Armonia, to Cuba’s largest port after experiencing high levels of demand from European customers.

“There was such a good response, especially — and this surprised us — from many European markets,” said Gianni Onorato, chief executive of MSC Cruises.

“The idea is to grow more and that’ll depend a lot on the level of growth in the infrastructure that can receive the ships . . . our commitment in Cuba we hope will encourage authorities to invest in ports.”

Mr Onorato said conversations with the Cuban authorities began in January and plans for the second ship received a boost when Matteo Renzi, Italy’s prime minister, visited the Caribbean island in October.

American liners are still subject to US restrictions that limit travel to licensed volunteer programmes.

But as US-Cuban relations thaw following a truce between US President Barack Obama and Raúl Castro last December, leisure industries are rushing to take advantage of Cuba’s potential as a relatively untouched tourist destination.

Carnival, the world’s largest cruise company by market share, has received approval from the US government to send a cruise liner to Havana that combines social work and travel, but it has yet to receive the go-ahead from Cuban authorities.

MSC Armonia is part of a €5.1bn investment plan by MSC Cruises to increase its fleet by seven ships to a total of 19 by 2021.

One of these will set sail for Shanghai where it will serve the China market, which Mr Onorato said will be part of MSC’s long-term strategy. “Both China and the Caribbean represent the future,” he said.

MSC Opera and MSC Armonia can hold about 2,600 passengers each and according to the company cost €700m-€1bn to build.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f33cf96c-9911-11e5-95c7-d47aa298f769.html#axzz3tDMELyTT

HAVANA,Dec. 1th Ernest Hemingway biopic “Papa” has been set for an international premiere on December 5 as part of Havana, Cuba’s 37th International Festival of New Latin Cinema.

Cast members Adrian Sparks, Joely Richardson and Hemingway’s granddaughter Mariel Hemingway are expected to be in attendance. “Papa,” directed by Bob Yari, is the first Hollywood movie to shoot on location in Cuba since the 1959 revolution.

The film screened at the Key West International Film Festival on Nov. 19. It centers on a young journalist, Denne Petitclerc, who finds a father figure in Hemingway.

Sparks portrays Hemingway and Richardson plays his fourth wife Mary. Giovanni Ribisi portrays Petitclerc.

The film also stars Minka Kelly, Shaun Toub and James Remar. It was shot in Hemingway’s home Finca Vigia and locations throughout Cuba including La Floridita and Ambos Mundos Hotel.

“Papa” is based on a script by Petitclerc, who died in 2006, and is produced by Amanda Harvey, Michael Pacino, Weezie Melancon and Yari.

Yari was the head of Yari Film Group, which operated between 2002 and 2009, when it filed for bankruptcy protection. Its slate included “Crash,” “The Illusionist,” “The Hoax” and “The Painted Veil.”
Read also: http://www.havana-live.com/news/hemingway-cubas-adopted-son

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/ernest-hemingway-movie-papa-havana-festival-1201650603/

HAVANA, Nov. 1th (BBC) As Europe’s winter approaches and many hundreds of thousands of immigrants across the continent face an uncertain future, in Havana rare street protests have been held in recent days over a separate, very different kind of immigrant crisis that’s taking place in Latin America.

It is a journey which begins in Cuba, but takes in Ecuador in the Andes and Central American nations such as Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
It involves political allegiances between long-standing allies and new relationships between former Cold War foes. And, of course, it involves the immigration policies of the migrants’ ultimate destination, the US.

Late on Thursday, Ecuador’s foreign ministry announced that from 1 December Cubans would require a visa to enter the country.For many Cubans, the news was a blow. In fact, Ecuador was reimposing a measure it had lifted on its socialist ally in April 2014.

For 18 months, Cubans had enjoyed the freedom to travel to the South American nation without restriction. Ecuador quickly became a popular destination for Cubans as it presented them with two important opportunities.

First, the rare chance to travel abroad to a comparatively affordable holiday destination – one where they could load up on much-needed goods and electrical items, often with the intention of reselling them on the black market back in Cuba. Second, for thousands of Cuban immigrants it became the first step on a 5,500 km trip north to the US.

Ecuador’s decision came as around 3,000 Cubans sit stranded in Costa Rica amid a stand-off with Nicaragua.Costa Rica is urging its Central American neighbours to grant safe passage to the Cubans, to allow a kind of “humanitarian corridor'” so they can reach the US.

But Nicaragua, led by Raul Castro’s old ally, President Daniel Ortega, is refusing to let them in and is taking what appears to be a harder line on Cubans passing through their territory on the route north.

Cuba has said the immigrants can return home but it is clear that they have no intention of abandoning their trip. Instead, they are left in limbo on Costa Rica’s northern border. Ecuador announced its plan to require a visa for Cubans following an emergency meeting in El Salvador – seemingly echoing Nicaragua’s tougher stance.

The Ecuadorean Foreign Ministry said they still welcomed Cubans to the country, but were committed to “efforts by the Latin American community to prevent migration without authorisation”. Meanwhile, those Cubans who had already bought plane tickets for Ecuador were caught by surprise by the news and without visas face losing their flights and their money.

But significantly, their reaction was one not often seen in Cuba.

Anger on the streets

Rather than meekly accept the decision of the authorities, they took to the streets outside the Ecuadorean embassy to demand their visas be issued immediately. Protests that aren’t government organised are very rare in Cuba and in this instance, police cordoned off several streets around the embassy building.

Ecuadorean diplomats used loudspeakers to address the crowd, who had started to chant for visas, insisting that they would have to apply for them online. Given how little internet access there is in Cuba, and how difficult and expensive it is for people to get online, that was never going to placate the crowd.

At the same time, there were also queues forming outside the offices of the Copa and Avianca airline companies, as frustrated customers demanded refunds on their tickets. Some were desperate, having spent up to $800 on their tickets, a huge sum for most Cubans.

Others were visibly angry – both at the Ecuadorean Government for taking the measure, thereby cutting off one of their few routes out of Cuba, and at the Cuban Government of Raul Castro, at whose behest they believe Quito is acting. By Saturday, Ecuador’s Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patino, said that those Cubans who had bought tickets before the announcement would be issued visas for travel.
But even that wasn’t enough to send home some in the crowd, who resolutely stayed put until their individual cases were resolved.

HAVANA, Nov. 30 th Six months after launching the route, Iberia will offer one additional frequency to Havana, Cuba, up to six weekly flights on Tuesdays, starting from tomorrow December 1, 2015. Iberia flies from Madrid to Havana with its newest aircraft, the Airbus A330-300, twin-engine planes, which can accommodate 278 passengers.

Business travelers can unfold their seats into 2-metre-long flat beds, all with direct access to the aisle. Economy class seats are wider and ergonomic. All passengers can enjoy touch-screen-based a on demand entertainment system with 50 films in different languages, 80 TV series and documentaries, 400 music options and video games. The seats have also power and connection ports for their electronic devices, plus access to Wi-Fi and GSM connectivity.

Iberia flights to/from Havana are scheduled to offer good connections in Madrid from/to Iberia’s 90 destinations in Europe, Africa and Middle East. Among them are Barcelona, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Bilbao, Majorca, Vigo, A Coruña and Asturias in Spain, London, Paris Rome, Milan, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich in Europe, favouring both holiday and business travel in both directions.

http://ftnnews.com/aviation/29141-iberia-increases-its-madrid-havana-flights.html

HAVANA, Nov. 30th  Millions of Cuban citizens could have affordable access to the Internet in a matter of months. The only thing keeping the island in the digital Dark Ages is a lack of political will.

Cuban officials have long blamed the American embargo for their nation’s obsolete telecommunications systems. They no longer have that excuse.
Regulatory changes the Obama administration put in place this year provide Havana with a number of options to expand Internet coverage quickly and sharply. If the government took advantage of that, the island’s anemic economy could get a much-needed jolt, and young Cubans who are determined to emigrate, a powerful reason to reconsider.

Cuba was among the last in the region to go online in the 1990s. Over the years, the authoritarian government has moved haltingly in expanding access to the Internet, which remains tightly controlled and censored. The American government sought to establish clandestine connections, but relatively few people benefited from those initiatives, and those who did risked being branded as traitors.

Since 2013, Cuba has been plugged into the global cable network that enables high-speed connections, but the Internet is still largely out of reach and prohibitively expensive for those who don’t have government-sanctioned access through workplaces and universities.

Young Cubans, eager to connect with the world,have built ingenious ways around the government’s controls. In the past two years, a black market data sharing system known as el paquete, or the packet, has enabled Cubans to gain access to a menu of news sites, television shows, movies and snapshots of websites that are bundled weekly and disseminated door to door through hard drives and memory sticks. They also have used wireless routers to create neighborhood networks that are not connected to the Internet but that enable users to chat and share media.

Earlier this year, the government, responding to popular pressure, established 35 wireless centers where Cubans can use smartphones and laptops to go online for about $2 an hour. Although that amounts to roughly 10 percent of the median monthly salary on the island, the centers have been mobbed.

Norges Rodríguez, an engineer and prominent blogger in Havana, said that Cuban officials were wrestling with a quandary. “They are aware that for the economy to advance, the economy must be online,” he said in a phone interview. “But our society, by design, is like the one the Soviets had: a closed society.”
Within Cuba’s opaque power structure there is a split between hard-liners who are worried that broader Internet access could fuel dissent and more progressive leaders who see the embrace of technology as a matter of economic survival. Google, which has recently made it a priority to expand online access in some of the world’s least plugged-in societies, has invigorated that debate in recent months by offering to rapidly upgrade the island’s Internet infrastructure.

Partnering with Google, which has enormous lobbying clout in Washington, could advance Havana’s goal of building enough political support in Congress to repeal the embargo and would make it harder for a future president to dial back the restoration of diplomatic ties that Mr. Obama set in motion last year. Leading Republican candidates, including Marco Rubio, have been critical of broader engagement with the Cuban government.

Cuba could also decide to do business with non-American technology companies, as Myanmar did after it began opening its political system in 2013. Industry experts say there would be no shortage of bidders eager to establish a foothold in a populous Caribbean nation with one of the world’s highest literacy rates — despite Havana’s cumbersome foreign investment laws and its inability to obtain credit to purchase American equipment because of sanctions that remain in place.

Cuban officials pledged last December to expand Internet access “without haste, but without pause.” But that hasn’t happened, and Cubans are rightly demanding more. “The government had claimed the problem was the inability to do business with American companies,” Mr. Rodríguez, the blogger, said. “That argument has disappeared.”

HAVANA, Nov. 28th New drink flavourings have been launched in a collaboration between Havana Club rum and bitters producers The Bitter Truth.

The Essence of Cuba range is inspired by Havana Club Añejo 7 Años, offering bartenders a new way to serve and enjoy the aged Cuban rum. The four flavours are Aromatic Leaf, Honey, Island Fruit and Coffee.

Produced like cocktail bitters, although not bitter to taste, they have been made by The Bitter Truth, founded by German bartenders Stephan Berg and Alexander Hauck.

The Essence of Cuba range has been designed to highlight the natural flavours and aromas of Havana Club Añejo 7 Años, the first Cuban rum crafted to be sipped.

To launch The Essence of Cuba range within the on-trade, distributor Pernod Ricard UK has selected 15 “hero” venues from key UK cities including London, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh and Glasgow, that will promote the new bitters in different ways, from table serves to food pairings.

The activations will then be rolled out nationwide, with promotions that centre on sharing occasions, digital amplification and heightened in-bar visibility.

Liam Murphy, senior brand manager for Pernod Ricard UK, said: “To support the launch of Havana Club Essences of Cuba we entrusted our sales team to select bars across the UK, which were then treated to a brand immersion day by our brand ambassadors Meimi Sanchez and Mike Foster.

“Both introduced the outlets to The Essences of Cuba and advised those taking part how to promote them to customers within the on-trade.

“This is an extremely exciting launch for the brand as it opens up an entirely new drinks category within the on-trade, with the essences enhancing the rum’s natural flavours, making it more accessible to a wider audience.”

To celebrate the launch, Havana Club has teamed up with Andy Loudon, the Havana Club Grand Prix 2014 competition winner, to produce a range of cocktail serves using each of the flavours.

The recommended serve for The Essence of Cuba range is to add three dashes of flavouring to 40ml of Havana Club Añejo 7 Años and ice to easily create a drink that is complex in flavour. Recipes include twists on an Old Fashioned and a Tom & Jerry (pictured).
http://barmagazine.co.uk/havana-club-launches-flavours-to-enhance-aged-rum/

HAVANA, Nov. 27th Have you started feeling the pressure yet? If you’re a fan of Latin America travel, you know what I’m talking about: that sometimes-overwhelming feeling that you absolutely must go to Cuba. Right this very minute. Before everything changes.

The island nation has been making an awful lot of news lately, as the relationship thaws between the U.S. and Cuban governments — so more people are talking about Cuba vacations. There are more companies offering Cuba tours and cruises. I’ve written about the phenomenon for various travel publications, and also for my travel blog, LatinFlyer.com.

And some travelers seem in a hurry to get to the largest island in the Caribbean before it changes too much — in other words, before relations are so normalized that McDonald’s and Starbucks invade the island. So does that mean you should ditch your Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic vacation plans and go to Cuba instead?

The short answer: No.

The reason? Because a Cuba vacation is still a completely different experience from a vacation in Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic (if you’re a U.S. citizen, that is). That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t consider a trip to Cuba — after all, it’s a fascinating destination that has been mostly off limits to most U.S. travelers for a long time.
But you need to know what to expect in Cuba, and realize how it’s different from every other vacation destination in the Caribbean (or anywhere else in the world, for that matter).

How Travel to Cuba is Different from Travel to Puerto Rico and the DR
The main thing that makes travel to Cuba different for U.S. travelers is regulation. The U.S. government only allows U.S. citizens to spend money legally in Cuba when their visit falls into one of 12 categories:

• Family visits
• Official business of the U.S. government, foreign governments, or intergovernmental organizations
• Journalistic activity
• Professional research and/or meetings
• Educational activities
• Religious activities
• Public performance (as a performer — are you Beyoncé? Piece of cake!)
• Clinics, workshops, athletics, or other competitions and exhibitions
• Support for the Cuban people or humanitarian projects
• Activities of private foundations or institutes
• Exportation, importation, or transmission of information or information materials
• Authorized export transactions

Basically, that means that if you want to go to Cuba, you need to go through an authorized travel agent and/or tour operator, and need to adhere to the U.S. guidelines.

That also means that, if you’re a “normal” U.S. citizen, you can’t legally travel to Cuba for a relaxed beach vacation, or to wander around much on your own. You’ll be kept busy with tours, activities and other approved “people to people” programs designed to connect visitors with Cuban culture and people, but also to stay in line with U.S. government restrictions.

In addition, Cuba isn’t up to speed like other destinations when it comes to WiFi and Internet connectivity — so be prepared to be less connected than in other Caribbean vacation destinations.

In a recent report I wrote for Travel Weekly about travel to Cuba, a variety of industry insiders weighed in on what makes the island different. “Cuba is a unique Caribbean destination, and we feel that managing clients’ expectations is key,” said Bryan Murray, marketing manager for Vacation Express.

“For example, the star rating system for hotels in Cuba is not the same as in Cancun or the rest of the Caribbean. Menus at even the best hotels change based on food availability, so people with very strict dietary needs may want to wait to visit Cuba. Travelers should also have realistic expectations about internet access and cell phone service, as internet access is limited, and cell phones will not work on the island.

Some suggest that creature comforts like your favorite snack or personal hygiene items are best brought with you, because they may not be available.”

If you go to the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico, on the other hand, you can do whatever you want. Fly when you want. Stay where you want, visit where you want and spend what you want. You’ll find plentiful WiFi and Internet connectivity, too. You can also go to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic and do nothing more than stretch out on the beach and sip cocktails for a few days.

The Dominican Republic has the advantage of offering lots of all-inclusive resorts as well, while Puerto Rico offers the advantage of being a U.S. territory, so you don’t even need a passport to visit if you’re a U.S. citizen.

In short, there are plenty of reasons to consider a trip to Cuba and also a vacation in Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic. But the experiences you’ll have in Cuba, if you’re a U.S. citizen, are likely very different from what you’ll have on the other two islands. Go to Cuba for the amazing culture, history, music and people — and full itineraries of U.S. government-approved activities.

But go to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico for everything else: culture and history and people, of course, and full itineraries, if you want them, too — but also flexibility, freedom and plenty of time to kick back and enjoy some rest and relaxation.

In a perfect world, with plenty of vacation time and a healthy travel budget, my personal preference would be to go to all three islands.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-chesnut/should-you-ditch-your-pue_b_8642024.html