Cuba and the United States opened a new year with the signing of agreements that continue polishing off relations between both countries.

Ironically, one of the woody plants most cursed in Cuban fields has become the raw material for the first product that Cuba is able to export to the United States after five decades of economic blockade.

The arrival to Cuba of four million foreign visitors in 2016 is putting pressure on the activity of hotels and airports.

With another record in tourist arrivals, the sights are set abroad and in the country on a Cuban sector that is the business card of an economy in a tight spot because of the national need for hard currency incomes.

The author of this article is a professor of the Javeriana University in Cali, Colombia.

CALI, Colombia (IPS) – The macroeconomic data for the close of the year provided by the Cuban government confirms the projections that Cuba would enter a recession as a result of the Venezuelan shock.

Although the climate sabotages plans, the development programme the country has maintained since 2009 has made it possible to increase the cereal’s harvests.

For the second consecutive year, a persistent drought partially stopped the plans to increase rice production in Cuba, despite which agriculture continues the investment programme begun seven years ago. The aim of reducing foreign dependence for the Cuban diet’s basic foodstuff’s consumption continues among the government’s priorities.