Cuban President Visits Algeria

Herald Tribune: Raul Castro will stay three days in the country, and later will fly to Egypt, in order to attend the summit of heads of state of the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Cuban President Raul Castro arrived Sunday in Algiers on a three-day visit, his second trip in the past five months to Algeria, an historic ally of Cuba since the 1960s and with which he wants to increase bilateral cooperation to an “unprecedented” level, according to Algerian officials.

Castro arrived around 5:00 p.m. at the Algiers international airport, where he was received personally by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Diplomats told Efe that the Cuban president will discuss with his Algerian counterpart the preparation for the summit of heads of state of the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement, which will be held July 15-16 in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Castro visited Algeria in February on his first official trip as Cuban president, although he acknowledged that he had traveled incognito several times to the North African country as a special envoy for his brother Fidel.

“Relations between Cuba and Algeria are clear and very strong and not only have they remained that way, but they have strengthened with time,” he said on that occasion.

The two countries established diplomatic relations just one day after the proclamation of Algerian independence in 1962, when the Arab nation was a model for revolutionaries all over the world after winning its bitter and bloody war of colonial liberation against France.

The aim now is to broaden to the economic sphere the good relations that exist in the political area and extend to other sectors like energy and education the intense cooperation that exists in the health area.

During the mixed intergovernmental commission held at the end of May, the Cuban minister of foreign trade, Rodrigo Malimierca Diaz, emphasized the chances for bilateral cooperation in the areas of technology transfer, biological products, culture, communications, the hydraulics sector, fishing and sports.

Algerian daily El Moudjahid on Sunday called this second visit by Castro in such a relatively short time a “profound testimony of the esteem and friendship” between the two countries, who share “a long tradition of struggle in favor of freedom of peoples” in the group of non-aligned countries.

Algeria and Cuba in May 2007 worked out a memorandum of understanding and in January 2008 a joint commission in Havana reached agreement on several cooperation projects, especially in the health sector.

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Risk of Blackouts Rises in Cuba

Herald Tribune: During this month there was an “overconsumption”, according to the state-run Union Electrica. The director of Rational Energy Use for that company, Ricardo Gonzalez, was cited in the official media as saying that the state sector has not followed the measures laid down.

The Cuban government’s energy-saving plan has not been fulfilled so far in July due to a “dangerous trend” towards excessive consumption that increases the risk of power outages, state media reported Saturday.

The state-run company Union Electrica said that in the first week of this month there was an “overconsumption” of more than 9,000 megawatts, 3 percent more than the planned goal.

The director of Rational Energy Use for that company, Ricardo Gonzalez, was cited in the official media as saying that the state sector has not followed the measures laid down, though “a considerable effort” is being made to avoid “those undesirable outages.”

State companies and institutions, which consume more than half of the nation’s energy, are the basic target of the government’s energy-saving plan presided over by Gen. Raul Castro, which went into effect on June 1 with drastic measures including power cuts and severe penalties for those who did not observe the new rules.

According to Gonzalez, the order to cut off energy to institutions not following the plan has been violated, nor has “the corps of inspectors” been effective in controlling energy consumption.

Castro’s government took the drastic measures to deal with the deterioration in Cuba’s economy due to the global financial crisis, falling exports and a drop in tourism, among other factors, that have created liquidity problems for the island.

The government has reduced its 2009 economic growth forecast from around 6 percent to 2.5 percent.

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Banco Financiero Internacional (BFI) and Banco Metropolitano block withdrawals on accounts of foreign firms

Thecubablog.com:

On this hot summer day the tensions are palpable at Banco Financieros 5^th avenue branch, foreigners outside chat between themselves using words like “incredible”, “diabolical” and even “bank fraud”. Their chagrin being something that few are willing to talk about in open through fear of reprisals on their accounts or total loss of their deposits. No foreign journalists have written anything about this scenario either, despite it being common knowledge in the tight knit expat circles of Havana where most foreign business owners reside.

In a short interview with one Italian businessman, who requested to remain anonymous through fear of reprisals said “they´ve blocked us sending transfers abroad and placed a 6 month window of time for these to be processed plus they´ve introduced a law that impedes our withdrawals of cash so basically they´ve confiscated our money and nobody does anything about it”. Another person of middle eastern origin involved in real estate venture associated with commercial office rental said “it´s been 7 months now, we can´t repatriate our rental income to our investors abroad, we cannot transfer money and even if these people visit Cuba and request some money from us we cannot withdraw the funds, basically our Joint venture agreement has no value today. The Cuban side takes its part and our income is trapped in our account here (in Havana)”

Rumors also abound concerning Francisco Soberon, Cuba´s long time central bank chief who abruptly resigned on June 4, 2009 apparently due to Raul Castro´s order to block withdrawals and bank transfers by foreign entities in Cuba. The feud being that Ernesto Medina Banco Financiero´s previous president accepted orders to block all outbound transactions of all types to the behest of Soberon who considered this banking mutiny. Soberon apparently resigned over the issue and Medina took Cuba´s top banking job as head of Cuba´s central bank.

So where is the money? Well nobody knows for sure but, some foreigners have been advised that Cuba has taken emergency measures so as not to default on payments to Venezuela and China and in the process emptied the coffers at Banco Financiero and Banco Metropolitano where 95% of all foreign companies hold their accounts. A bank employee who also refused to be named said that tensions at the main branches in the Sierra Maestra building and the aforementioned 5^th avenue branches of BFI as foreigners needing cash for basic needs are turned away and those needing higher volumes of cash for trips are placed on a “waiting list”.

But, most firms remain mute on the subject and are unwilling to talk on record. Some cite that they fear their licenses will be revoked or their representation offices closed if they speak out. Others say that they have even had to resort to opening accounts in the neighboring Cancun, Nassau or Panama, flying there regularly to get cash to maintain there local operations afloat. One man said, “it’s as if our accounts here don´t exist nor the monies in them, we cannot withdraw money or transfer it, all we can do is pay bills to Cuban entities with checks, we must even advise when such payments are due as if we´re school kids, it’s a sham”

Easily the highest number of foreign registered companies are foreign travel agencies who themselves advise that Cuban suppliers are introducing “sold out” or “stop sales” from the first day of high season until the last essentially disallowing them to sell travel services. Nevertheless, these agencies also know that Cuban reservations are down over previous years further adding to the frustration. Those who complain are told that orders came from MINTUR, Cuba´s tourism ministry, to force visitors to pay directly in Cuba (presumably in cash) meaning payments go straight to the Cuban companies. One agency owner said “we´ve been unofficially given the right to sell Cuba´s offers in low season only as they block us selling in high season in order to take all business for themselves. I called a hotel after being refused a confirmation through my obliged booking agent Cubanacan only to be told that the hotel had just 46% occupancy”. The blocking of sales via foreign agencies appears to be directly from central government orders. The aforementioned agent said “they want cash, lots of it and directly into their accounts and the irony is that when we complain they tell us to tell our clients to pay at the reception or the car rental office. Incredible”

Another agent with two offices in Havana and agencies in Europe had a different take on the sold out declarations “when they tell us they´re sold out on cars, hotels etc. we tell our clients everything is sold out and offer them Jamaica or Cancun, we even offer clients calling our Cuban offices other Caribbean destinations, the clients are equally happy and we get the sale. The Cuban’s are shooting themselves in the foot”

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Brazil Will Help Financing Cuban Port Project

Reuters: Cuba will receive $300 million in credits. $100 million has been already approved by the Brazilian government and the construction will be led by a Brazilian company.

Brazil said on Thursday it would give Cuba up to $300 million in credits to start rebuilding the island’s port of Mariel, better known as the site of a 1980 Cuban exodus to the United States.

Brazilian Industry and Trade Minister Miguel Jorge said $110 million had been approved by his government and the rest would likely be, as Brazil strengthens its ties with communist-led Cuba.

He said in a news conference that construction, to be led by a Brazilian company, would begin “very soon” with the building of infrastructure including highways and a railroad for the port about 30 miles (50 km) west of Havana.

Brazilian officials said Cuba expects the entire port project, which will be built in several phases, to cost up to $2 billion.

The first phase is projected to take four or five years to complete and cost $600 million, they said.

Mariel was the scene of the massive boatlift from April to October 1980 when a flotilla of vessels from the United States picked up 125,000 Cubans after the Cuban government said anyone wanting to leave the island could do so.

Now Cuba wants Mariel to serve as logistics center for its still-nascent offshore oil industry and to be equipped to handle shipments from around the world, including the United States, just 90 miles (145 km) to the north of Cuba.

U.S.-Cuban trade is restricted by a U.S. trade embargo imposed in 1962, three years after Fidel Castro led a revolution to topple a U.S.-backed dictator.

Jorge, who was on the second day of a two-day visit to Cuba, said Brazil’s state-owned oil giant Petrobras (PETR4.SA)PBR.SA, which last October was awarded a bloc for oil exploration in Cuban waters, would open an office in Havana on Tuesday.

He said Petrobras was completing seismic studies of the bloc and working on getting a drilling rig to Cuba.

Jorge did not say when Petrobras expected to begin drilling. So far, only one test well has been drilled in Cuba’s offshore fields — by Spain’s Repsol-YPF

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Fairness not U.S. Oil Thirst Should Be Major Reason for Ending the Embargo to Cuba

Cleveland.com: The idea behind our trade embargo was to bring down the Cuban government. Half a century later, that hasn’t happened. But oil is far from the only reason to end the trade embargo with Cuba. The embargo hurts us, while it has done little good for the people of Cuba.

Oil may soon trump politics in our relations with Cuba. Estimates of Cuban offshore oil reserves as recently disclosed by the Cuban government hover around 20 billion barrels. That would approximate known U.S. oil reserves.

Even if the Cuban estimate is on the high side, that would be a great deal of oil. According to the U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration, in 2008 Cuba produced 52,000 barrels of oil per day, supplying 28 percent of domestic demand. In 1999, Cuba opened up a deepwater exploration zone off its northwest coast.

Our trade embargo, which dates to the Kennedy administration, precludes U.S. oil companies from taking a serious look at Cuban oil.

Companies from other countries are under no such constraints. Sherritt International of Canada has been pumping off Cuba’s north coast for more than a decade. Companies from half a dozen countries are in active exploration by arrangement with the Cuban government.

With oil as with other investment issues, firms from other countries have gained the march on U.S. companies. Ending the sanctions regime would allow U.S. companies to compete.

The idea behind our trade embargo was to bring down the Cuban government. Half a century later, that hasn’t happened. We are the only country that blocks trade with Cuba.

Beyond access to oil, the prospect of major drilling off Cuba’s north coast is a matter for U.S. concern because of possible pollution. A maritime boundary negotiated with Cuba in 1977 splits the waters between Cuba and Florida. With Cuba just 90 miles away, Cuba could drill as close as 45 miles from Key West, Fla.

A major spill in those waters would be carried by ocean currents straight to Florida. If we are involved in the drilling, we can keep better tabs on the safety situation.

Florida’s junior Republican Sen. Mel Martinez, a Cuban-American who grew up near those waters, is wary about major drilling. “It’s a very, very sensitive and beautiful resource,” he says, “that could not tolerate a lot of the things that go along with oil drilling.” Despite Martinez’s reservations, drilling is likely to occur, whether we are involved or not.

At hearings on the Cuban oil issue in April in the House of Representatives, members of Congress were told of positive advantages from efforts we have made to date to engage with Cuba on other issues of mutual concern.

Cuba has cooperated on drug smuggling. It has kept the island from becoming a transit point for smuggling into the United States, even though its geographic position makes it ideal for that purpose. Cuba’s drug enforcement agency has provided information to the United States about its anti-smuggling efforts.

Cuba has cooperated on immigration. Since 1994, we have had an arrangement with Cuba to allow 20,000 Cubans to migrate legally every year. But smuggling of migrants still occurs, with its attendant corruption, violence, and danger to would-be entrants. So we have already made inroads on total non-cooperation with Cuba.

Our proximity to Cuba, and the huge number of Cubans living in the United States call for increased consular relations. We have no direct diplomatic relations. Before 1961, we had a staff of 300 diplomatic and consular personnel in Havana, plus a small consulate in Santiago de Cuba. Nowadays, the United States has a jerry-rigged diplomatic arrangement via the Swiss government, which acts as a go-between. Cuba is forced to maintain a similar arrangement in Washington, operating through the Swiss embassy to the United States.

Oil is far from the only reason to end the trade embargo with Cuba. The embargo hurts us, while it has done little good for the people of Cuba. The Obama administration is, wisely, taking a hard look at our Cuba policy. It is time for a change.

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Cuba Can Fight Climate Change

Havana (Prensa Latina):

Cuba can significantly contribute to the fight against the causes that give rise to climate change, something possible to achieve on this island thanks to the high levels of education in the nation, among other factors.

The regional Director for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Gretel Aguilar, stressed this small Caribbean island has a lot to say when it comes to reducing vulnerability in order to treat the increase of global temperatures.

Scientific data on the disasters and changes expected to happen in ecosystems show that Cuba can offer important scientific information, Aguilar told Prensa Latina.

This is possible because Cuba has seriously invested in education, which means a big step that contributes to taking rapid and concrete actions.

Education should be a priority matter in any country of the world, she said on the eve of seventh International Convention of Environment and Development.

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NY Philharmonic to visit Cuba, maybe tour in fall

NEW YORK (AP) – The New York Philharmonic is headed to Cuba to explore the communist nation after being invited to perform there in the fall.

Orchestra president Zarin Mehta says he’s part of a delegation traveling to Havana on Friday. The delegation will examine Cuba’s concert halls and hotels.

The United States has restrictions on travel to Cuba. But orchestra officials say the U.S. government has agreed to grant them travel licenses for the tour.

The classical music orchestra could perform in Cuba at the end of October. Incoming music director Alan Gilbert likely would conduct.

The Philharmonic played last year in the totalitarian state of North Korea, a first for any major orchestra.

On the Net:

New York Philharmonic: http://www.nyphil.org

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Cuba: Doubled Private Transportation Permits So Far in 2009

Herald Tribune: Last December, the government unfroze the granting of permits for the activity after a nine-year hiatus.

Car rental in Cuba - www.Particularcuba.com

The number of private individuals who legally transport passengers in Cuba almost doubled in the first half of 2009, after the government last December unfroze the granting of permits for the activity after a nine-year hiatus, the official press reported on Wednesday.

Communist Party daily Granma said that so far this year Cuban authorities have authorized 2,848 operators licenses for private transport services, an increase of 81 percent, and that in June 1,280 applications were being processed.

In December 2008, when the issuance of such permits for individuals was resumed – as President Raul Castro had announced month earlier that it would be – there were 3,486 of the licenses extant on the communist island.

The paper said that 30 percent of the permits were granted to operate such services in Havana.

The head of the State Traffic Unit, Jose Conesa, said that the issuance of the licenses had allowed the government to regularize an activity that “was going on, in the majority of cases, improperly and illegally.”

Many individuals who have taken advantage of the new law were offering such services illegally before, given that the granting of the permits was suspended in October 1999 despite the scarcity of transport on the island.

The first permits for the activity were granted in 1996, in the middle of the “special period,” Cubans’ euphemism for the deep economic depression their country slid into after the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the drying-up of the heavy subsidies Moscow had provided to the island.

In May, capital transit authorities announced that they were going to step up their pursuit of transport service providers operating without the requisite permit.

People who offer such services illegally face fines and even the seizure of their vehicles, in the case of repeat offenders.

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Cuba beyond the blockade

IPS: Mariela Castro on gender diversity, Barack Obama, and the future of her communist island nation.

Renowned for her work for the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transvestite and transgender people, Mariela Castro advocates a fairer, more inclusive, and above all more participatory socialism in Cuba.

Castro is head of the National Sex Education Centre (CENESEX) and the main sponsor of a mid-2008 resolution that approved sex change operations within the Cuban state health system.

Mariela Castro, daughter of Raul Castro

Participation could be the key feature of socialism in the 21st century, said the 46-year-old expert, the daughter of Cuban President Raúl Castro and Vilma Espín, a campaigner for the rights of women and sexual minorities and a historic leader of the Cuban revolution, who died in 2007.

In this interview with IPS, Castro, who on May 16 led the first street conga dance against homophobia in the history of this Caribbean island nation, talks about the experiences that marked her life and made her what she is today, about socialist participation and her hopes for a Cuba free of the U.S. embargo.

In 2004 you met with a group of transvestites and transgender people who were asking for help. Today you are recognized as the driving force behind a number of reforms in favor of the right to sexual diversity in Cuba. Were you always sensitive to people who are “different”?

It was part of the process of becoming aware as a Cuban citizen capable of seeing reality, listening and asking questions. Life in this country has taught me not to be content with just interpreting reality, but to engage in it, take part and even try to change what I don’t like about it, or what I think ought to be changed for the sake of justice.

Was there any particularly significant moment that molded you into the person you are today?

There were many. In my first year at university, I experienced the process of the strengthening of revolutionary consciousness in the ranks of the Young Communist League, a process I was not pleased with and fought as I thought best.

I was very disturbed by the extremism, the prejudice, and I loathed the expression “ideological diversionism” because I saw it as an instrument for opportunists.

Another experience that marked me was the mass exodus from the port of Mariel in 1980. It was a sudden awakening for me to see many of those people who were so extremist at the time of the strengthening of revolutionary consciousness running off to Mariel, while many of those who had been penalized are still here today, participating in the Revolution.

And the “special period” (the 1990s economic crisis triggered by the demise of the Soviet Union) also marked me. It made me think again about what kind of socialism we really want. It’s great to see all the achievements over 50 years of the Revolution, with full national sovereignty and the search for social justice, but we still have a long way to go in broader terms.

What position do you take? What kind of socialism could continue to be a valid option for the nation, in the present as well as in the future?

I do still back socialism, but socialism based on a dialectical approach, in which we are obliged to deal with all the contradictions as they crop up, marking the changes on the route toward development.

How can the younger generation be incorporated, when it is said not to be committed to anything or anyone?

Through participation mechanisms. For me, a participatory socialist democracy is essential, not just at the level of political declarations or the theoretical level, but involving the creation of social mechanisms in actual practice.

That would be the salvation of socialism as a real option. The only way young people will feel a part of this project is by participating in it, and contributing their opinions, concerns and criticisms.

Young people must be provided with a space where they can become part of the reality that is being invented and created, to which they become committed because they are part of that reality and its construction.

Have you applied this principle in CENESEX’s present campaign in support of sexual diversity?

That is exactly what we are doing. CENESEX creates spaces for participation because the Center cannot go it alone, nor should it; what we do is open up a space and then develop projects together. Participation is absolutely fascinating because we all take on responsibilities.

If participation mechanisms are developed and perfected in Cuban society, they will greatly enrich our revolutionary process, as well as international socialism, because this has historically been one of its weaknesses.

Cuba, which is such an authentic, original, delightful and contradictory country, can enrich the socialist movement by contributing the native socialism of the Caribbean. Anything else would be like wearing a suit that doesn’t fit, that belongs to a stranger.

With President Barack Obama in the White House, there has been a lot of talk about the possible lifting of some of the U.S. sanctions against Cuba. How do you envisage Cuba without the blockade?

Without the blockade, Cuba would be prosperous. When I went to the Vatican, I asked St. Peter for prosperity for Cuba. First I thought of asking for an end to the blockade, but I told myself that would only be part of the solution. So I asked for prosperity, with or without the blockade.

The day the blockade is lifted will mean the removal of a huge burden imposed on our survival in the world.

But together with that, it will be essential to perfect the mechanisms of socialist democracy, because dismantling the blockade alone will not bring prosperity. We have to improve our social system.

What do you think of the theory that Cuba’s socialist system will not withstand the shock of the lifting of the blockade?

Just being alive is dangerous, and the Cuban Revolution has always been in danger. I don’t think it would be a greater danger than those we have already lived through. I think it would be an opportunity — dangerous, yes, but an opportunity — and we would have to make the most of it.

It would be hugely important for Cuba, as for any country. What country can survive a blockade? Cuba has survived, but at a high cost in many ways.

Do you share the view that in Cuba, everything is seen through the prism of relations with the United States?

Those relations determine everything. We have developed a culture of the blockade, and we will have to assimilate the lessons of how to be a Cuba without the blockade, that wants to survive with a socialist system, which in my opinion should be more developmental, more inclusive and dialectical.

Socialism cannot dispense with a dialectical approach, including interpretation and development, if we are to withstand the impact of the removal of the blockade. Everything we do will have to serve the purpose of ensuring our sovereignty, without disregarding internal mechanisms, which should be less rigid than they have been.

I still have energy, hope and strength to go on fighting for this socialism. I know the Revolution has developed many defense mechanisms against the constant and well-resourced hostility of U.S. imperialism.

And that’s not just a cliché: it is an expansionist, intense, very cruel imperial system, and we must keep on fighting in order not to yield to the violence and pressures that will continue to come our way. When one follows a path out of conviction, one does not yield, but the important thing is to tread the path as intelligently as possible.

And not turn it against the Cuban people themselves?

Exactly: and not turn it against ourselves. That’s why developing participation mechanisms is vital. What kind of Cuban socialism do we want? How do we want to build it? How shall we build it? And what are the principles that we cannot surrender?

National dignity, sovereignty and social justice, obviously, because in seeking development we are not going to indulge in exploitation. But there are mechanisms — such as cooperation and aid on the economic front — that can allow us to prosper, satisfy the growing needs of the population, and increase, perhaps through the tax system, the resources of the state.

What do you hope for from President Obama?

Personally, I don’t think he has very good advisors on Cuba or Latin America. Hopefully there will be dialogue and some convergence. In terms of his personal history, I think he’s a wonderful person, but now that he’s president he’ll have to wear a different suit. It is a difficult position. I imagine he would like to do a lot of things that he simply can’t do.

Do you believe that, even if Obama does not achieve substantial change during his presidency, the very fact that he was elected is an important sign of change?

Yes, I do, but the world does need action from Obama. The world needs change in the United States, which demands so many changes in the world to serve the interests of powerful elites.

The world is demanding profound changes in the United States, for the sake of survival. For now, we cannot hope for the U.S. to stop behaving like an empire, and certainly not just because of Obama, but at least his election is a sign that people in the United States also want changes.

In Santería [an Afro-Cuban religion] they say “Aché!” when they want to wish someone luck, and I always say “Aché!” for Obama. “Aché,” that he may achieve everything he possibly can.

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Cuba postpones plans to drill for oil again

Havana Journal:

Cuba and a consortium of foreign oil companies have again postponed plans to drill for oil in the island’s still-untapped oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico, diplomatic and industry sources said this week.

Cuba had announced the consortium, led by Spain’s Repsol-YPF, would drill in June or July, but now it is uncertain when work will begin in the waters that Cuban oil experts say may contain 20 billion barrels of oil.

Offshore Oil platform - particularcuba.com

“The project has been postponed until a further date for more study,” said a foreign oil industry source with direct knowledge of the plans. “It is premature to say when drilling might begin, later this year or next,” he added.

A European diplomat said he had first-hand knowledge that drilling was postponed at least until the end of 2009, if not into 2010. Neither source wished to be identified. Cuban authorities were not immediately available for comment.

Repsol drilled a test well 20 miles (32 km) off Cuba’s northern coast in 2004 and said it discovered traces of high quality oil, but that it was not commercially viable at the time. Since then, there have been several announcements that a second well would be drilled, but each time the project has been put off without explanation.

It was not clear if the latest postponement had to do with difficulties obtaining and moving a drilling rig, the cost of the project compared with the current price of oil, or other factors.

The US trade embargo against communist-run Cuba is said to be a factor in the repeated delays because of US regulations that threaten sanctions against companies doing business with Cuba if their drilling equipment contains more than 10 percent American technology.

Cuba has divided its share of the gulf into 59 blocks, 21 of which are already under lease to seven companies. Repsol has an agreement with Cuba’s state oil monopoly Cubapetroleo for exploration of six offshore blocks in partnership with Norway’s StatoilHydro and ONGC Videsh of India. PDVSA, the national oil company of Venezuela, has said it plans to sink its first exploratory well in Cuba’s offshore fields next year. Other companies with blocks are Vietnam state oil and gas group Petrovietnam, Malaysia’s state-run Petronas and Brazil’s Petrobras.

Manuel Marrero Faz, oil advisor to Cuba’s Ministry of Basic Industry, said earlier this year Cuba was in negotiations to lease another 23 blocks to firms including China National Petroleum Corporation, Angola’s national oil company and a Russian consortium.

Cuba says it produces the equivalent of 80,000 barrels a day of oil and gas, or about 50 percent of its energy needs. It depends on ally Venezuela for the rest. The US Geological Survey has estimated that Cuba’s offshore reserves are likely around 5 billion barrels of oil and 10 trillion cubic feet of gas. Cuba experts say their estimates are higher because they have more information about the geology of the region.

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