Associated Press
Cuba sugar harvest only half of expected; sector in ‘crisis’
Cuba, once legendary for its sugar cane, produced only about half the sugar it had hoped to this season, and authorities acknowledged that while they will cover internal demand they will not be able to meet their international commitments. “It’s not a secret, the sector is in crisis,” Dionis Pérez, director of communication at Azcuba, the government agency that regulates sugar production on the island, told reporters Wednesday. Pérez did not say how much sugar had been harvested, but at the end of last year Economy Minister Alejandro Gil said the state plan was to produce 911,000 tons this sugar harvest, which concluded in May. The percentage given by Pérez would mean that production was about 482,000 tons.
