Caribbean & Central America - March 2006 (ISSN 1741-4458)

The attorney general said on 7 March that his office had launched 487 probes into corruption in the past three years. The statement came in the form of an article in the party newspaper, Granma. Under Cuban law, the government can seize any property that it believes is the product of corruption or some other illegal activity. The attorney general's office said that 182 people had been processed by the courts while a further 305 people (mostly relations or friends) were considered to have benefited from their corruption. It is not clear whether the courts will also deal with them.

China: President Fidel Castro dismissed suggestions that Cuba was having trouble paying for imports from China. He said that the government would easily clear any arrears from the US$1bn in savings it would make through its reform of the energy sector. China is Cuba's second biggest trading partner after Venezuela. Trade between China and Cuba came to US$775m in 2005, up from US$551m in 2004. China sells Cuba locomotives, buses and telecoms equipment while Cuba exports commodities such as nickel and sugar. Cuba also claims to export biotech products and medical equipment to China.