Reuters – September 14
HAVANA, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Cuba’s nickel industry, damaged by Hurricane Ike a week ago, has resumed some production, state-run media said on Sunday, quoting basic industry Minister Yadira Garcia on a tour of the plants and mines.

Garcia said the state-owned Pedro Sotto Alba plant in Moa Holguin was operating and another state-owned plant in Nicaro Holguin was preparing to open.

Garcia said the joint venture Ernesto Che Guevara plant with Canadian company Sherritt International in Moa Holguin had suffered the greatest damage and gave no date for a…

El Universal (Venezuela) – 13 Sep 2008
10:21 AM La Habana.- El huracán Ike arrasó e inundó 300.000 hectáreas de cañaverales de azúcar en Cuba y dañó un gran número de instalaciones cuando se desplazó por toda la isla hace una semana, dijo el sábado una radio estatal.

Un reportero cubano especializado, citando un informe del Ministerio de Azúcar, dijo en Radio Progreso que 192.706 hectáreas de cañaverales fueron arrasados por el paso de Ike y 108.107 hectáreas fueron inundadas en diversos niveles, informó Reuters.

Juan Varela, un experto en el tema del azúcar,…

Prensa Latina – 12 de septiembre
La Habana, 12 sep (PL) Cuba lamenta hoy la pérdida de siete vidas humanas durante el paso del huracán Ike por la Isla pese al esfuerzo de la Revolución para preservarlas, informó el Estado Mayor Nacional de la Defensa Civil.

De acuerdo con ese organismo, la cifra de más de 2,5 millones de personas protegidas y el empleo de cerca de 10 mil medios de transporte sin que se reportara un accidente, es una muestra de la disciplina del pueblo cubano y de la eficacia de las medidas…

Prensa Latina – September 13
Havana, Sep 13 (Prensa Latina) Cuba is in the recovery phase after being pounded by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, with the preliminary assessments transmitted below, according to a report published Saturday by Granma daily.

Some Cuban zones are still suffering the effects of Hurricane Ike, which was particularly severe in Pinar del Rio province and the Isle of Youth special municipality.

The intense rains and runoff from mountains left low zones flooded, with some areas likely to remain like that during the coming days.

Until Thursday, 87 reservoirs were…

MIAMI — After an unprecedented double blow from powerful hurricanes barely a week apart, Cuba is in desperate need of international help. But where will it come from? 

Half the island’s crops were flattened and tens of thousands of homes destroyed, putting the total damage from Gustav and Ike at $10-billion, according to official estimates. This comes on top of a pre-existing housing shortage as well as recent struggles to meet debt payments with some foreign partners. 

“I’m not sure it could have been too much worse,” said William Messina, an agricultural economist at the…