Leaded gas leaves its mark in the horribly polluted air, eroded buildings and monuments and the blackened landscape. Havana reeks of decay. The good news is that eighty to ninety percent of Cubans own their own apartment or house. Yet, from an economic standpoint, things are beginning to look up. The economy has been on the uptick since 1994 with a latest gain of 5.6 percent in 2000.
Government policy is firmly rooted in a shift in production from goods to services.
That means less reliance on the traditional exports of raw sugar, nickel, tobacco and seafood and heavy concentration on tourism and emerging industries like biotechnology. The rest of the world is capitalizing on American petulance. Of the 140 countries doing business, Spain, Canada, Italy and France claim the lion's share. And most of those dollars come from heavy-spending Europeans and Canadians. Those visitors stay in 35,000 rooms in 227 hotels, the majority 4 or 5 star, with approximately 20 percent built, managed and run by European chains.