Leaded gas leaves its mark in the horribly polluted air, eroded buildings and monuments, and the blackened landscape. Havana reeks of decay. Buildings, unpainted for decades, lend a 1950s air. Yet, from an economic standpoint, things are beginning to look up. The economy has been improving since 1994, with a 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. Instead, there is now a heavy concentration on tourism and emerging industries such as 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.