Officials from the Sugar Ministry, consulted about the case, referred calls to the Foreign Trade Ministry. No official from that ministry was available immediately to comment. In the past two years Betancourt had been in part responsible for securing foreign financing for technnical input in the sugar harvests. The harvest in 1995-96 was 4.45 million tonnes, a sharp increase on the previous year's dismal 3.3 million tonnes. On financing for this year's crop, Sugar Minister Nelson Torres said last month that the island had secured foreign credits for all 13 of the sugar producing provinces.
Officials have no given a target for the harvest but they are expecting a more modest improvement.
Some experts have said the figure will probably be about 4.8 million tonnes. There has been no mention of Bentacourt's removal in Cuba's state-run media. But it is not uncommon in Cuba for replacements or sackings of key figures in the state sector to take place with no announcement in the media.