Statistics II

Once more, the US administration has offered to send a team of experts to Cuba to assess the damage caused by hurricane Ike - and to offer humanitarian aid to victims.

And once again, it's likely that the Castro regime will turn down the offer, as it has for the past four decades or so.

As far as Havana is concerned, the only way the US can help is by lifting the commercial and trade embargo that has been in place since the early 1960s.

In other words, it's all about posturing and politics, especially given the release of new figures by the US State Department confirming that the embargo has more holes in it than a chunk of Swiss cheese. The figures show that last year alone, American farmers and primary producers sold Cuba goods worth more than USD3.6 billion.

But at least there is some good news for Sherritt International Corp, the Canadian multinational that has been in bed with the Castro brothers for quite some time.

You will be happy to hear that the Toronto-based company has announced that partial operations have resumed at its nickel facilities in Moa, in eastern Cuba, which Sherritt jointly owns with the regime.

Sherritt has a team on the ground assessing the damage (no restrictions there), and expects to be back to normal soon, as far as mining operations are concerned.