rver), LORCS, NAM, OAS (excluded from formal participation
since 1962), OPANAL (observer), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU,
WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

_#_Diplomatic representation: none; protecting power in the US is
Switzerland--Cuban Interests Section; Counselor Jose Antonio ARBESU
Fraga; 2630 and 2639 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202)
797-8518 or 8519, 8520, 8609, 8610;

US--protecting power in Cuba is Switzerland--US Interests Section;
Principal Officer Alan H. FLANIGAN; Calzada entre L y M, Vedado Seccion,
Havana (mailing address is USINT, c/o International Purchasing Group,
2052 NW 93rd Avenue, Miami, FL 33172); telephone 329-700

_#_Flag: five equal horizontal bands of blue (top and bottom)
alternating with white; a red equilateral triangle based on the hoist
side bears a white five-pointed star in the center

_*_Economy
_#_Overview: The economy, centrally planned and largely state owned,
is highly dependent on the agricultural sector and foreign trade. Sugar
provides about 75% of export revenues and over half is exported to the
USSR. The economy has stagnated since 1985 under policies that have
deemphasized material incentives in the workplace, abolished farmers'
informal produce markets, and raised prices of government-supplied goods
and services. In 1990 the economy probably fell 3%, largely as a result
of declining trade with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Recently
the government has been trying to increase trade with Latin America and
China. Cuba has had difficulty servicing its foreign debt since 1982. The
government currently is encouraging foreign investment in tourist
facilities. Other investment priorities include sugar, basic foods, and
nickel. The annual $4 billion Soviet subsidy, a main prop to Cuba's
threadbare economy, is likely to show a substantial decline over the
next few years in view of the USSR's mounting economic problems. Instead
of highly subsidized trade, Cuba will be shifting to trade at market
prices in convertible currencies. In early 1991, the shortages of fuels,
spare parts, and industrial products in general had become so severe as
to amount to a deindustrialization process in the eyes of some observers.

_#_GNP: $20.9 billion, per capita $2,000; real growth rate - 3%
(1990 est.)

_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%

_#_Unemployment: 6% overall, 10% for women (1989)

_#_Budget: revenues $12.46 billion; expenditures $14.4