The
economy, controlled by the state, is basically agricultural.
The principal culture is the cane with sugar, Cuba is the
first world sugar exporter. The fall of the prices of sugar
(and other raw materials) in the Eighties and Nineties obliged
a diversification of the production. The tobacco and the citrus
fruits bring back good incomes to the economy. Industry is
partly devoted to the treatment of the agricultural produce
and it also produces cement, fertilizers, textile, buildings
prefabricated, agricultural machinery and products for domestic
human consumption. The industry of tourism is in full growth
and is a vital source for the entry of the currencies; it
is for that that the government enormously invested to create
an infrastructure necessary. The big problem of the cuban
economy is the commercial blockade imposed by the United States,
in 1998 with the law Helms-Burton which penalizes the alien
companies which make trade with Cuba, which complicated the
trade. The limitations imposed on the trade foreign and the
fall of the ex Soviet Union intensified the problems of the
cuban economy in the last years. The recent reforms of the
control of the state on the economy with the creation of zones
dedicated to export relieved the situation to some extent.
Argentina, Canada, China and Spain are the principal trade
partners of Cuba.
