At the height of Soviet-Cuban friendship in the early 1980s, the Kremlin sent 13 million tons of oil a year to its Communist satellite and bought Cuban sugar at four times the world price. But ever since Boris Yeltsin came to power, Russia has insisted on bartering oil for sugar at market prices. This year's contract called for 2.5 million tons of crude to be traded for 1 million tons of sugar. Last week, Russia claimed that Cuba had failed to deliver half of the promised sugar and instead had sold it to other customers. So Moscow withheld the remaining 1 million tons of oil it owes Havana. The crux of the problem is that in the brave new post-communist world, Cuba is trapped in a vicious downward spiral: It can't afford the oil it needs to run the sugar mills, so each year its principal export crop dwindles. Cuba's sugar harvest this year is the lowest in 30 years. Next year promises to be even worse. Not surprisingly, Cuban economy czar Carlos Lage announced last week that for the first time since Fidel Castro took charge, foreign investment would be welcomed in the sugar industry.
