Cuba and Western creditors agree to salvage debt deal

Representatives of 14 creditor countries that are members of the Paris Club and Cuba have agreed to seek alternative solutions to settle outstanding debts that the country has failed to pay for four consecutive years.

The two sides issued a joint statement saying they would continue negotiations until a new debt repayment roadmap is established.

Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Ricardo Cabrisas affirmed that the government is ready to honor its commitments to international creditors when domestic conditions allow.

Under the 2015 agreement, the Paris Club wrote off $8.5 billion of the $11 billion in public debt Cuba had defaulted on since 1986, with a commitment to pay the remaining balance by 2023.

According to official statistics, Cuba's foreign currency revenues used to import goods and repay debts have fallen by more than 50 percent since the deal was signed.

Reuters news agency estimates that Cuba has only paid creditors less than 500 million USD.

The latest official figures released in 2020 show Cuba's total foreign debt at $19.7 billion. The country has restructured its debt with Russia, China and several other creditors. Cuba is not a member of the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank.

In another development, JetBlue, the first US airline to operate regular flights to Cuba since 2016 after the two countries re-established diplomatic relations, has just announced that it will suspend flights to the Caribbean island due to restrictions on visitors to Cuba.

In a statement on September 1, JetBlue said that restrictions imposed on travel to Cuba have significantly impacted passenger demand, so the airline will only serve flights to Cuba through September 17.

In a statement, JetBlue noted that it made history in 2016 when it landed in Cuba, becoming “the first U.S. airline to operate commercial flights between the two countries in more than 50 years.” JetBlue’s flight was the start of a bilateral agreement that will see 110 daily flights between the two countries.