CUBA - State-owned Cubapetroleo produced the equivalent of more than 4 million tons of oil and accompanying gas in 2008, up 1.3 percent over the previous year, state television said.

CENTRAL AMERICA - The vast global financial crisis besetting the globalized world, which is causing a sharp brake on growth of the economies of the countries have begun to reflect in the shipping industry and therefore in the port sector.

CENTRAL AMERICA - Work to expand and upgrade ports in Central America is coming in fits and starts as port authorities and national governments grapple with governance and social issues. El Salvador, Panama and Costa Rica are some of the central american countries which are expanding its most important ports.

PANAMA - Amid a strained and uncertain global economy, one historic construction project continues to reinforce Panama's economic growth and political stability: the expansion of the Panama Canal. Today, on the heels of Panamanian President Martin Torrijos' recent expansion financing structure announcement, senior leaders of five multilateral and development agencies convened at Panama's Ascanio Arosemena Theater with Canal officials to sign an agreement on the financing for the waterway's expansion.