Cuba will launch a bid to play host to the 2012 Olympics on this Caribbean island.

Vice President Jose Ramon Fernandez, head of Cuba's Olympic Committee, told the Communist Party daily newspaper Granma that Cuba wants to show the world how a small country can efficiently organize the event without the commercialism that traditionally accompanies the games. Eight U.S. cities also have submitted bids for the Olympics. They are New York; Houston; Dallas; Los Angeles; Cincinnati; San Francisco; Tampa, Fla.; and Washington-Baltimore. The International Olympic Committee will choose a host city in fall 2005.