Cuba and US to normalize relations

[Bamspeedy]

Will this affect Russia-Cuban relations? Will Cuba be more likely to sign on to sanctions against Russia? Currently they have agreements allowing Russia to extract natural resources (oil and mining) in exchange for investments and aid. From what I can tell those investments are insignificant to the amount of cash that could potentially flow into Cuba from the US.

 

[luiz]

I don't think either Castro brother has much of an incentive to open up too much to the US, as they're already very old and rich. But there are probably dozens if not hundreds of second-rate bureaucrats and army officers drooling at the prospect of becoming the Cuban version of the Russian oligarchs as the government begins to sell off its rotten enterprises not to the highest bidder, but to the better connected.

 

[ReindeerThistle]

I don't think either Castro brother has much of an incentive to open up too much to the US, as they're already very old and rich. But there are probably dozens if not hundreds of second-rate bureaucrats and army officers drooling at the prospect of becoming the Cuban version of the Russian oligarchs as the government begins to sell off its rotten enterprises not to the highest bidder, but to the better connected.

Oh, thought that was a joke post. I don't think you actually believe that!

 

[luiz]

Oh, thought that was a joke post. I don't think you actually believe that!

What's not to believe? The profitable Cuban business are already dominated by senior communist bureaucrats and army officers, from hotels to fancy restaurants. There's no doubt whatsoever that they'll profit the most from a "controlled' transition to capitalism, and all the new business opportunities with the US.

That said, it will be good for the normal people too. It'd be better if those parasites were removed, but oh well.

 

[ReindeerThistle]

What's not to believe? The profitable Cuban business are already dominated by senior communist bureaucrats and army officers, from hotels to fancy restaurants. There's no doubt whatsoever that they'll profit the most from a "controlled' transition to capitalism, and all the new business opportunities with the US.

That said, it will be good for the normal people too. It'd be better if those parasites were removed, but oh well.

Prove it. You know it's false, and I am call "BS," because it is a lie, a lie and more lies, and that makes you a liar.


The Myth of Castro's Net Worth...

"
PRESIDENT Fidel Castro has challenged and called on Bush, the CIA, the 33 U.S. intelligence agencies, the thousands of banks in the world and the ‘servants’ of Forbes magazine, which claims that Fidel has a fortune of $900 million, to prove that he has even one dollar in an overseas account.

“In exchange for just one shred of evidence, he said that he would offer them everything that they have tried and failed to do over almost half a century, during which time they have tried to destroy the Revolution and assassinate him via hundreds of conspiracies. ‘I’m giving you everything you’ve tried,’ he said, ‘and don’t come with your foolishness and wayside stories. Show me an account, of just one dollar,’ he emphasized.

“If they can prove that I have one single dollar, I will resign from all my responsibilities and the duties I am carrying out; they won’t need any more plans or transitions, if they can prove that I have one single dollar,” the revolutionary leader said emphatically.” – Granma newspaper

Later:

“Bush has not uttered a word and neither have the State Department, Congress or the CIA. Only the Nuevo Herald, a Miami newspaper, has tried to defend [the Forbes article] at the request of the Cuban-American mafia [the handful of rich white Cubans who left the country after the revolution because they didn’t want to be equal with the rest of the people]. This silence by the US Administration demonstrates the extent of its weakness.” – Radio Habana

Even the Miami Herald, a rightwing newspaper with ties to the Cuban-American mafia that is historically hostile to the Cuban Revolution admits that Fidel Castro lives in about the same conditions as everyone else in Cuba. The newspaper has previously printed articles in which it acknowledges that “The houses of Fidel and Raúl are large but simply appointed…. The living room of [Fidel’s] house is described by visitors as furnished with simple wood and leather sofas and chairs and Cuban handicrafts…. The only luxury visible to visitors is a big-screen television….”

 

[luiz]

Prove it. You know it's false, and I am call "BS," because it is a lie, a lie and more lies, and that makes you a liar.


The Myth of Castro's Net Worth...

Nice "source" you got there. A crazy blogger. And his argument is that... the US government did not defend the Forbes article on the richest heads of states. OooooK.

Anyway. It's very hard to calculate Castro's net worth. He does live in a palace, he does drive around in a fleet of black Mercedes, he does have servants and cooks and everything a rich man can desire. Forbes estimates his net worth in $900M, and explain their method here. It really doesn't matter how much he has, fact is he lives like millionaire, or rather like a despot. So he has no incentives to get richer, because he can buy whatever he wants.


As for my other claim that the profitable parts of the Cuban economy are controlled by Party bureaucrats and Army officers, check this:

Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces rent rooms to tourists through Gaviota SA, the island's fastest-growing hotel conglomerate. They sell premium cigars, peddle consumer goods through an island-wide retail chain and serve lobster dinners at the Divina Pastora restaurant in Havana's landmark Morro Castle. The military also has a say in allotting nickel mines and leasing offshore lots for oil exploration. The University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies estimates that soldiers control more than 60% of the island's economy.

http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB116356024065223514

That 60% figure is just for the armed forces. If you include the non-military apparatchiks, it's certainly much higher.

 

[kramerfan86]

Overseas accounts dont mean much, if you are the dictator of a country the country's money sort of becomes your money, even if you dont siphon it anywhere else. Why would you siphon anywhere? To dodge taxes of your own government?

 

[gay_Aleks]

Perhaps to hide the fact he was CIA all along.

 

[luiz]

Overseas accounts dont mean much, if you are the dictator of a country the country's money sort of becomes your money, even if you dont siphon it anywhere else. Why would you siphon anywhere? To dodge taxes of your own government?

He has overseas accounts as a safety measure in case he got ousted. He would use them to buy a comfortable exile at some other dictatorship. All despots do that.

But you're right that as a measure of a dictator's actual wealth account figures are irrelevant. He doesn't have to pay for his stuff with his own money, as Cuba's Treasury can be used as his personal wallet.

 

[Antilogic]

I echo the 'bout time sentiments above.

 

[Evie]

As many others have already said, about time.

Is Castro going to sabatage it again?

J

Seems to me sabotage, if any, is more likely to come from another C-word (one that might end in -ongress)

 

[ReindeerThistle]

Nice "source" you got there. A crazy blogger. And his argument is that... the US government did not defend the Forbes article on the richest heads of states. OooooK.

Anyway. It's very hard to calculate Castro's net worth. He does live in a palace, he does drive around in a fleet of black Mercedes, he does have servants and cooks and everything a rich man can desire. Forbes estimates his net worth in $900M, and explain their method here. It really doesn't matter how much he has, fact is he lives like millionaire, or rather like a despot. So he has no incentives to get richer, because he can buy whatever he wants.


As for my other claim that the profitable parts of the Cuban economy are controlled by Party bureaucrats and Army officers, check this:


http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB116356024065223514

That 60% figure is just for the armed forces. If you include the non-military apparatchiks, it's certainly much higher.

A lie, repeated often enough, is still a lie.

 

[kramerfan86]

oh wow what a compelling counterpoint, I am now convinced Castro is poor and lives a modest life and doesnt at all use government resources to bloat his lifestyle up. You forgot to tell him his pants were on fire though, that would have been the finisher.

 

[Tahuti]

Perhaps to hide the fact he was CIA all along.

Except that the CIA was already succesfully infiltrated and de-facto controlled by the Bulgarian Secret Service.

So in a way, Illinois is already part of Bulgaria!

 

[Zkribbler]

The embargo is not ending; only Congress can do that. However U.S. law does permit the President to lessen certain restrictions, which is what he's doing here.

Travel is permitted although tourism is not. (I'm not sure of the difference.)

I'm really interested to see how Raul Castro's Cuba will develop. Years ago, he let families farm, for the own benefit, pieces of land which his Agricultural Ministry deemed not suitable for farming. Soon, these family farmers were producing 1/3 of Cuba's food. Next, he allowed mom & pop business to operation--but no corporations. A land without corporations? Now, that's interesting.

 

[kramerfan86]

It would be a very interesting model to see private ownership allowed, but not large corporations. That would be a much more interesting social experiment to me than more corrupt communism.

 

[gay_Aleks]

Eventually, with private property allowed, someone will be able to amass enough wealth to be able to increase the limit one could grow through corruption or otherwise.

 

[kramerfan86]

Eventually, with private property allowed, someone will be able to amass enough wealth to be able to increase the limit one could grow through corruption or otherwise.

Could theoretically slap wealth limits on and be highly restrictive on mergers and acquisitions. Sure could collapse under corruption but how is that really any different than capitalist or communist governments? Would at least be an attempt at something new.

 

[Arwon]

But where will hipsters go for holidays for competitive bragging rights now

 

[BirraImperial]

About time as others have pointed. The embargo won't be lifted though, given that the US Congress is controlled by Republicans...Hopefully, the people of Cuba will gain more freedom and eventually transition their country to a functional democracy.


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