<p>My DH’s car buddies are salivating at the idea of seeing those beautiful cars.
Last year Wabash College sent a class down to study Cuba. They met with everyone from government officials to “regular folks” to exiled Miami movers and shakers upon their return. Even the most politically conservative student agreed that a policy change was in order.
At the very least I think it will be wonderful that families will be able to meet again after all these years. </p>
<p>“I don’t understand why anyone would want to vacation in dictatorship.”</p>
<p>rum, beaches, great value…</p>
<p>“I bet the remnants of communism fall apart as soon as Cuba is exposed to modern business and all the stuff that comes with it.”</p>
<p>Could happen. But Canadians and others have been going there all this time, is our “modern business and all the stuff that comes with it.” so different from theirs? I guess proximity could be a factor.</p>
<p>“Just because some Americans are of Cuban heritage…”
It’s not just that they were of Cuban heritage. But in a number of cases had their possessions expropriated, relatives killed. etc, by Castro’s government. There was a civil war, and many of the refugees who came here regarded Castro’s government illegitimate just as the Taiwanese did Mao’s. I would have thought there would be a lot of people in Florida upset over this. But maybe the people who cared most are all old or dead by now.</p>
<p>@busdriver11, actually, the number of international visitors to Mexico was up in 2014. I believe it set a record, in fact. The violence you’re referring to is more than a thousand miles away from some of the most popular resorts. </p>
<p>I just texted D1 that we should go to Cuba before it becomes too commercialized. </p>
<p>DH and I just had that same conversation, @oldfort : time to see Havana before it looks like Miami Beach. </p>
<p>China is Cuba’s second largest trade partner after Venezuela. They are investing in a rebuilding of the sugar industry and are also ‘interested’ in any oil fortunes. </p>
<p><a href=“http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/video/2014-07/23/c_133505283.htm”>http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/video/2014-07/23/c_133505283.htm</a></p>
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<p>Cuba is an emerging market…we better get in before we’re priced (politically locked) out.</p>
<p>A big outstanding question is how will the property seized from Cuban nationals who now reside in the US be handled once we normalize these relations. The seizure parallels what happened in East Germany. </p>
<p>I think the recent deterioration in our relations with Russia had something to do with this attempt to normalize our situation with Cuba. Does anyone want Putin’s missiles targeting the US soil from Cuba? Definitely not me. </p>
<p>With Russia in an economic freefall, their loss is our gain in Cuba. </p>
<p>Good grief. The US Virgin Islands has rum and beaches. So does Puerto Rico. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t go to Iran or Saudi Arabia or other places that repress their people. By doing so you are putting money in the hands of the dictator. </p>
<p>One of my colleagues was a small boy when Castro seized power. He was put on a plane to the US never knowing if he would see his family again. They lost their family farm in the Communist take-over. To somehow romanticize such a country because they have cars from the 1950’s is ridiculous. </p>
<p>“The US Virgin Islands has rum and beaches. So does Puerto Rico.”</p>
<p>The vacationers say: “Been there already. Next??”</p>
<p>"I would think that it will eventually also help our economy. Cubans will want to buy our cars, our clothes, our computers, etc. Have you seen pictures of the cars they drive? It is like they are stuck in the 50’s and 60’s.</p>
<p>It will take time, of course, before they may be allowed to buy our stuff, but I bet it comes faster than we expect now"</p>
<p>Probably will take some time, as right now they are the most heavily censored society in the Western Hemisphere. Only a few people allowed cellphones, and the media is operated under the supervision of the Communist Party’s Department of Revolutionary Orientation, which “develops and coordinates propaganda strategies”.</p>
<p>Plus, seeing as the average Cuban lives on about two dollars a day, it’s going to take a couple generations of earnings just to afford one of those little Kia cars. Unless, of course, you are one of the bigwigs of the Communist party, and in that case, you could probably afford whatever you want. Power to the people!</p>
<p>I wonder what deal with the devil the Cubans made to normalize relationships and how much of a fire sale there will be for Cuban state assets picked up by American companies with erstwhile presence in Cuba.</p>
<p>If you go on Google Earth, you will find lots of European resort chains on the lovely sands of Cuba. Non-US Westerners have vacationed there for years.
I hope we normalize relations as soon as possible. It’s just silly to punish Cuba when we deal normally with much worse regimes.
I hope that normalization would limit the government monopoly in trade. My friend has a “people to people” contact who grows flowers. The friend is only allowed to sell her flowers to the government, who then sells them to the resorts like Sandals.
Compared to the human rights abuses in …
Ok, never mind, don’t want to get this thread shut down.</p>
<p>“If you go on Google Earth, you will find lots of European resort chains on the lovely sands of Cuba. Non-US Westerners have vacationed there for years.
I hope we normalize relations as soon as possible. It’s just silly to punish Cuba when we deal normally with much worse regimes”</p>
<p>Yet Cuba is not economically devastated because the US hasn’t had normalized relations with them. China, Russia, Canada, Europe, many others trade with them. Not everything depends upon us. The reason why they are so impoverished is because communism doesn’t work for people (unless you’re a high up party leader or general, then it works just fine). It’s not because we don’t trade with them. They have plenty of other partners.</p>
<p>We also thought we didn’t trade with China, but there was HKG where most goods and money passed through. If we are not going to do business with every country that doesn’t have the same ideology as we do, we would be awfully lonely.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.freedomhouse.org/report/special-reports/worst-worst-2012-worlds-most-repressive-societies#.VJI36XvHTQo”>https://www.freedomhouse.org/report/special-reports/worst-worst-2012-worlds-most-repressive-societies#.VJI36XvHTQo</a></p>
<p>I don’t know the point of view of this organization. But they are cited in other articles as being legit. The worst human rights abusers in alpha order:</p>
<p>Belarus
Burma
Chad
China
Cuba
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Laos
Libya
North Korea
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan</p>
<p>While I imagine there is some truth to this list, I have a hard time thinking that they did all of their due diligence if they can’t get a country’s name right. Burma changed its name to Myanmar in 1989. It makes me wonder what else they got wrong.</p>
<p>I don’t think US is lilly white either. I hope this thread doesn’t become too political.</p>
<p>I know Alan Gross is just one person, and his release holds international significance. I, however, have been e-mailing family members and checking in on FB for news of this person and his extended family. His father, Alex, wrote a book about the Holocaust. He and his brothers agreed, that if they survived, they would meet in a specific place in US on a certain date. One brother moved to join Alex, who was doing well in business. Years later, Alan is held prisoner. He lost a lot of weight, his health suffered. His extended family wrote letters and sent care packages. They did all they could for his release. I am happy for his children and his family. </p>
<p>I’m sure if we just held out a few more years the US embargo would have proved a roaring success. </p>