http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3954679.stm
What are the implications of this decision? Is Fidel Castro shooting himself in the foot?
Maybe punish Miami Cubans ? There dollar won’t help their families back in Cuba as much…
Still doesn’t sound like a good policy no matter what… so much for changing Cuba through capitalism.
I imagine the real reason is so that Castro can get his hands on the hard currency itself. You force everyone to sell US dollars to the Cuban government for worthless scrip at whatever exchange rate the Cuban government sets. And if its a crime to hold foreign currency, you can bust anyone anytime for that “crime”. The Cuban government confiscates the hard currency and does whatever they like with the perp.
Cuba is, after all, a Communist dictatorship, no matter how lovable Uncle Fidel is. This is the sort of thing Communist dictatorships do as a matter of course.
The measure is so drastic that no US tourist will think of going to Cuba for vacations. I don’t think Fidel is going to pocket any currency with such measures.
I do hate to walk right into a possible whoosh, but there aren’t any US tourists going to Cuba for vacations (legally, anyway) right now…
Ya, but quite a few are. I have two passports, and using that wretched hive of scum and villany, LBP International, I’ve been to Holguín (well, a resort near there.) Had to see what the Euro relatives were raving about. Not much, as it turns out. Give me Jamaica or Bermuda or just about any Caribbean destination over that backwater of Cuba anyday. Substandard food, prices were not all that competitive, air conditioning is practically non-existant due to electricity rationing, and a myriad other problems. Strictly ‘meh’. Even the ‘good’ stogies were hard to find.
But still, Americans do do there. Most of us only once, I suspect, unless we are talking about the Cuban-Americans visiting family, but until that place breathes the sweet air of free-market capitalism, we ain’t missing out on much.
True, but you can be a licensed visitor for other reasons:
I see this dollar thing as a very healthy sign…that we may finally see the end of the Castro gang. I see the Cuban government as desparate to prevent its citizens from holding dollars. Don’t forget-Vastro has only offered grudging reforms…you can actually run a private restaurant in Cuba! provided of course, that you only have 5 tables! And, you cannot pay your workers in dollars-you have to turn over ALL foreign currency to the government, and accept worthless pesos in return. The same with the “private” food markets.
The governemnet is afraid of losing its grip…so it cannot allow a middle class of entrepreneurs (parasites in Fidel’s lingo) grow up and challenge the offical class.
Viva la revolucion! :smack:
I think you underestimate Fidel. The U.S.$ is in a downward spiral & the future looks even grimmer. The balance of payments problem is wildly out of control under that Republican Conservative fiscal Genius Mr. Pres. Geo Bush, he is mired in a war that is costing bazillions per month, and the Euro and Pound Sterling look better all the time. Just about everything Cuba needs - except hordes of very fat people - can also come from Europe, Russia and Asia and can be paid for in stronger Euros or Pounds. I hold no brief for Fidel, but I think he is prudent in this case. The U.S. is rapidly headed toward 3rd world status. Thanks to a Republican - remember when Clinton was in Ofc and Republicans jest knew all there was to know about Foreign policy and Economics. Gol darn that must have been about 1,000 yrs ago - wasn’t it?
Yes, that fickle industrial infrastructure, mercurial trillions of private wealth, and those unpredictable centuries-old corporations and NGO’s have a tendency to vanish overnight, leaving all 300 million americans in straw huts.
Isn’t it just so annoying when space-travelling hyperpowers turn into 3rd world countries before your eyes? :rolleyes:
The account I read said that Cuba will still eagerly accept all other foreign currencies such as Euros, Yen, Canadian dollars- anything whatsoever except US dollars. I’m not sure what the point of this is; whether it’s because Fidel and co. think that the dependency on US dollars gives the US government too great a hold on Cuba, or if Fidel is simply going through a fit of “Damn the Yankees!”
Nah, Castro is probably just ticked off because the newscasters in the US kept playing that clip of him falling off the stage. On the morning news here, the reporters could barely keep from laughing. :rolleyes:
Come to think of it, that’s pretty much what would happen, if our supply of cheap imported oil were cut off abruptly. We wouldn’t be living in straw huts, of course, but we’d be too preoccupied to notice the difference.
In spite of the U.S. prohibition on travel to Cuba, currently being tightened by the Bush administration? Brutus, why do you hate America so much?
Yep. I walk a fine line between ‘law-abiding citizen’ and ‘felon’ every day, and going on vacation is just one of the more brutal examples of that. Also, the ‘why do you hate America’ schtick is just as amazingly stupid coming from you as it is coming from anyone.
Keep it out of GD.
Take your own advice, skippy.
Dang . I knew we shouldn’t have played the video of Castro falling on his face quite so much.
So people will have to exchange their currency before they go to Cuba or before they send funds. Won’t this create jobs in currency exchange, boosting the economies of everyone? 
So, what currency will the Cuban teenage prostitutes be accepting in the future? And will this have any effect on their rates (adjusted for rate of exchange)? 