# Castro Absolves Obama of Fault For US Blockade **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 11, 2015, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-absolves-obama-of-fault-for-us-blockade/717442 "2015-04-11T19:02:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-absolves-obama-of-fault-for-us-blockade/717442/41 "2015-04-16T17:12:42Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I am curious about what kind of trade the USA would have with Cuba. Cuba exports sugar-we protect our sugar industry via high tariffs-and (ironically) the US (Florida) sugar production is owned by Cuban-Americans (Fanjool brothers). Cuba also exports rum, and produce-all of which compete with Florida-grown produce. that leaves nickel (there would be a market here, if we had any steelmaking left). So I don’t see a big boom in Cuban-American trade. From the US perspective it would hardly be a blip on the radar. I can see specialty items like Cuban cigars being popular…they already are, after all, with people who like fine cigars. Rum and sugar would have to compete in our markets. There would be a large tourist opportunity for US residents. From Cuba’s perspective, however, it would be huge. Even leaving aside their export trade with the US, they could import goods and services from the US and the last vestiges of reluctance for mutual trade with other US partners. There would also be, in theory at least, opportunities for capital injection both from the US and from other nations investors. It would be literally game changing for the Cubans, assuming they cleaned up and played nice. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-absolves-obama-of-fault-for-us-blockade/717442/42 "2015-04-16T17:44:28Z")
I don’t know how useful it is to extrapolate from[Canadian numbers](http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/2010-87-e.htm) because Cuban trade with the US would completely transform their trade landscape and with it probably the nature of their economy, but FWIW… - Canada exports about ten times more to Cuba than it imports - Exports are mostly machinery, wheat and other cereals, and vegetables; imports include rum, cigars, and scrap copper. There really should be a separate line item for “Havana Club Anejo Reserva purchases by **wolfpup** ” as I suspect that it contributes measurably to their GDP. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-absolves-obama-of-fault-for-us-blockade/717442/43 "2015-04-16T17:51:28Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > They’ve been calling it “el bloqueo” for half a century – Is it, perhaps, a word which in Spanish means both “blockade” and “embargo”? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-absolves-obama-of-fault-for-us-blockade/717442/44 "2015-04-16T17:53:19Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I don’t know how useful it is to extrapolate from[Canadian numbers](http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/2010-87-e.htm) because Cuban trade with the US would completely transform their trade landscape and with it probably the nature of their economy, but FWIW… > > - Canada exports about ten times more to Cuba than it imports > > - Exports are mostly machinery, wheat and other cereals, and vegetables; imports include rum, cigars, and scrap copper. There really should be a separate line item for “Havana Club Anejo Reserva purchases by **wolfpup** ” as I suspect that it contributes measurably to their GDP. 😃 More or less, do you estimate, than _"jinetera_ expenditures by **wolfpup** on vacation"? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-absolves-obama-of-fault-for-us-blockade/717442/45 "2015-04-16T18:22:34Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Is it, perhaps, a word which in Spanish means both “blockade” and “embargo”? Nope, it’s just that “Bloqueo” sounds more ominous than “Embargo”, in other words, PR. I have tried to explain the difference many times, but is a losing battle, the word used to describe the US embargo is now “Bloqueo” and so it shall remain. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-absolves-obama-of-fault-for-us-blockade/717442/46 "2015-04-16T22:27:15Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Either Raul or the reporter misspoke. The U.S. has an **embargo** on Cuba. We have not had a **blockade** since the Missile Crisis. All the more reason to let Obama off! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castro-absolves-obama-of-fault-for-us-blockade/717442.md?page=2)