Mate, you know this little sally “Chosen”, “Perfect” etc really is neither clever, nor insightful, nor even convincing to the outside observer.
The American Left, as evidenced here, seems to be a fractious bunch and I - most certainly not of the Left - am hard pressed to see any basis for your strained attempt at cleverness. Indeed, it seems really fairly colourless and rebounds on you.
Of course it seems fairly typical of the American Left to rather than show solidarity, whine endless of the lack of purity of their man, speculate on his being captured by enemy corporate interests and generally show the very inverse of the discipline of the Right (of course each characteristic can be taken to a fault).
Oh please, that is a facile and childish response.
Politicians must frequently bid their time and oft throw the unruly mob a bone. Or in this instance, insofar as it appears to me that Obama has rather a lot on his plate with your health care reform and the entirely ludicrously irrational response from your political side (this said as a Burkean conservative with little love for governmental programme), dishonest as a position. A place holder renewal while political capital is focused on primary objectives is merely intelligent politics and game strategy. It is supremely childish and superficial (or mind bogglingly dishonest and partisan) to claim otherwise. Perhaps you are jealous given your man, the prior President, was so very incompetent in these spheres. Unbecoming, jealousy and peevishness I should think.
Evidently not, as anyone with a school leaving degree should be able to tell, but then I think your question isn’t really an honest one at all.
No idea, and as I had a husband and job in the US [and a military dependent ID that provides my medical care for my nasty chronic preexisting conditions] I was not about to risk anything. I would also think the US Navy would really not look kindly on one of its little drones having a wife bopping around Cuba …
lalenin, you probably don’t remember me, but I remember you. We participated in a thread about the embargo about a year ago in which you made a big impression on me, particularly as regards how much lifting the embargo would help the Cuban people. To recap, that for me is the key issue. At this remove, I don’t care tuppence about the fact that fifty years ago Castro nationalized American business interests without compensation (well, he offered bonds, but those were declined). I do care that Cuba is a totalitarian regime, but we manage to do business with many such.
So, my question for you is this. If you could speak directly to the ear of American policy, what do you think would be the best approach for America to adopt?
If we’re only talking about influencing the US side of the issue then complete and open trade and diplomatic relations between the two countries. US embassies in Cuba and Cuban embassies in the US. Trade treaties that would give Cuban products traded to the US the same advantages that other Latin American countries have.
However there are two parties involved, and I believe that if tomorrow the US accepted all Cuban government requirements for open relations, like closing Guantanamo base, pay reparations for attacks and trade restrictions during the past 50 years, free Cuban spies in US prisons, and so on, Cuba would still not accept open relations with the US. Having the US as an antagonist is simply part of the Cuban government policy, and without it much of what the government claims as its reason for being would go away.
At best if tomorrow the US Congress removed Helms-Burton the Cuban government would take full advantage of the trade this would open up. However they would still continue to portray the US as a political enemy. Meaning US business would not be welcomed in Cuba.
They do exactly that (or did do that in the mid-nineties – I have no personal knowledge of what they do now). They understand perfectly the situation Americans are in. Generally they’re quite welcoming to Americans and don’t want to make difficulties for those Americans who visit Cuba.
Are foreign businesses in general welcomed in Cuba at present? If so, how do they integrate/interact with the state-run economy? If the arrangement is profitable to Cuba, I very much doubt the government would keep U.S. businesses out of it for the reasons you describe; they really need the profits.
Yes, I was speaking only to the US side of the equation. So, say we drop Helms-Burton, open trade, remove travel restrictions and offer diplomatic relations, but don’t close Guantanamo, won’t pay reparations and won’t release spies. I think this helps us, if nothing else, in improving our international reputation. I assume Cuba doesn’t accept the offer of diplomatic relations in the short term, perhaps never. Does this program do much for the Cuban people? In the prior thread, you persuaded me (as I recall) that it doesn’t. OTOH, continuing the embargo isn’t helping them either. How do you see this scenario playing out? Let’s work with a time line of, say, one to ten years.
Went I went a couple of times about 10 years ago, they did stamp my passport, but the stamp was just a generic plane icon in a square with no reference to the country of origin. I visited the US about two months later with no problems - in fact my US entry stamp is on the same page, ha!
It will change after Fidel’s death for certain. Raul has talked about making a couple of internal openings, which have been criticized in the press by Fidel, and the openings have not gone beyond the talking stage. One was the removal of exit restrictions and another was the tying of compensation to worker productivity.
Foreign businesses are welcome on a limited basis. All foreign ventures must be minority partners with the Cuban government, which is the majority partner. For instance every tourist resort in Cuba is owned in this joint partnership with foreign hotel partners.
My point is that every foreign business must partner with the Cuban government, there is no opportunity for Cuban businesses to work directly with foreign firms. In my opinion this level of control means that only firms that are very close with the Cuban government are and will be allowed in.
Like I mentioned in my response to BG, the benefit will be limited, but not insignificant. For instance, one of the areas where Cuba and the US would have a natural partnership, and one that has not been exploited by other foreign ventures yet is in agriculture and cattle.
Most farming in Cuba is done with primitive means, ox pulled plows and carts are common. I can see US agricultural firms being tapped to provide mechanized help to modernize that system. Cuba would not be able to provide cash payments for these ventures, so it would have to be some barter or profit sharing. My hope would be that the result of such a venture would be that more food is accessible to ordinary Cubans, but my fear is that the Cuban government would only turn around and export that food in exchange for hard cash.
Of course it can, and it does. The embargo is just a convenient excuse for the failures of the Cuban government and its economy. Which is why I’ve said that if the US repealed Helms-Burton tomorrow the Cuban government would probably not change its trade posture with the US and instead find a convenient excuse to refuse trade, like Guantanamo, or reparations, or FDR’s failure to respond to Fidel Castro’s letter.
Well, it can although I understand that the Americans, as they so charmingly do with greater and greater frequency, have built into their legislation some mechanisms intended to have extra territorial effect, penalising interactions with firms that do business with “People the Americans Don’t Like.”
Other than that, of course having your closest neighbour (ex fellow islands) and natural trading partner actively throwing sand in the wheels of commerce isn’t helpful. Still, most of Cuba’s problems are Cuban - well Cuban Communist Party generated. Usual effects of the hard left in power.
I should think, however, based on the example of other communist regimes opening up, that if the Americans really wished to damage the Castro regime and effect change, that they merely adopt a free trade and visitation policy, and let the demonstration effect undermine the communists as it did in E. Europe. Taking away the plausibility of the Castro regime’s nationalistic defensive anti-Yanqui posturing would do far more damage to the regime than the absurd and childish embargo.
I agree. The very first open demonstration against the Castro government took place in 1980 when 10,00 0 people went into the Peruvian embassy and asked for political asylum, this was the genesis of the Mariel boat lift.
Not coincidentally in 1979 the Cuban government started to allow Cuban-Americans to visit the island for the first time since 1959. That first hand contact with people who they knew and trusted, family and friends, who were clearly thriving in the belly of the beast (las entrañas del monstruo), as the Cuban government refers to the US, opened the eyes of many Cubans as to the disconnect between what they were being told by the government and the reality of life abroad.
Right, and the present American embargo merely slows down that process of exposure to the outside world that puts in relief the Communist system’s lies. Take away the pretext, let free commerce and flow of people have its natural effect. As it did in E. Germany, etc. The oddballs of the American hard right are in their self-indulgent posturing, handing the communists a gift.
Since you mention “visiting” the US, I’m guessing you’re not a US citizen, and so you’re in a different situation.
The US prohibits its own citizens from travelling to Cuba (except in certain narrowly defined circumstances, and then permission must be sought in advance). The US government doesn’t care if a non-US citizen visiting the US has been to Cuba in the past. Its policy forbidding US citizens to travel to Cuba might apply to permanent or other legal non-citizen residents, too. Or it might only apply to US passport holders. I don’t know.
Yes I realise that, I was merely commenting on what they stamp in your passport, which is not something that looks like a Cuban stamp in any way, it looks completely generic. Doesn’t even have a date. And if you think foreigners can just waltz into the US with a bunch of unwelcome stamps in their passports, you clearly haven’t tried it.
The impression I got was that the Cubans involved in the tourist trade (and that includes immigration at the airport) were very sensitive to visitors. They realise the US can get a bit bullyish with its friends if it chooses and Cuba doesn’t want to deter Canadians, Mexicans, British, Spanish, Argentinians, Italians etc from visiting if they’re afraid that it’ll mean unnecessary questioning at US immigration.