farewell raul - from the economist

[FidelCashflow]

How do you folks reconcile the fact that the outlay we make on this hobby goes to fill the coffers of these regimes? Sure, plenty of money makes it into the hands of unsavory people, even those living in the "first world" and flying a corporate flag instead of communist. But it's a little more overt when every box of cigars is produced and sold by state owned industry. One can't help but feel like an implicit supporter of these repressive regimes.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[Ken Gargett]

54 minutes ago, FidelCashflow said:

How do you folks reconcile the fact that the outlay we make on this hobby goes to fill the coffers of these regimes? Sure, plenty of money makes it into the hands of unsavory people, even those living in the "first world" and flying a corporate flag instead of communist. But it's a little more overt when every box of cigars is produced and sold by state owned industry. One can't help but feel like an implicit supporter of these repressive regimes.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
 

my money just goes into rob's pocket. so repressive regime indeed! 

we have a royal commission into banks going on here at the moment. as a former banking lawyer, i can tell you that they make the cstro's/cuba look like disneyland. without the pirates. 

[Corylax18]

On 4/24/2018 at 2:11 AM, FidelCashflow said:

How do you folks reconcile the fact that the outlay we make on this hobby goes to fill the coffers of these regimes? Sure, plenty of money makes it into the hands of unsavory people, even those living in the "first world" and flying a corporate flag instead of communist. But it's a little more overt when every box of cigars is produced and sold by state owned industry. One can't help but feel like an implicit supporter of these repressive regimes.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
 

The same way we justify overflowing our houses with Cheap, chinese made everything. Or Nikes made in Sweatshops throughout asia. We love to act high and mighty but we have ZERO legitmate justification for the embargo. The US has implicitly supported FAR worse regimes world wide and even on the island in question, Buatista anyone?

The Cuban economy that we see from the outside is a farce. The Cuban governement may still be (mostly) communist, but the black market that they have allowed to bubble up in the last decade or so (Since Raul took over) sure looks a lot like capitalism to me. When a Cuban taxi driver makes 50-80 CUC a day from tourists and his wife a university trained Microbiologist, working at a childrens hospital makes about 25 CUC a MONTH from the governement you cant say that more tourists wouldnt be a massive boost to the real economy of Cuba.

A wealthy Cuban (I know, an odd term that we dont have time to fully dissect now) has acces to everything they want and need, for a price. $200 Samsung flatscreen in the states? $700 in Cuba, brought in one at a time in the cargo hold of commercial airliners. Its the same with Iphones, microwaves, US TV and music, Nike clothes and shoes. Hell, you even see Coca Cola openly sold all over the country. This Cuban economy is thriving and is orders of magnitude larger than the economy we have been presented by the Cuban gov.

Most Cubans have found a way to live comfortably, but it isnt easy. The US lifting the Embargo would certainly make the Lives of everyday Cubans easier, but not necessarily better.  

Raul still controls/heads the communist party and the military, so he is still completely in charge, lets not forget that. Diaz Canel essentially has a 3 year trial period, until 2021 when Raul fully cedes control. It would be stunning to see any major changes between now and then. 

[FidelCashflow]

The same way we justify overflowing our houses with Cheap, chinese made everything. Or Nikes made in Sweatshops throughout asia. We love to act high and mighty but we have ZERO legitmate justification for the embargo. The US has implicitly supported FAR worse regimes world wide and even on the island in question, Buatista anyone?
The Cuban economy that we see from the outside is a farce. The Cuban governement may still be (mostly) communist, but the black market that they have allowed to bubble up in the last decade or so (Since Raul took over) sure looks a lot like capitalism to me. When a Cuban taxi driver makes 50-80 CUC a day from tourists and his wife a university trained Microbiologist, working at a childrens hospital makes about 25 CUC a MONTH from the governement you cant say that more tourists wouldnt be a massive boost to the real economy of Cuba.
A wealthy Cuban (I know, an odd term that we dont have time to fully dissect now) has acces to everything they want and need, for a price. $200 Samsung flatscreen in the states? $700 in Cuba, brought in one at a time in the cargo hold of commercial airliners. Its the same with Iphones, microwaves, US TV and music, Nike clothes and shoes. Hell, you even see Coca Cola openly sold all over the country. This Cuban economy is thriving and is orders of magnitude larger than the economy we have been presented by the Cuban gov.
Most Cubans have found a way to live comfortably, but it isnt easy. The US lifting the Embargo would certainly make the Lives of everyday Cubans easier, but not necessarily better.  
Raul still controls/heads the comunist party and the military, so he is still completely in charge, lets not forget that. Diaz Canel essentially has a 3 year trial period, until 2021 when Raul fully cedes control. It would be stunning to se any major changes between now and then. 

Admittedly, I've done limited research on the subject. Thanks for the informative reply.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[BlackFriar]

Governments aside, at the end of the day there are thousands of hard working Cubans who put in a tremendous amount of work to create a thing of beauty.  I am more than happy to purchase a product that provides a livelihood for so many people.

[CaptainQuintero]

On 20/04/2018 at 8:43 PM, TheGipper said:

I read this sort of thing all the time about Cuba and the much-hated US based franchises taking over Cuba if the embargo is lifted.  I don't get this thinking. 

There's no embargo between Cuba and Canada.  So why isn't there a Tim Hortons on every corner?  No embargo between UK and Cuba, so why aren't there Tescos? 

It's not any embargo that keeps foreign investment out.  Do we even think the Cuban government wants foreign investment and the attendant extension of private property rights necessary to do so?  I doubt it.

It's a lot more complicated than that however. As mentioned above, shipping has to choose whether to either dock in Cuba or the US, so obviously the former misses out. The same style of issue is across many sectors not least being banking; there's not too many financial institutions that will/can choose to lose the US as a customer as a consequence of letting Cuba access their financial services