Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 276 posts

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#21

Post by refurb »

sremani wrote: post #14

In 2008 G W Bush has removed North Korea from Embargo list, and embargo has to be renewed every year based on "some" Enemy Act of 1917. Cuba is the only country in US embargo list, I understand it is personal as Cuba is just few miles away from US, but still the embargo is inhumane and people are suffering. John Oliver has a very interesting piece on his HBO show.

The one thing I don't understand is how the US embargo is to blame for the lackluster Cuban economy. Cuba is free to trade with most Western countries including the EU and Canada.

How much of the economic misery is due to the Castro government and how much is due to the US embargo?

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#22

Post by clamprecht »

Someone wrote: post #20
valarauca1 wrote: post #5

This is actually (amusingly) incredibly unpopular in cigar circles who are calling this the "end of an era". Most discussions seems to center around the doom and gloom of quality dropping and prices increasing as the US/Cuban cigar market opens and the demand for CC increases. No discussion on the legality of owning CC changing amusingly. As apparently everyone forgets that smoking a Cuban Cigar can be considered an…

Prices of American cars from the fifties will drop, too. Longer-term, I also expect fierce legal battles over the ownership of houses on Cuba.

Can you explain the housing ownership battle? Is this related to foreigners (to Cuba) who owned houses in Cuba before 1959?

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#23

Post by quonn »

iandanforth wrote: post #7

I've visited Cuba on a Canadian passport. Aside from the beautiful beaches the thing that struck me most was the desperate poverty of people living in shacks outside the 5 star resorts. While I hesitate to predict that this change will be all for the good, I do believe that the poorest in Cuba will benefit significantly from increased trade.

This might have been your impression, coming straight from Canada. I visited Cuba a decade ago, having traveled in Latin America for > 1 year. I can't say that Cuba seemed to be worse off than many of these other countries.

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#24

Post by sremani »

refurb wrote: post #21
sremani wrote: post #14

In 2008 G W Bush has removed North Korea from Embargo list, and embargo has to be renewed every year based on "some" Enemy Act of 1917. Cuba is the only country in US embargo list, I understand it is personal as Cuba is just few miles away from US, but still the embargo is inhumane and people are suffering. John Oliver has a very interesting piece on his HBO show.

The one thing I don't understand is how the US embargo is to blame for the lackluster Cuban economy. Cuba is free to trade with most Western countries including the EU and Canada. How much of the economic misery is due to the Castro government and how much is due to the US embargo?

An american embargo on Mexico will effect Mexico in spades even if it can trade with others. I am not glorifying Castro, but we have hardly hurt Castro, the idea behind the embargo is to make it unbearable for Cubans and make them revolt against Castro - that did not happen in 50 years and so its about time to change the tactics. US is the giant that can infuse a boat load money via tourism, or capital or through access to new technology and services. US can influence Cuba more if its economy is coupled with America's. That how we tackled Communist Chinese, remember.

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#25

Post by penprog »

clamprecht wrote: post #22
Someone wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prices of American cars from the fifties will drop, too. Longer-term, I also expect fierce legal battles over the ownership of houses on Cuba.

Can you explain the housing ownership battle? Is this related to foreigners (to Cuba) who owned houses in Cuba before 1959?

Exiles who left the country. If you were to speak to elderly Cubans who fled they would tell you about how they all had their possessions taken from them.

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#26

Post by philwelch »

serve_yay wrote: post #16
spacefight wrote: post #3

Nice. Whats's next? Close Gitmo? Give back the lease?

I am not sure why this would affect that, as far as I know that part of Cuba is considered to be US soil.

Guantanamo Bay isn't US soil, it's Cuban soil indefinitely leased to the US for the purpose of maintaining a naval base. (The concentration camp is a side benefit, constructed to evade laws against building concentration camps on American soil.)

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#27

Post by infecto »

sremani wrote: post #14

In 2008 G W Bush has removed North Korea from Embargo list, and embargo has to be renewed every year based on "some" Enemy Act of 1917. Cuba is the only country in US embargo list, I understand it is personal as Cuba is just few miles away from US, but still the embargo is inhumane and people are suffering. John Oliver has a very interesting piece on his HBO show.

Unfortunately I do not think this is the full truth. I believe there should not be an embargo BUT the embargo is not the main cause of poverty in Cuba.

Cuba has a huge tourism industry. A lot of the business that serve tourists are state owned. Where does this money go? Everything from hotels to restaurants are state owned. Who is profiting here?

I think at this point its less personal and more choice. Cuba chooses to run its govern and keep their people in poverty, the US chooses to keep them on an embargo list. Comparing this to Mexico is a poor example. There is ample current trade with Mexico that if cut off, would hurt the country. The US has not traded with Cuba for a LONG time but has traded with most other world super powers. Nobody here to blame but the Cuban government.

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#28

Post by tormeh »

refurb wrote: post #21
sremani wrote: post #14

In 2008 G W Bush has removed North Korea from Embargo list, and embargo has to be renewed every year based on "some" Enemy Act of 1917. Cuba is the only country in US embargo list, I understand it is personal as Cuba is just few miles away from US, but still the embargo is inhumane and people are suffering. John Oliver has a very interesting piece on his HBO show.

The one thing I don't understand is how the US embargo is to blame for the lackluster Cuban economy. Cuba is free to trade with most Western countries including the EU and Canada. How much of the economic misery is due to the Castro government and how much is due to the US embargo?

The Helms–Burton Act dictates that any firm that does trade with Cuba can't trade with the US. So no trade for Cuba, then.

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#29

Post by themartorana »

iandanforth wrote: post #7

I've visited Cuba on a Canadian passport. Aside from the beautiful beaches the thing that struck me most was the desperate poverty of people living in shacks outside the 5 star resorts. While I hesitate to predict that this change will be all for the good, I do believe that the poorest in Cuba will benefit significantly from increased trade.

It's the same in India and other countries I've visited. Trade alone won't help. I realize India and Cuba are apples and oranges, but my point is that significant trade doesn't necessarily trickle down to the poorest.

That said, I do hope it does help some people in Cuba who have fallen victim to unnecessary stresses caused by the embargo.

Re: Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations

#30

Post by hughw »

joezydeco wrote: post #17

The timing seems really clever here. The USA and OPEC flood the market with oil (literally), crashing prices and sending the Ruble into a spiral. Just as Cuba starts to worry about Russian support going forward, the USA swoops in to provide some economic bracing.

Literally?
Post reply on HN