The Geopolitics of U.S.-Cuba Relations

Stratfor ^ | December 23, 2014 | George Friedman

[arthurus]

It was a modest agreement, striking only because there was any agreement at all. U.S.-Cuba relations had been frozen for decades, with neither side prepared to make significant concessions or even first moves. The cause was partly the domestic politics of each country that made it easier to leave the relationship frozen. On the American side, a coalition of Cuban-Americans, conservatives and human rights advocates decrying Cuba's record of human rights violations blocked the effort. On the Cuban side, enmity with the United States plays a pivotal role in legitimizing the communist regime. Not only was the government born out of opposition to American imperialism, but Havana also uses the ongoing U.S. embargo to explain Cuban economic failures.

[Paladin2]

Bammy needs to try Raul for torture.

Unless of course if torture is what Bammy is afterall.

[Paladin2]

Bammy needs to try Raul for torture.

Unless of course if torture is who Bammy is after all.

[SampleMan]

A few questions:

1. If U.S. sanctions kept Cuba back, why were they unable to move forward by trading with every other country on earth?

2. If exposure to U.S. trade is going to help promote freedom, why hasn’t exposure to the free Europoeans, Canada, etc. had that effect?

3. How has opening up to China helped the U.S. or freedom in China?

[Dqban22]

If U.S. sanctions kept Cuba back, why were they unable to move forward by trading with every other country on earth?

Castro’s Cuba traded with over 140 countries worldwide. The problem is not the embargo or Cuba’s lack of trade with the rest of the world. The problem is Cuba is frozen in a Stalinist mold that destroyed since the very beginning the economy of a country that enjoyed in the 50’s the highest standard of living of Latin America and most to Western Europe. When Castro defeated Batista’s government, Cuba had almost no internal or foreign debt, with the Cuban peso accepted internationally on par with the dollar and over $400 in gold and foreign currency, the equivalence to several billion dollars today. With over $900 million in wealth, Castro is among the richest chief of State in the world while he enslaved and kept in the most abject misery the Cuban people for over 50 years.

If exposure to U.S. trade is going to help promote freedom, why has exposure to the free Europeans, Canada, etc. markets not had that effect already?

That is undisputable truth. Castro has bought from anyone who dares to sell him on credit, but Cuba never paid them back. The end of the embargo will make the American taxpayers subsidize the repressive Cuban apparatus while enriching even more the Communist mafia in power and prolonging the suffering of the Cuban people.

Obama pull off a very uneven exchange, 3 convicted Cuban spies for one innocent American incarcerated illegally in Cuba. By the way, the Chinese have a sophisticated electronic spying base to intercept all the communications from U.S. 50 miles from Havana and the Russians are now reopening their spy base in the outskirts of Havana.

How has opening up to China helped the U.S. or freedom in China?

Thanks to U.S. trade, China now is becoming the first world economy while keeping the iron fist of communism over its people.