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Every time the idiot has a phart fest, we get to pay for it.
My first thought when reading the article was that Cuba ejected the colonialists in 1959, and Trump is still mad about it, or maybe he's just mad that he can't put one of his hotels in Cuba.
In 1927, DuPont (plastics) had a house in Cuba, designed by architects Covarrocas and Govantes. Today, the house is a small hotel, restaurant and golf clubhouse. Does Trump really think that the DuPont house should be returned to the DuPont family? Perhaps Trump is wishing that he could buy Cuba and evict the Cubans?
Everything Trump does involves money. If isn't stuffing his own pockets, it's emptying someone elses'. He probably thinks that if he can starve the country of most things, they will sell.
He might be better off offering a reconciliation treaty where the USA pays for grievances from colonialists. It is a topic that Cubans study in school, and the money would go a long way towards repairing the colonialists' artifacts. Maybe the Cubans will offer real cigars in return.
I've never understood why the United States has such a hate-on for Cuba to this day. Oh, sure, back almost sixty years ago, it made sense--Communism in the western hemisphere, practically in the US's backyard, danger of Soviet missiles, and all that. But since then, the Soviet Union has ceased to exist, and other American foes have become friends (for example, Vietnam).
I understand that the American embargo has something to do with the Cuban government nationalizing American industries in Cuba, and taking land from legal landholders, causing them to escape to the United States. But other countries had business and other interests in Cuba too, which were similarly lost to the Cuban government. However, those countries maintained diplomatic and business relations with Cuba, and to the best of my knowledge, were eventually reimbursed by the Cubans for what was expropriated. I seem to recall that maybe thirty years ago, Cuba repaid the Canadian business interests who lost their holdings after the Cuban Revolution. Maybe if the US had maintained relations with Cuba, its interests would be repaid too.
The American embargo has had little to no effect. Pretty much the rest of the world trades with Cuba--I may not be partial to Havana Club rum, or Cubita coffee, but they are available to me. I've never been, but friends travel to Cuban resorts every winter, and send me photos of classic American cars on the streets of Havana. I have a humidor full of Cuban cigars.
It puzzles me that after sixty years of embargo, the US still thinks that it will somehow starve Cuba into submission. No other world country has such an embargo, they trade freely with Cuba, their tourists visit Cuba--and yet, Americans continue to think that they will somehow bring Cuba to its knees with an embargo that, in the end, has had no effect.
In the early 1900s and again in the 1950s, people who were born on Java were ejected from the country. Point is that landowners were ejected from their country in more places than Cuba in the 1950s. It was a time of rebellion against colonists and colonialists - they were treated the same.
Cuba relies heavily on "locally grown" for fruits, vegetables and other food. The only available attraction in Cuba to people from the USA is swimming with dolphins and train ride to the sugar cane fields: tourists, like the rest of the world. Given Trump's recent remarks about Cuba, it looks like he wants to be more than a tourist, and if he can't have what he wants, he'll punish ... Canada.
In the early 1900s and again in the 1950s, people who were born on Java were ejected from the country. Point is that landowners were ejected from their country in more places than Cuba in the 1950s. It was a time of rebellion against colonists and colonialists - they were treated the same.
It's happened elsewhere too. Russian landowners and businesspeople lost their holdings after the Russian revolution in 1917, and Chinese landowners and businesspeople lost their holdings after the Chinese communist takeover in 1949. But while there may be claims to expropriated properties and businesses in those countries, they are largely ignored. Wait long enough, and the claimants will die off, after all.
Cuba may not be a paradise on earth, but it does have trading partners around the world. For the United States to think that its embargo is having any effect in 2019 is hubris.
It's happened elsewhere too. Russian landowners and businesspeople lost their holdings after the Russian revolution in 1917, and Chinese landowners and businesspeople lost their holdings after the Chinese communist takeover in 1949. But while there may be claims to expropriated properties and businesses in those countries, they are largely ignored. Wait long enough, and the claimants will die off, after all.
Cuba may not be a paradise on earth, but it does have trading partners around the world. For the United States to think that its embargo is having any effect in 2019 is hubris.
Indeed, the Russian bond market crashed around the time that the Czar and his family were murdered. After the first world war, the Deutsch Mark collapsed. As long as there is a paper trail, there may be a claimant - even generations later (e.g.: WW2 stolen art).
The Cuba embargo and Trumps puffery are ridiculous. Cuba needs nothing from the USA, but they are a buffer between the USA and Venezuela. Perhaps Trump has just realized that he can't create a mess in the region without attracting attention from the Russians?
It's a matter of principle to US businesses that took a hit, and a sop to the ex-Batista supporters that are a huge voting block in southern Florida.
As we all know, corporations really run the country, and over time, what became a firm support of business has simply become tradition. Why else would you introduce a law 30+ years after the fact, and then try and implement that law another thirty years down the road.
Also, as past elections have shown, Florida is usually the key to winning the Presidency. The expat Cuban community is huge in Miami, and while most are aging out now, they have been historically epic in their anti-Castro fervor, and thrown their support behind the candidate that best patronizes that grudge.
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