[TerryRiddle]

I would not get too excited about it; his brother is already in charge and is no different. I think you will see many politically uninformed make a big "to do" about it but essentially nothing will change.

[tallrick]

The question is, how long will Cubans put up with a failed government? They were more "Americanized" than much of Latin America, does anyone really think that they want to continue to be part of the third world? Any country that can keep 50 year old cars running with no parts, has to have plenty of ingenuity to build a viable economy. Once the communist system is removed, I can see the Cubans cashing in on medical tourism, prescription drugs, and a lower priced alternative travel destination than Florida. Sort of like a tropical Las Vegas.

[vpcats]

Well.... I think I've said this before. Necessity is the mother of invention.
The more recently arrived to the US cubans are lacking many social skills, manners, and sometimes a good chunk of honesty. I attribute the latter to the survival tactics they face every day, whether it be freedom of speech, hunger, sickness, or just plain lack of a stove, refrigerator, soap, etc.

They come here and have to LEARN that we have to work for a living, to drive a car, to put food on the table, to send kids to school. There is no free ride like they had in Cuba.

Regardless, with everything that is wrong and missing, I have to hand it to these Cubans. The majority are "professionals" - doctors, architects, teachers, scientists, engineers. They are not dumb by any means and are well prepared intellectually. As we have seen, and Tallrick mentioned, they can keep their cars running for 50 years. They can turn a car into a amphibian vehicle. They CAN make a mountain out of a molehill.

So.....bottom line. I have no doubt in my mind that there will be plenty of highly qualified people to turn the island around fairly quickly.

As far as Raul, he's a capitalist. He sells his body and soul to the highest bidder. He knows what the US dollar means to Cuba. He will open the doors and will end up establishing free trade and travel.

Those who retire to Mexico and Costa Rica and Dominican Republic do because they haven't been able to retire in Cuba, but there are more retirees in the works who will.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by vpcats

Well.... I think I've said this before. Necessity is the mother of invention.
The more recently arrived to the US cubans are lacking many social skills, manners, and sometimes a good chunk of honesty. I attribute the latter to the survival tactics they face every day, whether it be freedom of speech, hunger, sickness, or just plain lack of a stove, refrigerator, soap, etc.

They come here and have to LEARN that we have to work for a living, to drive a car, to put food on the table, to send kids to school. There is no free ride like they had in Cuba.

Regardless, with everything that is wrong and missing, I have to hand it to these Cubans. The majority are "professionals" - doctors, architects, teachers, scientists, engineers. They are not dumb by any means and are well prepared intellectually. As we have seen, and Tallrick mentioned, they can keep their cars running for 50 years. They can turn a car into a amphibian vehicle. They CAN make a mountain out of a molehill.

So.....bottom line. I have no doubt in my mind that there will be plenty of highly qualified people to turn the island around fairly quickly.

As far as Raul, he's a capitalist. He sells his body and soul to the highest bidder. He knows what the US dollar means to Cuba. He will open the doors and will end up establishing free trade and travel.

Those who retire to Mexico and Costa Rica and Dominican Republic do because they haven't been able to retire in Cuba, but there are more retirees in the works who will.

No, they go there and live in horrible cloisters of Americans because they can live on their social security checks. It is just economics, not the desire to live backwards, they are desperate. Given a choice, no American would be living primitively in Mexico.

I visited a friend in Costa Rico and had to drive on almost dirt roads like 100 miles to get to a place that was 20 miles away. There was no road going there, you had to drive a circumventing route. It took a whole day when with proper roads it would have taken about 30 minutes. Who in their right mind wants to live like that. My friend wanted me to move there, he said, "Bring a $100,000 American dollars and you live like a king". King of what, a dirt pile, no thanks.

[vpcats]

Originally Posted by macguy

No, they go there and live in horrible cloisters of Americans because they can live on their social security checks. It is just economics, not the desire to live backwards, they are desperate. Given a choice, no American would be living primitively in Mexico.

I visited a friend in Costa Rico and had to drive on almost dirt roads like 100 miles to get to a place that was 20 miles away. There was no road going there, you had to drive a circumventing route. It took a whole day when with proper roads it would have taken about 30 minutes. Who in their right mind wants to live like that. My friend wanted me to move there, he said, "Bring a $100,000 American dollars and you live like a king". King of what, a dirt pile, no thanks.

Maybe your friend likes to live in the backwoods, more remote areas. He could live in the city too.

Economics is absolutely high on the list. Would you rather live here with a rope around your neck because your SS income isn't enough to pay your HOI and taxes? Do you want to end up in a Medicaid nursing home? Do you want to be alone and have no one to accompany you to the doctor, the grocery store, call 911 when you're unconscious in the middle of the night?

Hey, I won't be able to live like I live now once I retire. Trust me, I have all my ducks in a row so that I CAN enjoy SOME of my retirement years and if those ducks can be stretched so that I can live comfortably, securely, have help at home, company maybe, WHY NOT?

Cuba's infrastructure may not be up to the standards most of us are accustomed to and have come to expect with a sense of entitlement, but Cuba was way ahead of even Florida and many other states FIFTY years ago. Who says it can't be again?

Have you been to Havana? Have you been to Varadero? Have you been to the Keys across from Caibarien?

Give me a break.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by vpcats

Maybe your friend likes to live in the backwoods, more remote areas. He could live in the city too.

Economics is absolutely high on the list. Would you rather live here with a rope around your neck because your SS income isn't enough to pay your HOI and taxes? Do you want to end up in a Medicaid nursing home? Do you want to be alone and have no one to accompany you to the doctor, the grocery store, call 911 when you're unconscious in the middle of the night?

Hey, I won't be able to live like I live now once I retire. Trust me, I have all my ducks in a row so that I CAN enjoy SOME of my retirement years and if those ducks can be stretched so that I can live comfortably, securely, have help at home, company maybe, WHY NOT?

Cuba's infrastructure may not be up to the standards most of us are accustomed to and have come to expect with a sense of entitlement, but Cuba was way ahead of even Florida and many other states FIFTY years ago. Who says it can't be again?

Have you been to Havana? Have you been to Varadero? Have you been to the Keys across from Caibarien?

Give me a break.

Actually I have been to Havana. The main reason my father came here from New Jersey to have a closer proximity to Cuba but then everything came to an end, but I was there a bunch of times. My friend lives in a huge Villa with servants running all over the place. He is a marble imported from Italy and has cattle in Costa Rico. I was not kidding about the roads. You look at a map and the city you want to go to is right there but you don't have a road to get to it. England by the way can be like that. We here in the US are used to a highway system that takes you anywhere you want to go directly. It can be rare in other parts of the world.

[vpcats]

Originally Posted by macguy

Actually I have been to Havana. The main reason my father came here from New Jersey to have a closer proximity to Cuba but then everything came to an end, but I was there a bunch of times. My friend lives in a huge Villa with servants running all over the place. He is a marble imported from Italy and has cattle in Costa Rico. I was not kidding about the roads. You look at a map and the city you want to go to is right there but you don't have a road to get to it. England by the way can be like that. We here in the US are used to a highway system that takes you anywhere you want to go directly. It can be rare in other parts of the world.

Well your friend must really like it there and the lack of a US-like lifestyle with highways may not be important to him. Sounds like he could afford to live someplace with a road and a highway to somewhere.

I don't know when you were in Havana, or how old you were. I haven't been there in over 45 years. I know that it is destroyed now. But the "tourist" areas are not. I sure do hope Cuba will be free soon and fixed up enough (to my americanized standards) so I can live in some ocean front condo and travel back and forth whenever I want to.

Would much rather live in Cuba than Mexico or Nicaragua or Costa Rica, or even Dominican Republic. Maybe Panama.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by vpcats

Well your friend must really like it there and the lack of a US-like lifestyle with highways may not be important to him. Sounds like he could afford to live someplace with a road and a highway to somewhere.

I don't know when you were in Havana, or how old you were. I haven't been there in over 45 years. I know that it is destroyed now. But the "tourist" areas are not. I sure do hope Cuba will be free soon and fixed up enough (to my americanized standards) so I can live in some ocean front condo and travel back and forth whenever I want to.

Would much rather live in Cuba than Mexico or Nicaragua or Costa Rica, or even Dominican Republic. Maybe Panama.

My friend is eccentric, he is a big fat guy and looks just like Pavarotti . He will probably eat himself to death. He buys his marble and supervises the packing of it personally then fly's back. He used to take friends with him to Italy just to have company because he makes the trips so often it is boring to him. He is very wealthy but a little strange. He used to have a house in Hollywood near the beach but likes living where he is. I don't get it.

I don't understand places like Cuba. Cuba could rival Hawaii, Monaco or any place if they wanted to. Even places like Haiti could be a paradise yet they live like they do. I just don't get it. They need Steve Wynn to come down there.

[sunrico90]

The NBC news mentioned that he might be dead, but is kept closed to the media... Any inside from the members?

[macguy]

Originally Posted by sunrico90

The NBC news mentioned that he might be dead, but is kept closed to the media... Any inside from the members?

He could be dead for a long time and no one would even know it. He seems as good as anyway. I doubt he has much capacity anymore. Half that island have never known anything but Castro it will be strange to them.