US to Restore Full Relations With Cuba, Erasing a Last Trace of Cold War Hostility

[Bouncer]

I'm going to Havana! And I'll get much better pics of the place than the last retard from SM that went.. ;)

Iv'e done the whole Caribbean. Cuba is the only Island in the Caribbean that interest me at this point.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/wo...ions.html?_r=0

[Scrumhalf]

Only question is - what took so long? US stance on Cuba was cynical at best. We had embassies in Syria, Libya, China, etc. - none of them exactly the bastions of human rights and democracy. I can't remember where I read this article that apart from the Cuban people, the US embargo hurt US gulf coast communities the most, because of the cutting of historical trade ties between them (New Orleans, for example) and Cuba.

[TKD]

The news stated the actual embargo is still on. You also can't book a trip the the major American places. You are also limited to $100 of Cuban products that can be brought back.

[Scrumhalf]

Only Congress can remove the embargo. And there will be plenty of grandstanding before anything happens, especially since there is an election in a couple of years and Florida is such an important state. But it is a step in the right direction and is long overdue.

[Mr I]

Theres alot more to this but I won't won't go into it.

You have to know cuba and none of you have probably been

[Scrumhalf]

^LOL... Mr. I never been anywhere near Cuba until 4 months ago, makes one trip there and now is all of a sudden has the insider's details on Cuban geopolitics.

[blm]

Guy goes to Cuba, eats Japanese food and suddenly he's an expert in foreign affairs. Lol

[Scrumhalf]

haha.. blm, looks like we posted the same thing simultaneously! :thumup:

[Mr I]

But still, I have the perspective having been there and toured around.

It's also global politics at play, economics etc

It's good timing on both sides that's for sure.

I just hope Cuba holds its own and doesn't become Costa Rica.

It would be a travesty if it became full of American tourists and got trashed with mac donalds everywhere

[Scrumhalf]

Agreed... hopefully Cuba will retain its culture and not just become full of Americanized resorts.

[Scrumhalf]

Holy hell, I realized I just gave Mr. I a "like." It's a "dogs and cats living together" moment!

[Mr I]

Oil, fracking, Russia, China, Venezuela, subsidies, poor economy, Castro era ending, possible vacuum

These are all in play

[funniirishman]

Russian economy tanking, Putin seeking to strengthen ties with Cuba, Cold War slowly starting again....things to ponder. It wasn't out of the blue this decision was made..and is yet another bad decision.

[Scrumhalf]

On the contrary, I see significant economic benefits with this. With both the Russian and Venezuelan economies tanking, any thawing of US-Cuban relations will only pull Cuba away from them and towards democracy. They will play it cool for a while, since Venezuela has thrown them a lifeline with cheap oil and they would not want to piss them off. What we should do is to give them a hand up and gradually wean them away from Venezuela. Worst thing we can do is to not help them and force them to get back in bed with Venezuela. Time will tell how this plays out, but this was a move 50 years too late - hope we don't futz it up.

[Mr I]

Scrum you are beginning to learn

It's quite humbling actually