"Sure, but playing the ideolgy pays off better than just about anything. The downside is all of the other guys who wanna bump you off to take your place."
fair point; the only counter i can offer is that us multinationals can bring mega-bucks to the table, more than these guys can rob otherwise in years, and just from graft alone (understood as part of any deal) they can make out like bandits. eventual private american investment in cuban sugar and tobacco state companies could be huge, and smart despots would be rolling the 10 digits of dollars in switzerland.
all depends on the folks who take over, i have not a clue what his general staff is like.
i will add here that given our trade relations with, say vietnam or china, it is clear to me that the ongoing cuban embargo is all about castro. the US (rightly, from some perspectives) will not back down on a failed embargo on a banana republic that 1) allowed soviet troops, with local control of tac nukes to deploy against anticipated US action and 2) has stood up to us 90 miles off our coast since before most americans were born.
once he and his brother are gone, pretty sure the doors begin to open. it is quite crazy to not trade with cuba while we export our manufacturing base to china and buy a ton of oil from venezuela, who in turn gives cuba tens of millions of dollars of free oil.
Most of our Western "friends" vacation there already. Castro became one of the wealthiest men in the world despite the American embargo. As far as tobacco & sugar, their past nationalizion of everything makes that a dangerous venture until a "rule of law" is established.