Posted on 03/19/2002 3:09:39 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Edited on 07/12/2004 3:52:09 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
A decades-old fight over the direction of Washington's Cuba policy is expected to enter a new phase this week as a bipartisan coalition of House members is scheduled to announce an organized effort to ease trade and travel restrictions against the Communist-ruled the island.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
Cubas long-term foreign debt to its largest creditors, Spain, France, Germany, England and Japan total $11.2 billion. In addition, Cuba has a $20 billion debt to the former Soviet Union.
But Nethercutt thinks Cuba is a good credit risk?
Why business deals with Castro are a losing proposition. Avoiding financial relationships with Cuba has saved U.S. taxpayer money….
"Cuba stopped payment on all its foreign commercial and bilateral official debt with non-socialist countries in 1986. Because U.S. financial institutions were prohibited from financial dealings with Cuba, there was no U.S. exposure to Cuba's foreign debt moratorium."
U.S. International Trade Commission Report, 2001 Cuba’s debt continues to swell…..
"Officially, (Cuba’s debt) stands at close to $12 billion -roughly where it was in 1986, when the government defaulted on debt payments and suspended negotiations with creditors. But this figure is misleading. It excludes not just Cuba´s debt with Russia (estimated at $20 billion), but also that with China, Vietnam and the Czech Republic, as well as more recent loans, such as $13 million from South Africa for diesel engines bought in 1997 and $20 million to Chile for mackerel imports." Financial Times Cuba has not made significant economic reforms and remains rigidly centralized…
Cuba is listed under the category of "Repressed." Its Economic Freedom ranking is 152nd—only Iraq, Libya, and North Korea are ranked lower.
Index of Economic Freedom
"Recent government actions indicate that official attitudes towards economic reform may have soured….Increased obstacles to private sector activities and restrictions to foreign direct investments reveal heightened concerns about the loss of political control inherent in the economic reform process." Moody’s Investors Service Cuba refuses to pay its creditors….
"Cuba's efforts to attract direct investment from South Africa and to boost bilateral trade with its close ally are being frustrated by the island nation's failure to settle a 13 million dollar debt……Other companies which have approached the government for credit guarantees for trade with Cuba have been stymied because the Trade and Industry Ministry is wary of exposing itself to the Cuban risk until the debt is settled. " Xinhua "…Cuba also wants to pick and chose which countries it pays back. Japan and Germany are receiving payments, but not France, Italy or South Africa. (These countries) have recently cut off further credit to Cuba, in a bid to claw back some of what they are owed."
Financial Times
"Debt talks between Cuba and the Paris Club of creditor nations are indefinitely on hold…..on the table was $3.8 billion of official debt to Paris Club members, part of a much larger debt the Caribbean island piled up through the 1980s, until it began to default on payments and then stopped talking with creditors…."
"If foreign investors voice their dissatisfaction or have a conflict with the Cuban Government, they face severe reprisals. Loss of contracts, disagreements and even isolation can be a deathblow to a small or medium-sized company trying to make ends meet. Investors who are driven out of the island are generally not compensated. It is virtually impossible to file a claim against the Cuban Government in local courts. Furthermore, the Cuban Government doesn't have any assets abroad that may be seized. ….In the last year investors in Cuba have had a hard time particularly with the Cuban Government. One significant problem is the unreliability of the Cuban Government to pay its bills." Pax Christi Report.
"Today, Cuba continues to struggle to pay its creditors. Substantial sums remain unpaid to bunker suppliers, ship owners and ship repairers…debts remain unpaid, a trickle of payments subsists and the heated negotiations continue…" Canadian Maritime Advocate.
"U.S. exports to Cuba…based on average 1996-1998 trade data, would have been less than 0.5 percent of total U.S. exports….U.S. imports from Cuba, excluding sugar, would have been approximately $69 million to $146 million annually, or less than 0.5 percent of total U.S. imports." U.S. International Trade Commission Report.
Still think Cuba is a good place to do business?
AMERICAN TAXPAYERS, BEWARE!!!, YOU ARE THE TARGET OF A HUGE SCAM.
Ah, a stroll down memory lane.
I lived in Miami during the Castro revolution and recall a few facts.
When Castro was warring from the hills, most of the US backed him. Most of our politicians supported his effort. He proclaimed himself as the savior of Cuba. Small planes were gunrunning from small airstrips around S. Fla. The Feds would occasionally raid one of the strips, but they didn't really have their heart in it.
When Castro overthrew Batista, suddenly his real agenda came out.
The US offered aid to him, he told us to 'go to he**'. He executed hundreds if not thousands. I had several friends that had relatives shot.
Castro basically stuck his thumb in our eye. We haven't forgotten.
When he imported missiles, that was the last straw. Were they ALL removed? I don't think so.
The only way I would consider renewing relations with him is to have a team of inspectors cover every inch of that island looking for offensive weapons.
Now the useful idiots and Castro's lobbyists and agents in the Congress want to prop up Cuba's dying regime at the expense of the American taxpayers’ hard-earned money.
Go for it? Not for a minute. I mean they love the guy but they don't want to spend money loving him.
The "for cash" purchase was for show. Sort of like salting a gold mine.
American Women Meet With Castro-- ``It was certainly exciting to meet with him. He is a very charming and eloquent man,'' said Jeffords, who traveled here with the university's (University of Washington) Center for Women and Democracy.
Hell, if Cuba had oil wells, it would be our 51st state! Too bad we didn't think of that.
I believe other countries have negotiated to drill offshore in Cuba.
How convenient we have an up and running base on the island.
With Washington state having a lot of apples and peas to unload, their congressional delegation want's the American taxpayers to foot the bill.
Cuba wants to buy $4.5 million worth of Washington state peas and apples --[Excerpt] The Bush administration and Cuban exile groups support the embargo Cuba. But both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the United States are increasingly fighting to ease and even eliminate the sanctions, seeing Cuba as a new market for American products. A farm bill in the Senate would allow third parties to finance purchases of agricultural products.
"We have normalized relations with people around the globe," Cantwell said. "I look at Cuba as one of our closest neighbors. I think we could benefit by changing our relationship there."
Cantwell visited Cuban leader Fidel Castro in January along with a delegation that brought Red Delicious apples, assorted vegetables and wines from the state. When the senator thought she would miss her flight, Castro escorted her to the airport in his black Mercedes.[End Excerpt]
If Castro just keeps putting cash on the old barrel head, there isn't a problem.
With Washington state having a lot of apples and peas to unload, their congressional delegation want's the American taxpayers to foot the bill.
That's absolutely correct.
Those who are not familiar with Castro's slave labor trade might "be shocked to learn that these musicians (The Buena Vista Social Club) are not reaping any of the fruits of their labor and talent...50% goes to its producer, Ry Cooder; 45 % to the Cuban government; 5% to non-Cuban technical staff, and zero % for the Cuban performers!" (Cuba in revolution, page 213.) All they get is the joy to travel out of Cuba, (while their families remain as hostages in Cuba) food and some clothes to make them presentable to the public.
The scam works in this way, to invest in Cuba the foreign entrepreneurs must give to Fidel Castro majority control in the ownership of the company and they are not allowed to hire directly any Cuban worker, they must do it through Castro. The salary is from $400 to $500 dollars monthly and is paid to a Castro’s agent, then, Castro pays the Cuban worker 400 to 500 Cuban worthless pesos that in the official exchange is 25 Cuban pesos per dollar. In other words, the Cuban worker receives the equivalent of $16 to $20 dollars a month in Cuban currency, Castro keeps for himself over 95% of the salary received by each Cuban employed by a foreign company!
In fact according to U.S. laws, what Mr. Cooder is doing is being involved in a bribe of 45% to Castro in order to be able to exploit those poor Cubans. That is against U.S. laws that forbid bribing foreign functionaries in order to close business deals and also against international labor laws that prohibit the garnish of workers’ salaries by companies or government entities.
Everyone involved in business with Castro is accepting him as a partner in the slave labor trade.
That's right, they love the guy but not enough to spend their own money loving him.
Nothing illustrates the folly of a bad idea better than asking its proponents to put their money where their mouth is. That's why my favorite response to any liberal government spending schemes is: "Great idea! I'm part of a group that's raising money for this. How much can we put you down for?"
Ask a liberal to open his wallet and he'll suddenly discover his fiscal conservative inner child.
Beautiful!
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