The Cellar - Normalize Relations with Cuba

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- - Normalize Relations with Cuba (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=17872)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad (Post 474903)

51st state anyone?

Which is partly why the historic animosity to the US.

I'm betting that the 1950's car collectors clubs will be dead set against it.

The value of their collections will tank...

Just look what happened for Jazz when Cuban and American musicians got together.

Quote:

Originally Posted by barefoot serpent (Post 474945)

I'm betting that the 1950's car collectors clubs will be dead set against it.

The value of their collections will tank...

No problem, none of them are original, most have at least the motor parts replaced to run on piss-poor gas, and they'd be a good body parts source.
Let the annexation begin. :us:

I personally don't see anything happening until Fidel dies. Then I see Raul taking over for good, paying lip service to denouncing the US in public while making up in private. We will create relations again to make him look good, hotels will go back, casinos MAY return (Bautista is still a bitter memory) and the tourist industry will enrich Cuba. Soon after, the US will establish another embassy and Cuba will slowly become a territory. I don't see statehood in the future, latin machismo will not allow that. Instead, all their ex-pats will go home, and things will go back to where they were.

As far as China and Russia, I don't see it...the Cubans remember the Soviets and what happened when THEY tried to make Cuba a protectorate. Communism is dead there, I think.

Just to remind you, Cuba is already a tourist destination. It's just one you folks can't go to. Although I admit the difference US tourism would bring would be significant - a bit like the Brits and the Spanish Costas.

I knew that. We CAN go there, albeit the State Dept warns us not to and we must first travel to Canada or Mexico, but we CAN go there. We just don't want to.

Or we can take a Buick, or an old Chevy truck, add flotation and tarps, then...
Oh, wait... no that's the people trying to get the hell out of there... nevermind :eyebrow:

The Canadians like it because it's the one place they are never confused with Americans :)

Apart from that, there were an awful lot of Italians.
Which is fine because you can can wake up late and still get a sunbed, but can be pretty bruising in the queue for the buffet. Queue? There is no equivilant word in Italian it seems.

I'd go back to Havana like a shot - the whole city is a feast for the eyes.

Group urges Obama to unilaterally ease Cuba policy

Quote:

MIAMI (Reuters) - President Barack Obama should roll back U.S. curbs on Cuba to encourage democratic change without waiting for Havana to make reforms first, a group of diplomats, academics and opinion leaders said on Thursday.

The international group sponsored by the Washington-based Brookings Institution think tank urged the new U.S. president to seize the initiative to defuse half a century of political enmity between Washington and the Communist-ruled Caribbean island.

While stopping short of demanding an outright end to the 47-year-old U.S. economic embargo on Cuba, the "U.S. Policy Toward a Cuba in Transition" group recommended various steps to ease restrictions on travel and trade with the island, and to boost cooperation and "people-to-people" contacts.

Washington's long-standing policy of trying to end communist rule in Cuba through diplomatic isolation and the embargo must be replaced with a more intelligent policy of "critical and constructive engagement," said the group, which included U.S., Canadian, Spanish and British diplomats and academics, and a leader of the Cuban-American community.

"A policy of status quo is no longer possible ... We need a policy that is pro-active toward Cuba ... a new dynamic to change half a century of unfriendly relationship," said Ambassador Vicki Huddleston, who served as head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana from 1999 to 2002.

"It cannot consist of megaphone diplomacy ... It cannot consist of 'If you do this, I do that,'" she added.

The group urged Obama to use his executive authority to quickly dismantle some of the tangled web of U.S. sanctions against Cuba -- without waiting for Congress's approval.

The group recommended short-term initiatives including easing family and humanitarian travel, starting an official dialogue on issues like migration, counter-narcotics and the environment, and allowing the sale of communications equipment to Cuba.

The ultimate goal would be restoration of normal ties.

Brookings Institution Vice President Carlos Pascual said Obama's election, coupled with Fidel Castro's handover of power in Cuba last year to younger brother Raul, created a "unique opportunity" to improve U.S. policy toward the island.

Fuggit - lets do it - We have more normal relations with countries a lot worse.

Quote:

Originally Posted by barefoot serpent (Post 474945)

I'm betting that the 1950's car collectors clubs will be dead set against it.

The value of their collections will tank...

au contraire, mon frere. Check out this recent editorial

Quote:

New federal legislation would allow American citizens to travel as freely to Cuba as they do to Canada and Mexico. The bills will need plenty of cosponsors and public support to get through Congress.
Among those welcoming the idea is Philadelphia-based urban planner and antique-car expert Rick Shnitzler. He has proposed a "taillight diplomacy" that would bring together the sleeping giant in U.S.-Cuban relations: old-car aficionados in both countries.
Shnitzler envisions antique-car buffs and their families traveling to Cuba, meeting their counterparts, and donating the spare parts needed to facilitate the repair and restoration of Cuba's aging fleet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianR (Post 475225)

I knew that. We CAN go there, albeit the State Dept warns us not to and we must first travel to Canada or Mexico, but we CAN go there. We just don't want to.

Speak for yourself! I've always wanted to visit Cuba.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl (Post 475177)

Just to remind you, Cuba is already a tourist destination. It's just one you folks can't go to.

That's because, um, we're a free country and stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianR (Post 475225)

I knew that. We CAN go there, albeit the State Dept warns us not to and we must first travel to Canada or Mexico, but we CAN go there. We just don't want to.

This is incorrect. If you are caught traveling to Cuba by any means, you can be arrested by the feds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad (Post 474903)

They already use US Dollars for all unofficial transactions. 51st state anyone?

Yeah, that usually works out well in Latin America and the Caribbean.

No, really.