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Xenon
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25 Feb 2007, 10:39 pm

beaker wrote:
Other countries that have had communism for many generations have had difficulty switching to capitalism. Nobody is motivated to work hard. It takes time to build everything up. If it went completely open now. They would be destitute and looking for handouts. They have no product to sell (other than cigars) and tourism isn't going to pickup until they've fixed it up.


Someone I know at work went to Cuba on vacation last year (Canadians have no problems going there), and she said that things had deteriorated a lot since she was last there 10 years earlier. As for the cigars, a friend of mine who is a cigar aficionado (yecch) tells me that Cuban cigars are coasting on their reputation and are not very good, certainly not like they used to be. (He also says Hondurans are the best.) I'll take his word for it.


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SovietChess
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26 Feb 2007, 5:23 am

A simple question: If Castro is so great, and provides so much for his people, why do so many people risk their lives to live elsewhere? I don't see the anyone building rafts to float over to Cuba. UNLESS YOU HAVE LIVED UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE REALITY IS!! !
I guess every culture has their set of jokes, about the misceivious little boy, in the States it was
Johnny, in Brasil it is Joazinho (literally, little Johnny) in Cuba, perhaps other Spanish speaking countries it is Pepito.
So one day, Fidel is visiting Pepito's school, and the director, he knows Pepito is a pretty popular kid, all the other students look up to him and follow his lead. He also knows Pepito is a sneaky little sh!t, and if he acts up, the director could be out of a job. So he talk to Pepito, asks him to be on his best behavior. He wants all the kids to make Fidel feel welcome by the kids. So the director goes over to the Presidential Palace to accompany Fidel on the ride over to the school. As they approach the school, the driveway is lined with students, chanting at intervals, "Fidel.....Fidel.....Fidel..." Fidel is smiling, beaming, overcome with joy. The director is relived, as Pepito has not only saved his job, but his life, for he knows well of Fidel's prisons. The crowd continues "Fidel...Fidel...Fidel..." As the reach the main entrance, they see Pepito with a bullhorn, and realize why the crowd was chanting Fidel's name. They hear Pepito asking the crowd "Who took away your milk?" "Fidel" "Who imprisoned your father?" "Fidel" "Why do we have constant blackouts?" "Fidel" "Why do we suffer?" "Fidel"
If Fidel was so great, we wouldn't have so many Fidel jokes...


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Prof_Pretorius
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26 Feb 2007, 8:47 am

Personally, I'm waiting for the day that the old communist snuffs it and the Yanks make Cuba the un-official fifty-first state. Anyone remember how the mafia made a ton of dollars running the casinos in Cuba ???


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AlexandertheSolitary
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26 Feb 2007, 10:46 am

beaker wrote:
Other countries that have had communism for many generations have had difficulty switching to capitalism. Nobody is motivated to work hard. It takes time to build everything up. If it went completely open now. They would be destitute and looking for handouts. They have no product to sell (other than cigars) and tourism isn't going to pickup until they've fixed it up.

It would probably take 10 years of capitalism before they were any where close to where they were before.


Cuban cigars are NOT their only product. What about the music industry, for starters?


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Gamester
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27 Feb 2007, 3:57 am

does anyone actually have news?

I haven't read anything in the paps lately.

maybe I should check in with my friend in Intell.


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parts
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27 Feb 2007, 7:57 am

I give it 5 to 10 years after his death it will be a major tourist destination for people in the US


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