Cuba

[GBob01]

So now that the Cuban leader is in negotiations with Trump; how long before I can lounge on one of their beaches smoking a big Cuban cigar?

[ColonelKorn]

Trump will bomb them anyway🤣

[aviator]

There is nothing to bomb, the place has crumbled.

Lots of Cubans here are hoping for a total control and removal of the existing political party. It's not going to happen. Cuba will be a money pit if we do, try to make arrangements where we allow for the system to slowly take care of their own problems. There is no short term return in that investment and the long term is just too long, no private investor can afford to wait that long.

[aviator]

Go to youtube type Havana Today . Not only the place is falling apart but there are only black people living there , they don't work, they went to Havana from other places to do "business" , they have contacts that steal from government warehouses and they sell stuff, if caught they're looking at 30 years time, others hoped to get a job as a taxi drivers for tourists where they can make a few Dollars in tips. Last I heard $1.00 USD= $100 Cuban pesos and a typical salary for a Cuban is about 200-400 Cuban pesos a month. Garbage piles up on the corners and no one picks it up, buildings fall down and down they stay, the government doesn't have the resources and they don't care. Whatever money they get it's for the elites to continue governing. The Castro family is rumored to have over $40 Million in Swiss bank accounts, one of Fidel's sons has been seen in Europe in a multi million dollar yacht, yet the people are starving.

It would take several generations to retrain the people into working for an honest living, rebuild the infrastructure and have a productive country where they can pay back on the investment. Yes there are several Cuban millionaires and billionaires but they are old, have good running businesses and will never see a return on their money if they invest there. The US could do it but it will a money pit like Puerto Rico is, where they cost us $25 Billion a year in infrastructure and social programs but only pay $5 Billion in income tax, talk about a negative cash flow, only Democrats can agree to that investment model.

On the other hand if we take control of Cuba we have total control of the western hemisphere, Russia, China and Iran are out and I have a feeling it's Trump's reasoning for doing it but the cost will be high.

[mrkalashnikov]

Whenever I think of Cuba I also think of my former neighbor, Juan S. Juan was an investment banker early on in his working career. He was eventually involved in developing a software that would aid banks to monitor check fraud, back when people still wrote paper checks a lot. He ended selling the rights to the software to a corporation for millions of $$$ and retired at the age of 36. He was married to an Irish girl and between them they had 5 great kids. Juan was about 6'4, fair skinned, and a helluva nice guy. Always joking and a pleasure to be around. One evening he was over at my house drinking some Cuba Libres and told me his family history. His parents fled Cuba after Castro took control in the early 60's, neither of them speaking much English. His father had only a grade school education and worked as a janitor on his arrival in the USA. One generation later and his son and grandkids are living the American dream.

What other country in the world is that possible but America?

[10-32]

What other country in the world is that possible but America?

None, but if the the left has its way it will soon be gone forever. These people flee communist shitholes and make a productive rewarding life here and the morons here want to turn us into a communist shithole. Its so infuriating.

[aviator]

Whenever I think of Cuba I also think of my former neighbor, Juan S. Juan was an investment banker early on in his working career. He was eventually involved in developing a software that would aid banks to monitor check fraud, back when people still wrote paper checks a lot. He ended selling the rights to the software to a corporation for millions of $$$ and retired at the age of 36. He was married to an Irish girl and between them they had 5 great kids. Juan was about 6'4, fair skinned, and a helluva nice guy. Always joking and a pleasure to be around. One evening he was over at my house drinking some Cuba Libres and told me his family history. His parents fled Cuba after Castro took control in the early 60's, neither of them speaking much English. His father had only a grade school education and worked as a janitor on his arrival in the USA. One generation later and his son and grandkids are living the American dream.

What other country in the world is that possible but America?

No other country in the world lets you achieve that. I'm also proof, if you embrace this country as yours, become a part of it and stop living in the past, study and work hard you get there. We came here with nothing, at that time there was no help for immigrants, maybe some of the famous government cheese and Spam meat, no financial help of any kind, my uncle was already here and gave us a boost, after a month you were on your own, my parents never made it big but they owned their house and newer cars, my wife and I have done very well, my kids have done better. My parents did speak English very well and I spoke some, I still do.

[4thIDvet]

I kind of disagree with yah Fred on the investment portion of your statement on investing in Cuba. If Cuba opens up the cruise line industry would hit the beaches and ports their faster than a speeding bullet. Go on a Caribbean cruise and its the same islands over and over again their stopping at. Cruise people are a breed in themselves and their chewing at the bit to hit Cuba for something new.
My buddy on his last cruise said Mehico was such a corrupt violence loaded sheet hole they told the passengers to NOT wander into any of the towns when they docked. Stay in the port where they had military armored vehicles protecting them. Getting old now but I had plans to head down with my Cuban amigos and open a bar.
Good thing I didn't I probably would have been the best customer.

[aviator]

I kind of disagree with yah Fred on the investment portion of your statement on investing in Cuba. If Cuba opens up the cruise line industry would hit the beaches and ports their faster than a speeding bullet. Go on a Caribbean cruise and its the same islands over and over again their stopping at. Cruise people are a breed in themselves and their chewing at the bit to hit Cuba for something new.
My buddy on his last cruise said Mehico was such a corrupt violence loaded sheet hole they told the passengers to NOT wander into any of the towns when they docked. Stay in the port where they had military armored vehicles protecting them. Getting old now but I had plans to head down with my Cuban amigos and open a bar.
Good thing I didn't I probably would have been the best customer.

Back in the 80's a very good friend of mine decided to visit the island with his wife, "Honey we left in 1960 and we'll never see Cuba again, let's go", they have both passed away since, they visited Varadero, what was considered the best beach in Cuba, a big fancy hotel, the pool was green with algae, the food was horrendous and the rooms were smelling bad, that's not how you bring tourists. There is no food, no electricity, no fancy attractions no nothing, what are cruise ship going to do there? You have to have some sort of economy going on before you attract people, stores, restaurants, casinos, amusement parks, gotta have something but socialist totalitarian governments do not believe in any of that.

Knowing past history I'd never invest a dime outside good old US of A, especially Cuba, in early 60's they took over all private enterprises and kicked everyone out, then sometime in the 90's they needed US Dollars so they opened up to investors from other countries, and again they got screwed, Spanish institutions got screwed twice. I met a Spanish guy in Austria once, drinking some of their warm beer, who told me he had a business in Cuba but had to close it, he was being over taxed by the government. One US Dollar is over 120 Cuban pesos, the average salary now is about 400 pesos a month...who the hell can afford to buy anything on $4.00 a month?