Cuba's Dollar Ban
Castro's restriction of private enterprise spells the destruction of ordinary Cubans' limited ability to work, trade and in effect, control their own lives, write Christina McIntosh and Grant Nulle. Castro is using the tightening of the decades old trade embargo as a pretext to extinguish anything that smacks of the very capitalism, driven by individual freedom that impedes his revolution. The best policy for fighting back against the dollar ban and for promoting the liberty of Cubans: immediately establish free trade between Cuba and the US. [Full Article]
Comments (17)
Well, we Canadians are still free to trade with Cuba, and Cubans are free to accept and use Canadian dollars. :)
Published: February 14, 2005 2:53 AM
Americans can also get Canadian dollars at par. I suppose that American banks will be happy to transfer Canadian dollars to Cuba.
When's the last time that Cuban troops attacked American troops? When the Maine exploded?
Why is it that countries who have killed American troops can get "favored nation status" if they sell us oil or cheap TVs but a peaceful agricultural nation that could sell sugar to the American family at half the supported price???
I support 100% free trade with Cuba.
Published: February 14, 2005 11:01 AM
Actually, the Americans themselves blew up the Maine and blamed the Spanish, in an effort to get the public behind the war.
While I agree with most of what the article states, I wonder why the author does not mention what the goverment system was like BEFORE Fidel took over?? I'm sure that Americans don't like to hear the ugly truth of such history, so they tend to gloss over some things.
Ending the embargo would instantly improve the lives of Cubans, and end the socialist governemnt within a few years. It's only becasue there isn't anything of 'value' (read oil, lagre consumer market), that the embargo is still in place. Oh.. and something about votes in Florida.
In any case, when was the last time the author visited Cuba? if ever? to talk to Cubans living under such a "repressive" regime...
Published: February 14, 2005 11:45 AM
There seems little point in the US imposing sanctions on Cuba when Castro is so effectively imposing them himself.
It is a tragedy that, because when Castro came to power he did not kow-tow to the US oligopolists of the sugar producers & the Mafia, the US & Cuba were set against each other & Cuba driven into Soviet arms (& arms). The only countries still maintaining communism are those that the US attacked because that made communism patriotic.
The good news is that when the inevitable happens Cuba, with a well educated, responsible, hard working people, $1 billion & remitances should be able to make up for the lost decades.
Published: February 14, 2005 12:49 PM
I'm convinced the only reason Castro is still in power is because of the US sanctions. Free trade is our greatest weapon - not bombs.
Published: February 14, 2005 12:56 PM
NP wrote,
"Actually, the Americans themselves blew up the Maine and blamed the Spanish, in an effort to get the public behind the war."
Nahh, it blew up by itself... carbon dust accumulation and the heat, that much has been proven. However, there is no denying the fact that the US took full advantage of the situation to have their war.
NP wrote:
"Ending the embargo would instantly improve the lives of Cubans, and end the socialist governemnt within a few years. It's only beca[use] there isn't anything of 'value' (read oil, [large] consumer market), that the embargo is still in place. Oh.. and something about votes in Florida."
Mostly a sick obsession with Castro. I agree with you: offer to trade freely with Cuba, and end the embargo. That should put Castro in a political tight spot!
I should say, however, that there is a market for almost anything you can fancy, so I cannot agree with your assesment that the embargo has not been lifted, in part, because there is not a large consumer market.
NP wrote:
"I wonder why the author does not mention what the goverment system was like BEFORE Fidel took over?? I'm sure that Americans don't like to hear the ugly truth of such history, so they tend to gloss over some things."
There is no need; there is more than enough information on Fulgencio Batista's regime; however, he sure did not create this gigantic prision where time stopped and people have little chance of getting out. I still find it hard to discern exactly what does this have to do with the article and the facts expressed in it.
NP wrote,
"In any case, when was the last time the author visited Cuba? if ever? to talk to Cubans living under such a "repressive" regime..."
Is it necessary for the author to travel to Cuba to experience what others can inform him? Do you have to travel to Europe to know that it actually exists?
I agree with the other posters: end the embargo, and then we will see if Castro puts his money where his mouth is located ;)
Published: February 14, 2005 3:07 PM
Because of the US's trampling of the rights of ITS OWN CITIZENS to trade with Cubans in Cuba, Cuba will be driven into the arms of China, and soon, China will give America its very own Taiwan to hate, right offshore. The course of events is affected as much by repression north of the Straits of Florida as it is south of the Straits.
Published: February 14, 2005 7:35 PM
I just did an interview with AP on the cuba economy and drew heavily from this article and others on mises.org. Thank you. Mark
Published: February 14, 2005 7:41 PM
NP, so go read Jacob Hornberger's articles about Cuba on www.fff.org
Yes, indeed, he DID go to Cuba and then wrote about it. Funny thing is, he comes to pretty much the same conclusions as this article does.
Published: February 14, 2005 9:19 PM
"Last March, I spent a week in Cuba, which turned out to be one of my most fascinating experiences."
lol... yes... Hornberger is now an expert on Cuba after spending a week there in 1999.
there are many Cubans that are living better today than they were 40 years ago (first, ask anyone who is black in Cuba). nobody in Cuba goes hungry. nobody in Cuba is without shelter.
Cubans can leave the island whenever they wish, the problem is NOT with the Cuban governement granting permission, it's the DESTINATION country that makes it difficult to travel there.
Cuba has MANY problems, and I'll be more than happy when Fidel goes, but one of the reasons he's still there, is that he's done alot of good things for many Cubans in the past, and he still has alot of support on the island.
It's time however, for a change.
Published: February 15, 2005 2:43 PM
NP writes:
"Cubans can leave the island whenever they wish, the problem is NOT with the Cuban governement granting permission, it's the DESTINATION country that makes it difficult to travel there."
What destination are you talking about? Because they can come to Mexico, the only thing they need is a passport and have a visa issued by the Mexican embassy. Where is the difficulty? Or is it just that all Cubans want to travel to the US only?
NP writes:
"there are many Cubans that are living better today than they were 40 years ago (first, ask anyone who is black in Cuba). nobody in Cuba goes hungry. nobody in Cuba is without shelter."
NP, with a little economic analysis one can see this cannot be true. If there is no incentive for production, no entepreneurship, no capital investment, and a single crop, it is difficult to believe Cubans have this idyllic life. Maybe they never go hungry; maybe all have shelter. So do prison inmates.
Published: February 15, 2005 3:44 PM
Francisco,
i) you are the one that referred to Cuba as "gigantic prision where time stopped and people have little chance of getting out". Now you are telling me Mexico freely gives out visas to Cubans? can you please make up your mind?
ii) i didn't say Cuba was ideal. what I DID say, was that there were Cubans that benefited in the last 40 years. first and formost, the black population. it has little to do with economics.
iii) cubans on the aggregate are better off than their neighbours (Jamaicans, Hatians, Dominicans, Mexicans). There is little or no crime, no drugs, people have food, people have shelter. I can hardly say that about the other countries mentioned.
Published: February 15, 2005 11:07 PM
np wrote:
"i) you are the one that referred to Cuba as "gigantic prision where time stopped and people have little chance of getting out". Now you are telling me Mexico freely gives out visas to Cubans? can you please make up your mind?"
No, NP, it is you who should make up your mind. YOU said the Cuban government can let anyone leave as they please, but cannot because his or her "destination" will not let them. I simply called your bluff and asked you: what destination?? Mexico gives visas every day to anyone, so why can't Cuban nationals come here in droves?
The short answer: Because it is a big, fat LIE Cubans can go wherever they please, period.
np wrote:
"iii) cubans on the aggregate are better off than their neighbours (Jamaicans, Hatians, Dominicans, Mexicans). There is little or no crime, no drugs, people have food, people have shelter. I can hardly say that about the other countries mentioned."
There will be little crime in a police state as a matter of historical fact, something not to be joyful about. Like I stated above, prison inmates are also well fed and sheltered.
Published: February 16, 2005 12:35 AM
I worked for the paraguayan consulate in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil for three years. There was a cuban family which always asked us visas so that they could get out and get back to Brazil in order to renew their stay in said country. These visas were always granted.
The funny thing is that I found a visa in their cuban passports... a visa allowing these cuban citizens to leave Cuba (demanding their return in 2 years)!!! Wow, did not the fact that these people have passports already mean they could leave the country???
The truth is that cubans can only leave their country with explicit government authorization (the cuban visa to... cubans(!!!), remember?) which is given very rarely and according to the government's interests, not the citizen's.
Cubans cannot leave their country whenever they want, unless they do it ilegally (by "boat", if you know what I mean...), and I mean ilegally from the cuban regime point-of-view.
Also, I do not think the cubans' situation to be much better than the poor in other south american countries. Maybe it is true that they eat (very badly if they have to count on the government given rations) and have a shelter, but many brazilians leaving in slums have a lot of amenities these cubans do not. Yes there is violence in the slums, but if they are able to buy the amenities this means that they may also save the money spent on them to try to move out from the slums (and what about the violence of the cuban regime itself?). The thing is: at least they have a choice; in Cuba this choice is not available. All are poor, perhaps not just-left-for-dead miserable, but very poor and they will remain so under Papa Castro.
Published: February 16, 2005 6:36 PM
A quote, from a book I'm currently reading for a class:
"Castro has ruled through a repressive state that has provided a basic if meager level of welfare for the Cuban people."
There you go. How can freedom possibly compete with that?
Published: February 17, 2005 10:21 PM
please, to even compare Brazil to Cuba, is a joke. one of the most violent places on earth, and you try and tell me it's better to live in a slum in Brazil, than to live in Cuba? give me a break.
Published: February 18, 2005 9:50 AM
You are so correct NP, Cuba is paradise. The country that imprisons homosexuals places HIV/ Aids patients in camps. The Marxist dream lives on, but only the Cubans that have been persecuted and have had family members executed or imprisoned for not believing in the revolution know the truth and it does not make a difference what anyone else believes or whatever propaganda is spread. The truth can not be changed.
Published: March 4, 2005 7:00 PM