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Power goes out on entire island of Cuba, leaving 10 million people without electricity
(www.nbcnews.com)
this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2024
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This just begs the question
Why do we allow a major embargo of an entire island nation and allow an entire people to live without the proper necessities and resources in order to maintain their nation?
President Obama began to ease the embargo restrictions in 2016, allowing for travel and investments. It was Trump, in 2017, who reinstated the embargo in full. Probably just because Obama relaxed it.
https://press.un.org/en/2023/ga12552.doc.htm
UN discussion on how damaging the embargo is
Because the people there didn’t allow US capitalists to exploit them and their resources; because the people started to organize themselves and their resources around public interest; because they were voting in leaders who didn’t allow US elite to exploit them.
And so they must be punished.
Longest embargo in US history!
... probably done as a deterrent against other near by nations looking to station nuclear arms in close proximity.
Stops places like Mexico, Canada, or Panama from making an offer to China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia to station Nuclear their silos/launch bases for them.
Canada is probably still thinking about it though.
You can control a nation's ability to import and receive nuclear weapons, especially if you are trying to control the supply of arms ...... it doesn't mean you get to starve and decimate an entire country just because you don't like their politics or they don't happen to support you.
I think the history of the US and every other imperial power ever would disagree.
So, while I would agree, politics has unfortunate side effects, both internal cuban politics, and external cuban politics, as the cuban exiles really, REALLY want to get all their shit back.
We shouldn't be in it, but our Cubans hijacked a large part of our politics by living in such a strong swing state, so we're at the mercy of them as much as anyone.
Unfortunately like so many things in this world the severity is the point.
The US has an embargo, but Mexico and Canada don't. Cuba can and does buy goods from them. Cuba's real problem is paying for them. The US does not embargo food or medicine goods to Cuba, yet the country has problems feeding their people. Poor economic management of a communist country with no real resources.
Cuba can't pay because Cuba can't conduct normal finances with the rest of world because of the US embargo
It's like having having someone handcuff you, cuff you feet and pin you to the ground and rest their knee on your neck and ask you why you can't get up on your own.
They can certainly conduct commerce with the rest of the world.
You are technically correct .... but there are several convoluted rules and regulations controlled and mandated by the US that it makes it either very difficult or impossible for most countries to do business or trade with Cuba.
Cuba can trade with anyone they want .... it's just purposely made so difficult that very few do so and the ones who do provide very little in exchange.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jul/19/facebook-posts/cuba-can-trade-other-countries-heres-some-context/
What I read in your link is not so much Political fact but a disagreement of experts.
What I read in your text is that trade is to difficult, however it is done.
If you're a company why would you even fuck with more difficult trade.
The important part that you miss is that they do. So, it must not be that difficult
Survivorship bias!
No such word. Read the final paragraph of the link above.
The question is, with what currency? The Cuban dollar is not really worth anything outside Cuba, so they can only rely on exports to fund currency needed to buy imports.
This is true, but not due to a US embargo. I should think that the state has access to many different currencies. But, in the end, they have limited resources. Cigars, some Rum (though a lot of countries distil and export rum in the Caribbean). They used to export mercenaries and doctors but noone is buying now.
You don't think being explicitly barred access from what is essentially considered "the world currency" at this point wouldn't change their access? C'mon.
They're not barred from access. Just can't use US banks. There are many banks in the world.
The world is run by the USD. If you can't do business using USD, it is crippling.
Hate to tell you this, but most banks in the world deal in multiple currencies including USD.
Do you know what the Petrodollar is? Have you ever seen USD called "the World's Reserve Currency"? There are reasons for this. The majority of world commerce is done using USD.
As the article goes on to say, Russia's invastion of Ukraine, and BRICS attempt to move away from USD toward other currencies like the Yuan, is changing the landscape as we speak.
But since 1963, or whenever the fuck it started, the USD has dominated. The act of simply not allowing a nation to participate in that, for such a long time, does a lot of damage. I think Cuba has done pretty well for itself, all things considered.
Yeah, I know what a petrodollar is. Played the oil spot market years ago. So, I'm guesstting you must be indicating that Cuba can't pay for oil. That's nonsense. Let's suppose they have their money at HSBC, a Chinese bank in Hong Kong. They make a deal for oil supply with Mexico. To pay for it, they have HSBC move money from Hong Kong to Mexico in USD.
BTW, I find the downvotes funny as he'll.
They're allowed to play monopoly, they just can't use the regular monopoly money.
The global economy is run on the US dollar. It's the measuring stick all other currencies use as a reference point.
Again, world banks deal in multiple currencies.
And the US Dollar is the measuring stuck upon which all other currencies are based upon. I'd it takes all kinds of regulatory and embargo based nonsense for a bank to play ball with the US and Cuba, that bank won't do it.
I used to get paid in Euro with a release of funds directly to a foreign account. The account that bank was associated with was turned into USD upon entry. It's really not that hard.
That euro conversion stuff doesn't matter if the US won't deal with any bank that interacts with the Cuban currency. That's what an embargo does. You're right it's not hard to exchange currency. The entire point of an embargo is to function as a financial seige, to prevent the economy of the embargoed target from growing through mutual trade with the literal financial hegemon of our world.
You would think that the US can't choose who it does business with. Cuba's currency is near worthless.