Thread: Cuba's Fidel Castro, former president, dies aged 90

10 economic facts about Cuba
Fred Dews
Friday, July 17, 2015

On the heels of the announcement of the restoration of U.S.-Cuban diplomatic relations on July 20, Cuba’s removal from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list, and the re-opening of embassies in the two countries, we mined the considerably large trove of recent Brookings content to find some of the most interesting facts about Cuba. Read more about Cuba here.

1. Cuba receives almost 100,000 barrels of oil a day from Venezuela.

The easing of diplomatic hostilities between the United States and Cuba may work to lessen Cuban dependence on the Venezuelan regime, Ted Piccone notes. Russian President Vladimir Putin also recently wrote off $32 billion, 90 percent of the debt Cuba owed dating back to the Soviet era.

2. The aggregated gross national income per capita of Cuba is officially $5,539, but the take home salary for most Cubans is around $20 a month.

While there is little publicly available data regarding individual incomes, Richard Feinberg concludes, using a variety of indicators, that 40 percent of the Cuban labor force falls within a broadly defined middle class, though consumption remains depressed due to low government wages.

3. Less than five percent of Cubans have access to the Internet.

While demand is increasing for American cultural and telecommunications products, companies like Netflix and Google are working on long-term plans to find their way into the country’s economy. The first step in this process came in early February, according to Darrell West, when Netflix announced it would begin streaming in the island nation.

4. The Cuban government authorizes only 201 different categories of activities for self-employment.

This creates a problem in forging economic ties, Ted Piccone writes, since “U.S. importers can only engage in transactions with independent Cuban entrepreneurs” while Cuba fails to expand the list, excluding “huge swaths of Cuba’s human capital” from trade with the U.S.

5. More than two-thirds of the 2 million Cubans and Cuban-Americans in the United States live in Florida; 18 percent of Miami residents identify as Cuban.

Audrey Singer explains how these demographic distributions play a key role in normalizing relations with Cuba. Currently, a visa lottery system allows 20,000 Cubans to emigrate every year to the United States, while others try to make the trek by sea—the U.S. Coast Guard stopped 500 such potential immigrants in December 2014 alone. Thousands more cross the border where they can claim asylum and get expedited green card privileges.

6. New Cuban hotspots can process 1 megabit per second, far below the average U.S. speed.

Darrell West examines the growth of Internet access in Cuba, noting that improved relations with the U.S. could relax restrictions on better IT equipment.

7. The dependency ratio* of the Cuban population will increase from 54.7 today to 67.7 in 2025.

*The dependency ratio is defined as the ratio of those not in the labor force (people younger than 15 or older than 60) to the working population (aged 15-60).

Juan Triana Cordoví and Ricardo Torres Pérez note that “most growth in developing countries in the last 50 years has been the exact opposite, spurred by a growing youth population and workforce. Together, these elements coupled with the current economic model make setting Cuba on a sustainable long-term growth path an immense challenge.”

8. 90 percent of Cubans own their own homes.

The high homeownership rate on the island is supported by President Raúl Castro’s economic reform agenda, which attempts to “preserve socialism while introducing new forms of market-based mechanisms,” writes Ted Piccone. In addition to the ability to buy and sell property, Cuban citizens can now open small businesses, have cell phones, and form cooperatives both on and off of farms.

9. Americans are able to bring back $400 worth of goods from Cuba—including $100 in cigars and rum.

Richard Feinberg reacts to the increasingly open ties between the United States and Cuba and discusses the implications for citizens in both counties.

10. 68 percent of Cuban-Americans favor normalized relations between Cuba and the U.S.

Katharine Moon also points out that 90 percent of younger Cuban-Americans favor normalization. The divergence between older hardliners and a conciliatory new generation is key in approaching other diplomatic challenges, such as re-evaluating relations with North Korea, she says.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brook...ts-about-cuba/

I don't think we've been getting the straight scoop on Cuba from our government or from the media. I know from college studies why they had a revolution. I know why Russia wanted to put missiles on Cuba. But I don't know why we've hated on Cuba so long after the Missile Crisis was over. I don't know why people in our government hate on Russia so long after the Cold War ended.

We're not getting the straight skinny on these issues. I think we will in a Trump administration.

The signs for a changing world are all over the place. As I watched the report on the new Capitol dome, I thought "how fitting a new President, a new dome, a new age!". Castro's death to me is symbolic of the old world dying. Trump and Brexit are of the birth of the new age. Let's all pray and hope that M. LePen and a FREXIT is also on the horizon!

Isn't that dome just beautiful? Remember when Obama said it wouldn't be ready for Inauguration and they were going to take down all the scaffolding so it wouldn't show in the photos of the Inauguration and Trump said that's stupid, that will cost a fortune to take it down then put it back up why don't you just work faster and get it done before Inauguration? Remember that? Well, guess what, that's exactly what they did. But it took Trump to tell them what to do!! At least they did it, and what a lovely accomplishment, new dome, new beautiful hotel in the Old Post Office, new President, new agenda, stock market soaring, consumer confidence breaking records on Black Friday, Castro gone, 90% of Cubans own their own homes and many own small businesses, a new outstanding Dream Team is being formed by Trump to fix our country, we have much to be thankful for this holiday season, we have hope, we have competence, we have an advocate, we have a leader and we have a second chance to Make America Great Again!!

Oh yes, I hoping with all my heart for Marine Le Pen to win and FREXIT!! We also need to pray for the British, all their powers that be are calling for another referendum to try and overturn BREXIT!! Globalists are evil.

Happy Thanksgiving Goldendaze and thank you for a great post!!

How Donald Trump responded to Fidel Castro’s death

By Cleve R. Wootson Jr. November 26 at 9:55 AM

Donald Trump weighed in on the death of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

The president-elect offered up a four-word tweet shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday.

The sendoff was brief for Trump, who has been sounding off against Castro for decades — and battled criticism for reportedly exploring whether to open a casino in Cuba in the 1990s.

Trump came under intense scrutiny in September following allegations that he knowingly violated the U.S. embargo on Cuba in the 1990s, news that threatened to sour Cuban Americans' opinion of him.

A Newsweek story said that Trump spent $68,000 to send business consultants to Cuba despite the embargo. Trump Hotels reimbursed Seven Arrows Investment & Development Corp., an American consulting firm, shortly after Trump launched his bid for the White House, according to the article.

Trump vehemently denied those allegations on the campaign trail and, in 1999, wrote a lengthy opinion editorial for the Miami Herald saying why he would never do business in Castro's Cuba.

In the op-ed, Trump wrote that "it would be instructive to remember the role that Castro played in the struggle between — yes — good and evil."

"He turned his island over to his Soviet patrons," Trump continued. "He was quite willing to have nuclear missiles, launched from Cuban soil, destroy American cities. He exported revolution to Central and South America. He abetted Libyan terrorism. He gave asylum to murderers. He posted troops in Africa.

"More important, he turned his nation into a maximum-security prison. His regime controls every aspect of human life - access to food, medical assistance, schools and employment. Castro has not mellowed with age. Terror continues to reign. The secret police are unrestrained. The disappearance and beatings of citizens are still tools of civilian control, as is the suppression of free speech. Castro's ruthless domination of the Cuban people has not lessened even as his regime crumbles."

Keeping up with politics is easy now.

In his book, "The America We Deserve," Trump said Castro should be arrested and tried.

“The first time Castro leaves Cuba for any nation we have extradition treaties with, he should be detained, arrested and extradited to the U.S. for indictment and trial on charges of murder and terrorism,” according to an excerpt in Townhall.com.

As Trump ran for President, he said he was in favor of President Obama's efforts to normalize relations with Cuba, although he blasted Obama for a “one-sided deal for Cuba,” according to The Washington Post's Jose A. DelReal.

Trump had vowed to reverse Obama’s efforts to open U.S. relations with Cuba if he was elected president, “unless the Castro regime meets our demands — not my demands, our demands.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...castros-death/

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I love it. Trump tweets 4 words "Fidel Castro is dead!", which is akin to the story line "The witch is dead!" and the Washington Post actually writes a nice article about Trump's policy on Cuba!!

I think Trump can do a deal with Raul Castro to open up Cuba on terms we would all be satisfied with. Jan 20 can't get here soon enough.

Originally Posted by Judy

The New York Times had its bags packed and its article already written, didn't it? Wow. Quite an article on Castro put together and published in such a short period of time following the announcement that Castro had died.

I think when a celebrity is old and ill, news organizations get the obituaries written ahead of time so they are ready when the person dies.

Originally Posted by Judy

I don't think we've been getting the straight scoop on Cuba from our government or from the media. I know from college studies why they had a revolution. I know why Russia wanted to put missiles on Cuba. But I don't know why we've hated on Cuba so long after the Missile Crisis was over.

I think you answered your own question with something else you posted later. This is why we oppose the Cuban government of Castro:

In the op-ed, Trump wrote that "it would be instructive to remember the role that Castro played in the struggle between — yes — good and evil."

"He turned his island over to his Soviet patrons," Trump continued. "He was quite willing to have nuclear missiles, launched from Cuban soil, destroy American cities. He exported revolution to Central and South America. He abetted Libyan terrorism. He gave asylum to murderers. He posted troops in Africa.

"More important, he turned his nation into a maximum-security prison. His regime controls every aspect of human life - access to food, medical assistance, schools and employment. Castro has not mellowed with age. Terror continues to reign. The secret police are unrestrained. The disappearance and beatings of citizens are still tools of civilian control, as is the suppression of free speech. Castro's ruthless domination of the Cuban people has not lessened even as his regime crumbles."

Everything I've read indicates it's still a totalitarian police state. As I'm sure you will agree, Americans despise totalitarianism in all it's forms, be it Socialism-Communism, Fascism, or Radical Islam. So that's why we have opposed the Cuban government so long after the Missie Crisis was over.

Fidel Castro's Communist Example

Wall Street Journal

- ‎36 minutes ago‎

Fidel Castro's legacy of 57 years in power is best understood by the fates of two groups of his countrymen—those who remained in Cuba and suffered impoverishment and dictatorship, and those who were lucky or brave enough to flee to America to make ...

Everything I've read indicates it's still a totalitarian police state. As I'm sure you will agree, Americans despise totalitarianism in all it's forms, be it Socialism-Communism, Fascism, or Radical Islam. So that's why we have opposed the Cuban government so long after the Missie Crisis was over.

I think our opposition went too long and too far to be in the best interest of either country, and have thought so for quite awhile now.

It was reported on Fox News this morning that our CIA tried 600 times to assassinate Fidel Castro.

We tried to invade Cuba with a CIA-Sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion.

We tried a Naval Blockade.

We tried to starve the people, assassinate their leader and over-throw their government.

How many Cubans were killed or imprisoned because they might be assassins working for the US?

When you look back over the history, we come up way short and look really bad.

It's just my opinion, but I think it's time for a new policy that serves both countries. Maybe that will be possible now. I hope so!

Cuban leader Raul Castro says he will retire in 2018 | Reuters