MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Castro condemns “obsolete mentality” against foreign capital, as economy contracts
In spite the significant surge in tourism set off by the detente with the United States, Cuba’s economy shrank in 2016 for the first time in nearly a quarter century with the main culprit: a plunge in aid from crisis-stricken Venezuela. President Raul Castro called on the Cuban people to overcome the obsolete mentality against foreign capital. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rules“obsolete mentality against foreign capital....”
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 02:19 pm - Link - Report abuse +3If Cuba can figure that out, how long will it be before reekie sees the light?
I like it, Venezuela sends cheap oil to Cuba and then Cuba refines it and sells it on, probably back to Venezuela at a profit. Love these socialist paradises.
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 03:36 pm - Link - Report abuse +2Mr Golfcronie
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 06:43 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Cuba is not self-sufficient in energy, by a long shot.
They were previously subsidised by the USSR.
Then Venezuela.
Now they are forced to import from other sources.
Cheap (free?) oil from Chavez was exchanged for exports of ideology, “social order” and other 'assistance' to the government in Venzla.
“President Raul Castro called on the Cuban people to overcome the obsolete mentality against foreign capital.”
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 07:32 pm - Link - Report abuse +1He also went on to say “But it's all the fault of Venezuela behaving like a bunch of bat-shit mad communists who think they can dictate to us how little power we have in the world” allegedly :o)
Perhaps if the remaining brother, the communist followers and all the military control freaks committed mass suicide the rest MAY have a future but given the suppression of the civilian population for decades it seems doubtful.
No, VZ oil was not free for Cuba. Cuba supplied “teachers and doctors” to VZ as part of Maduro's “revolution,” but the teachers were really propagandists and the texts were essentially indoctrination for the great unwashed to promote that revolution.
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 09:38 pm - Link - Report abuse +2“They were previously subsidised by the USSR.”
-- The USSR has been gone for a long time. The loss of cheap energy from the former USSR in 1990 meant that Cuba had to develop greater internal production and that included some interesting but small scale micro-hydro, wind, solar, and biomass projects, and some reduction in use of fossil fuels in agriculture. Though of course they still need petroleum imports. But Cuba has also been exporting alternative energy assistance to other Third World countries.
Contrary to popular belief, Cuba does have a domestic petroleum production industry, of about 45,000 bbls a day, but that's only about half of what their economy uses right now.
Don't forget the 50.000 Cuban troops in Venezuela.
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 10:08 pm - Link - Report abuse +1I think that “50,000 Cuban troops” has been debunked. If I am not mistaken the number is closer to 5000-7000 and a large part of that is not line troops but instructors of some sort. Still probably not a good thing.
Jan 03rd, 2017 - 02:23 am - Link - Report abuse +1ML
Jan 03rd, 2017 - 02:59 am - Link - Report abuse +2I understand that when the USSR did a runner, Cuba only produced 15% of her own oil. With joint ventures with China and Canada, that rose to 50%.
Still a big deficit - and along comes Chavez requiring their particular expertise in crowd control.
@ ML
Jan 03rd, 2017 - 09:46 am - Link - Report abuse 0I disagree. I have a good source on that one.
@ ML
Jan 04th, 2017 - 12:49 pm - Link - Report abuse -3Don't worry, the howling in her head sometimes comes up with nonsense, better alter that to 'always'. :o)
@ Bat-shit Crazy ChrisR
Jan 04th, 2017 - 04:05 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Are you so ignorant you have nothing of any value to bring to the discussion?
Foreign capital is a scourge, Enrique Massot is right on that one.
Jan 05th, 2017 - 12:28 am - Link - Report abuse -2Anything foreigner is a scourge. You are a scourge. You are foreigner, which explains your racism and ignorance.
“Anything foreigner is a scourge. You are a scourge. You are foreigner, which explains your racism and ignorance.”
Jan 07th, 2017 - 01:32 am - Link - Report abuse +1I assume you are standing in front of a mirror when you say that, Chopper. You never cease to amuse. ;)
@ Pathological Liar EB
Jan 07th, 2017 - 10:53 am - Link - Report abuse 0Well at least mine wasn't a lie unlike your fantasy. Just like the looting in MVD that seemingly never happened as I cannot find any reference to it in any Uruguayan 'publications'.
Keep lying you will end up in a psychiatric clinic. Tell us, which is your favourite one? You must know after all.
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