“Cuba’s unretired retirees”

 “Cuba’s unretired retirees”  Cuba's Economy  Comments Off
Apr 092007
 

Retirees in the socialist paradise forced to work just to eat? Nah, couldn’t happen. Right?

Maria is 59 and retired – at least in theory. For the past four years she has held two jobs in the underground economy to supplement her government pension. Like many of her generation, she is finding that what was possibly once the most generous pension system in Latin America now struggles to sustain its oldest citizens.

“The poorest, most vulnerable group in Cuban society are pensioners,” said economist and University of Pittsburgh professor emeritus Carmelo Mesa-Lago, co-author of the 2004 book Cuba’s Aborted Reform.

Now, throughout Havana, retired scientists and teachers dot the streets – driving cabs, hawking newspapers, guarding parked cars for tourists in front of the lush Parque Central.

Here on the Malecon, Maria has competition.

“Mucha competencia,” mutters Maria, who worked three decades in a factory that made drinking glasses and busts of independence hero Jose Marti.

Other gray-haired vendors add to the chorus of calls, the names of their wares swallowed in the echo of crashing waves below.

“Mani,” one man cries, offering white paper cones full of peanuts to camera-toting tourists and Cubans drinking rum.

Another man with a shoulder sack sells caramels and lollipops in pink and purple wrappers. A woman peddles stuffed animals.

“Cubans are fighters,” Maria says. “Everybody has su manera.”

That manera, or way of getting by, is often the booming underground economy.

Maria earns a pension equal to about $7 a month. But the monthly rations Cubans can buy in peso stores last about a week. Health care is free, but state-subsidized pharmacies sit bare.

If she can’t find pills and food at pharmacies and peso stores, Maria must buy them in dollar stores or on the black market at higher prices.

Some seniors depend on money sent from families. Maria has no one outside Cuba.

Like most older Cubans, she lives with her whole family. She shares a two-room apartment south of the city with her husband, their son, pregnant daughter and twin 14-month-old granddaughters.

Her husband, retired, refuses to work anymore. They fight about her other jobs.

“Why are you working there?” he yells. “You are a slave.”

Indeed, sir, the people of Cuba are all slaves.

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 Posted by at 8:54 am

Castro, full of hot air as always, produces excess methane while complaining about ethanol

 Castro, full of hot air as always, produces excess methane while complaining about ethanol  Bush, Chavez - Venezuela, Cuba's Economy, Politics  Comments Off
Apr 042007
 

Didn’t I already talk about this on this blog? Yes, I did.

For a second time in a row, the moribund, crusty Castro temporarily removes his foot from the grave, long enough to spew his hot, methane-laced breath about the Bush Administration’s proposed use of ethanol:

Castro chided the Bush administration for its support of ethanol production for automobiles, a move that the 80-year-old leader said would leave the world’s poor hungry.

It was his second article on the issue in less than a week, indicating he is increasingly anxious to have his voice heard on international matters, eight months after stepping down as Cuba’s president because of illness.

Castro also gently chided leftist ally Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for his country’s ambitious plans for ethanol production and his cooperation with Bush in promoting it.

“It is not my intention to harm Brazil, nor get mixed up in affairs related to the internal politics of that great country,” Castro wrote in the article, titled “Reflections of the Commander in Chief: The Internationalization of Genocide.”

Yes, of course. Let’s only criticize the U.S. and especially a Republican president even if our allies are doing the same thing. Typical leftist hypocrisy.

Which the Miami Herald pointed out, as I mentioned yesterday on this blog:

Until just a few weeks ago, the leftist Chávez was pressing ahead with a five-year project to sow almost 700,000 acres with sugar cane to produce ethanol. With the technical support of Brazil and Cuba, 15 new sugar mills were planned to produce 30,000 barrels of ethanol a day.

Even in early March, Havana and Caracas announced an agreement to build 11 ethanol plants in Venezuela, using Cuban expertise. The agreement also included the modernization of 10 plants in Cuba and the construction of a further eight, based on Brazilian production methods.

But after Bush visited Brazil and signed an ethanol deal with President Luíz Inacio Lula da Silva, both Chávez and his close ally, Fidel Castro, converted to the anti-ethanol camp.

How do you spell “politically motivated?”

Many analysts, however, see the change of heart by the two leaders as a product of political, rather than environmental considerations.

”What’s hidden behind the ethanol issue is a game of geopolitics,” said Edgar C. Otálvora, an economist, historian and former diplomat. ”Rivalry with the United States” is the explanation, Otálvora argues.

‘There are many contradictions in [Chávez’s] discourse – being simultaneously an environmentalist and an oil producer is a contradiction in itself.”

I guess you could say Castro and Chavez actually were for ethanol–before they were against it.

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 Posted by at 7:08 pm

And on the left, you’ll see one of Cuba’s numerous political prisons

 And on the left, you’ll see one of Cuba’s numerous political prisons  Cuba's Economy, Media  Comments Off
Apr 032007
 

Tour operators in Cuba today must be about as busy as sloths taking a nap. Speaking of naps, a Miami Herald article today notes that Cuba’s tourism industry is on a major siesta:

Cuba’s tourism industry, the island’s main economic engine for the past 15 years, is in a steep fall amid a mix of factors that range from rising air ticket prices to changes in tour ownerships and crumbling tourist facilities.

The first alarm rang late last year, when Ministry of Tourism (MinTur) figures showed 2.2 million people had visited the island in 2006, down from 2.3 million in 2005.

The decline has accelerated so far this year. January and February indicators show a combined drop of 7 percent compared to the same months in 2006, according to the most recent MinTur figures, with February visitation falling 13 percent.

Spanish tourists, historically the island’s third-largest group, dropped by 45 percent over both months.

In their typical slothful lack of originality, Cuba’s so-called “MinTur” lays most of the blame at the feet of the United States, specifically the Bush administration.

Too bad for them the Herald’s reporters did their jobs:

But internal MinTur documents obtained by El Nuevo Herald, independent experts and tourism-sector workers on the island show there are other serious problems not mentioned by MinTur.

Most of Cuba’s tourism facilities were built in the 1990s and have received little maintenance since then, said a MinTur official who asked for anonymity out of fear of government punishment.

”The structure created for years in the tourism industry is crumbling piecemeal,” the employee said. “Tourism in Cuba is headed for chaos and it will take years to revert the present situation.”

The MinTur documents also point to the inability of the Tourism Construction Enterprise (Emprestur) to repair hotels because of the lack of materials.

The employee said there’s also widespread dissatisfaction with the way Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz and leading managers are running things. Marrero, former president of the Gaviota Group, run by the Cuban armed forces, and a trusted aide to Cuban interim leader and Defense Minister Raúl Castro, was appointed to the post in early 2004 after the removal of Ibrahim Ferradaz amid reports of a corruption scandal.

”What’s happening in tourism is a reflection of a behavior that has spread nationwide,” said dissident economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe on the phone from Havana. “People are disgusted with the economic situation at home, workers don’t take pride in their work and inertia corrupts the entire organization.”

People disgusted with the economy, workers not taking pride in their work, inertia and corruption. Ah yes, the blessings of socialism.

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 Posted by at 7:39 pm

Read: the masters will be cracking their whips harder

 Read: the masters will be cracking their whips harder  Cuba's Economy, Cuban Slavery, Human Rights  Comments Off
Mar 262007
 

Senior Cuban officials are analyzing a pair of new labor laws taking affect next month as the island’s official media cranks up a campaign about the rules aimed at beefing up work productivity.

There’s more:

Cuban worker productivity plunged during the island’s economic crisis in the 1990s, brought on by the loss of its former Soviet partners.

Now, Cuban workers “will have to change their life habits,” party official Lina Pedraza told Granma newspaper.

“Change their life habits,” huh? Let’s see, so that means now dinner will be just one deep breath instead of two?

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 Posted by at 7:28 pm

So much for the embargo, huh?

 So much for the embargo, huh?  Cuba's Economy, Cuban Embargo  Comments Off
Mar 252007
 

Hoo boy, yep. We’ve got us this here EMBARGO against Cuba…

Or do we?

From the Associated Press, via today’s South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

Since 2003, one country has been the main supplier of food to Fidel Castro’s Cuba: the United States.

Surprised? You have good company.

Here’s more:

Washington’s sanctions choke off most trade with Cuba, but a law passed by Congress in 2000 authorized cash-only purchases of U.S. food and agricultural products and was cheered by major U.S. farm firms like Archer Daniels Midland Co. interested in the untapped Cuban market.

Cuba refused to import one grain of rice for more than a year because of a dispute over financing, but finally agreed to take advantage of the law after Hurricane Michelle in November 2001 cut into its food stocks.

So… we offer food, Castro says no due to some issues with financing. WIthout this food, no doubt Cubans would be dying of starvation ala North Korea. Just as in North Korea, it’s all thanks to one communist dictator.

At least we’re forcing Castro to pay upfront. We all know how, ahem, “good” he is about paying debt.

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 Posted by at 3:03 pm

“Havana’s former grandeur decays and crumbles” (thanks to Castro)

 “Havana’s former grandeur decays and crumbles” (thanks to Castro)  Cuba's Economy, Media  Comments Off
Mar 242007
 

I added that last part to the headline of a Reuters dispatch on the decrepit state of buildings in Havana. Because anyone with half a brain (that apparently excludes most of Reuters’ staff) knows the reason for Havana’s decay is Fidel Castro.

Reuters being Reuters, they (naturally) can’t help toss at least one compliment to Castro (they claim Castro’s dictatorship is responsible for saving “Havana’s eclectic architecture” from demolition) in a story that is surprisingly and refreshingly somewhat truthful about Cuba. Of course, they save the best lines for last:

Central Havana was the site of the only riots against Castro’s rule in the hot summer of 1994 when some 35,000 people took to the sea in rafts is a desperate exodus to the United States.

The Cuban government blames the “blockade” — as it refers to U.S. sanctions — for the country’s economic shortcomings.

But some Cubans say the government has only itself to blame for the urban decay of Havana.

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 Posted by at 12:09 am

Fidel Castro’s Tragic Kingdom

 Fidel Castro’s Tragic Kingdom  Cuba's Economy, From Other Blogs, Politics  Comments Off
Mar 142007
 

I just found out that Fidel Castro wants to build an amusement park in Cuba. Insert joke here.

Let me give a hat tip to the blog Child of the Revolution, for reporting this story, and to Babalu Blog, for mentioning it and for providing me with the inspiration for the following post.
—————————————
Fidel’s “Tragic Kingdom” Theme Park

Rides/Amusements

“Shootdown”
You are the pilot of a state-of-the-art, supersonic, Mig-29 fighter jet armed with guns, rockets and missiles. You are sent on a mission to “patrol” international waters for your enemies, Brothers to the Rescue. It’s an extreme challenge as you face 150-mile per hour twin-engine Cessnas armed with paper fliers and jugs of water, as you fly at Mach 2. Your objective is to shoot down as many Cessnas as possible and brag about it to your buddies on the radio.

“Pirates of the Caribbean”
They plunder, loot, steal, rape, pillage, maraud, loot and sack islands in the Caribbean. But enough about the Castro brothers.

Che Guevara’s “El Paredon” ride
You and your friends take turns playing the roles of “executioner” and “condemned.” As “executioner,” you will arbitrarily choose political opponents to execute. You must cold heartedly ignore the desperate pleas of the “condemned’s” wives, mothers and children to achieve your objective of “Socialist purity.” If your role is the “condemned,” you will be rigged with safe Hollywood exploding “gore” packs to simulate blood and brains against the wall. Your objective is to yell out “Viva Cristo Rey, abajo comunismo (Long live Christ the King, down with communism)” or sing the Cuban national anthem before the “executioner” can complete the sentence.

“Plantados”
You are thrown into a tiny, vermin-infested cell, with straw for a mattress. Your crime: speaking out against the government. When you’re thirsty and you ask for water, guards urinate on you. If you disobey any prison rules–which are typically made up on the spot by the prison guards–guards will beat you with the flat side of a machete blade. Your objective is to go on hunger strike in the faint hope Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch will take note of your plight and fight for your release.

“Scavenger Hunt”
You will spend an entire day trying to scrounge enough food to supply yourself and your family with one meal. You can risk using the black market or other illegal activities to obtain food, but look out: if you’re caught, you will be sent to jail.

“Journalism 101″
Your objective is to write and disseminate articles critical of the government. But you are not given any tools to work with. You must manage to find writing implements and either a fax machine or internet access to get your dispatches out to the world. Avoid getting caught by government forces before sending out your articles, though.

World Showcase: Angola
Ride along as we show you the story of Juan Jose Ramirez, a teenager drafted into Castro’s army and forced to “serve” in Angola. Watch as his friends are slaughtered in ambush and Juan contracts AIDS, is sent back home to Cuba, put into an isolated “AIDS colony” and eventually dies.

Carousel of “Progress”
Watch the five decades of Cuba’s socialist “progress:”
-The 60′s: Castro consolidates his power, executes, jails or exiles opponents
-The 70′s: Waves of repression throughout the island as the economy is propped up by the Soviet Union’s subsidies
-The 80′s: The Mariel Boatlift is followed by a hard line from the U.S. as Reagan conservatism spreads
-The 90′s: the “Special Period” of extreme shortage and privation takes hold after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of Russia’s “sugar daddy” relationship with Castro
-The 2000′s: Sexual tourism and de facto slavery become the bread and butter of the national economy, as a new form of apartheid takes shape in Cuba, where everyday Cubans are prohibited from enjoying facilities built only for foreign tourists

¡Azucar!
No, this attraction is not about Celia Cruz. You are “volunteered” for weekend duty during the sugar cane harvest. Your objective is to show your socialist dedication by harvesting as much sugar cane as you can. Get a free annual pass if you manage to do it without hacking off your or someone else’s limbs with your machete!

It’s Fidel’s Hell, After All
Modeled after Disney’s It’s a Small World and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea rides. Grab some old inner tubes, rotting two-by-fours and pieces of styrofoam and plastic to create your own raft. Take your family or go solo on a simulated 90-mile voyage across the Florida Straits’ shark-infested waters. Avoid the Cuban Coast Guard (they’ll shoot you or ram your boat) and the U.S. Coast Guard (they’ll send you back to the starting line where you’ll have to start over again). Paddle through the water as you sing along:

It’s Fidel’s Hell, After All (sing to the tune of “It’s a Small World”)

It’s a hellish nightmare, of dread and fear
Where the sons are slaughtered, to mothers’ tears
There’s so much misery,
And governmental tyranny,
It’s Fidel’s hell, after all

CHORUS
It’s Fidel’s hell, after all,
11 million waiting for his fall,
Cubans everywhere will have a ball
When Fidel’s gone, after all

There is just one Party, with all the guns
And if you’re no member, you’ll have no fun.
The Florida Straits are wide,
A 90-mile raft trip to the free side,
It’s Fidel’s hell, after all

CHORUS
It’s Fidel’s hell, after all,
Political prisoners in cells that are too small,
11 million Cubans with their backs against the wall,
It’s Fidel’s hell, after all

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 Posted by at 6:33 pm

AP lets one slip through

 AP lets one slip through  Anti-Communism, Bush, Cuba's Economy, Cuban Embargo, Media  Comments Off
Feb 222007
 

The Associated Press let this one slip through the cracks:

CUBA: US commerce secretary sees no softening of policy toward communist-run island

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said Wednesday it would be a “great disservice” for the Cuban people if the United States eased economic and political ties with the island in the post-Fidel Castro era.

“Cuba is at a critical point in its history,” Gutierrez said. “The country is poised for change. The policy of the Bush administration has been to help the Cuban people achieve their freedom through democratic change.”

Gutierrez serves as co-chairman of an official commission which made recommendations for Cuba policy after Castro passes from the scene. He spoke to the Council of the Americas, a pro-business group.

Gutierrez’s speech was devoted mostly to the plight of the Cuban people under the system Castro created 48 years ago (emphasis mine).

Of course, they may have let this one slip through the cracks, but the rest of the mainstream media is downplaying this one. You can read the rest here.

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 Posted by at 5:05 pm

“Cuban economy doesn’t function:” economist

 “Cuban economy doesn’t function:” economist  Cuba's Economy  Comments Off
Feb 042007
 

Is it any surprise to see economists trash Castro’s worthless economy? It shouldn’t be. Here’s what one economist says in an article published in today’s South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

“The perception is very clear among economists here that the Cuban economy doesn’t function,” said Pedro Monreal, a professor at the Center for Research on the International Economy.

Though the article talks about Castro’s failed economy, it focuses on one victim of that failure, a man identified only as “Eddie” for fear of retribution from Castro’s goons.

Eddie works as a waiter at one of those “special” restuarants Castro’s Cuba opens only to tourists who bring hard currency to the communist dictatorship. Eddie, a soon-to-be father, needs a stroller for his new baby. The problem is, on the slave wages he gets, ahem, “paid” by Castro–$12 a month–he can’t afford the $100 stroller in the state-run store. So Eddie gets a little creative:

“I invited a group of Chilean tourists to a lobster dinner in return for their stroller,” said Eddie, 30, who asked that his full name not be used. “I would have to stop eating for months to get a new one. Instead, I gave away a few plates of food for it.”

The article’s title asks a rhetorical question: Can desire to subsist be called corruption? I say, no more than a desperate mother stealing food for her hungry children can honestly be called a criminal.

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 Posted by at 2:35 pm

Castro(‘s economy) is dying

 Castro(‘s economy) is dying  Cuba's Economy  Comments Off
Jan 292007
 

Well, it seems Castro’s intestinal fortitude isn’t the only thing about the dictator that’s not doing well these days. The San Diego Union-Tribune’s website has a story today saying the number of foreign firms in Cuba is sinking–sorta like Castro’s ship:

The number of foreign companies operating in Cuba has continued to decline and a new investment expected from China has not materialized, a Cuban cabinet minister said Monday.

Joint ventures between Cuba’s communist state and foreign investors fell to 236 at the end of 2006, down from 258 a year ago and 313 at the end of 2004, Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Minister Marta Lomas told Reuters.

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 Posted by at 8:23 pm
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