Cuba's Fragile Power Grid Finds a Powerful New Partner
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Was cuba previously generating electricity with imported oil? How were they paying for that? A gift from Venezuela? It seems possible that the solar is actually batter and cheaper than what they were paying for before but needs up-front financing, which is a general issue with solar in developing nations.
#savedyouaclick
These kinds of claims would really benefit from additional information regarding the nature of such spy stations. What would they do and why? I don't think Cuba is exactly a top tier sigint location.
They could install radar, but that's not spying.
Setting up reliable and fully controlled spy networks within the borders of a hostile country is hard. Like casting Idris Elba as James Bond (to borrow Trevor Noah's quote).
With a few in Cuba, they've got proximity to develop HUMINT, gather OSINT and SIGINT, with potential tracking of US military movements in the Caribbean and Atlantic at super-low latency.
Cuba doesn't have a lot of foreign currency, but it does have a lot of cheap labor, often shockingly skilled labor. Boiling it down to a cost in dollars may not be easy, let alone saying "China won't spend that".
Socialism is not necessarily unworkable; rather, in a world full of forces trying to destroy you — for example, under decades-long economic blockade by the United States — it is impossible for Cubans to live a normal life. The results brought by socialism may not be better than capitalism under such conditions. Of course, turning toward the United States could be even worse, meaning that a large amount of Cuba’s wealth would be transferred to and controlled by the U.S., and a pro-American regime would be established. It would be similar to how nobody cares about the Philippines, one of the poorest countries with the highest proportion of prostitution in the world, which has a U.S.-style political system, and nobody cares about the lives of the many “free” people living in slums.
Solar energy is something remarkable. It not only provides the basic necessities of life, but also gives countries and their people greater autonomy. I hope Cuba can hold on until the day it can develop its economy normally, and until the day the United States declines.
myth, an incredible myth, the US has a package of sanctions and an embargo, Cuba is free to trade with other nations. The reason of the economic powerty and Cubans not being able to live a normal life is mostly self-inflicted (by their government, not the people) from an extractive elite who kept the old colonial system but just changed hands and drapings, with who is on top, plus the disastrous results of marxsist-leninist economic policies who are blind to reality
> Cuba is free to trade with other nations.
The embargo was reinforced in October 1992 by the Cuban Democracy Act and in 1996 by the Cuban Liberty and Democracy Solidarity Act (known as the Helms–Burton Act) which penalizes foreign companies that do business in Cuba by preventing them from doing business in the U.S.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helms%E2%80%93Burton_Act
I'm not seeing when the Helms–Burton Act was set aside.
2: In 2000, Congress passed the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act (TSRA), which authorized sales of food, medicines, and medical equipment to Cuba. So basically how it is a blockade or a siege.
3:Spain trades with Cuba. Canada is one of Cuba's biggest export markets. China is a top partner. The Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy all trade. The EU passed a "Blocking Regulation" making compliance with Helms-Burton a criminal offence in some member states
4: Almost 2 Billion $ of remittances are sent every year from Cubans abroad, and like 1.8 of that comes from the US. If there is an blockade, how can the money go into the island.
All of the issues of Cuba are due to its endemic government, the external conditions are just a reaction to that. Talk with some Cubans about the reality of Cuba and you will get the story.
[1]: https://www.quinnemanuel.com/the-firm/publications/title-iii...
There are no detailed data showing exactly how much negative impact the U.S. blockade and sanctions have had on Cuba’s economy. After all, the U.S. has long-arm jurisdiction capabilities in almost every domain, and it is very easy to use private channels to influence other countries and economic entities in their dealings with Cuba(Considering the United States’ notorious human rights record and its multiple assassination attempts against former Cuban presidents). for a small country, in the current U.S.-dominated, power-based international system, facing such unilateral hostility and sanctions undoubtedly adds many extra difficulties to their development.
Whether their development is good or bad, they do not deserve such suffering. The United Nations has held multiple votes on Cuba’s situation, and almost always the United States and Israel oppose lifting the sanctions. The world stands with Cuba, but unfortunately, some people do not.
They are debanked from the global financial system due to US sanctions on any business who trades with Cuba
They can’t trade in US dollars, the global currency that nations most typically use for international trade
They can’t follow normal shopping lanes because boats going to Cuba have to stay away from US ports for 180 days
Any company can be sued by any American alleging they have benefitted Cuba
Also, the United Nations has voted unanimously multiple times to drop the sanctions on Cuba- only USA and Israel vote no. To say that it’s a myth that Cuba has been adversely affected by the US actions is plainly stupid.
The blame here is 100% on the Cuban government. If they want to improve conditions for their people then all they have to do is free the political prisoners, institute multi-party liberal democracy, and adopt free-market capitalism. If they took those simple steps then it would bring tremendous benefits to their country even if US sanctions remained in place.
Not doubt the embargo has done some damage to the wellbeing of the island, but the self imposed economic system makes things far worse.
The Human Development Index:
Dominican Republic: 0,776 Cuba: 0,762 Jamaica: 0,720 Haiti: 0,554
Only Cuba is socialist. The other three are capitalist. Considering that Cuba suffers from sanctions, like Haiti, it is impressive how they managed to achieve an HDI almost as high as the DR, a value considerably higher than the average in the Caribbean.
Both capitalism and communism really only "work" when many countries work together. Cuba is committed to the communist project despite the USA all but suffocating the country through trade embargoes. The relationship between Cuba and the USSR was always complicated, but with the fall of the USSR, the communist network went to shambles.
It will be interesting to see how Cuba's future plays out as China grows in power and influence. IMO, Cuba just has to keep the candle burning. China and Cuba do have a positive relationship today, and I can only assume that the threat of China is a counterweight to any rash ideas the current USA administration might have in mind for Cuba.
Fun fact: Today, we tend use the term "first world" as a synonym for developed nations that are fairly wealthy, and "third world" for developing nations that are poor. But did you know there was a "second world"? It was the USSR and those aligned with it. The first world was the USA and its allies during the Cold War. The third world was basically everyone not aligned with either USA nor USSR.