Donate Bitcoin

Donate Paypal


PeakOil is You

PeakOil is You

THE Cuba Thread Pt. 3

A forum for discussion of regional topics including oil depletion but also government, society, and the future.

Re: THE Cuba Thread Pt. 3

Unread postby Subjectivist » Tue 20 Sep 2016, 11:49:42

Plantagenet any idea what olive oil costs in Cuba? I was reading recently about low tech life where they were using olive oil for deep frying at moderate temperatures. After a week filtering it and using it as oil lamp fuel in place of kerosene. When you deep fry with olive oil you have to cook at lower heat for a longer time because of the lower smoke point.
II Chronicles 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Subjectivist
Volunteer
Volunteer
 
Posts: 4700
Joined: Sat 28 Aug 2010, 07:38:26
Location: Northwest Ohio

Re: THE Cuba Thread Pt. 3

Unread postby Plantagenet » Tue 20 Sep 2016, 12:07:40

Subjectivist wrote:Plantagenet any idea what olive oil costs in Cuba? I was reading recently about low tech life where they were using olive oil for deep frying at moderate temperatures. After a week filtering it and using it as oil lamp fuel in place of kerosene. When you deep fry with olive oil you have to cook at lower heat for a longer time because of the lower smoke point.


I visited ration book stores, commercial peso stores and CUC stores, and I don't remember seeing any olive oil in Cuba. There were no olives on salads or in any of the meals I had. There isn't much for sale in the stores (other than the CUC stores where most Cuban's can't shop). I know they make olive oil in Cuba, but maybe its not a standard product distributed nationwide by the state. Maybe its more a local thing grown in some regions or grown by some co-ops?

Probably the most interesting local food I had was the local lobster. It was served in huge portions and tasted great.

consider-the-cuban-lobster
Never underestimate the ability of Joe Biden to f#@% things up---Barack Obama
-----------------------------------------------------------
Keep running between the raindrops.
User avatar
Plantagenet
Expert
Expert
 
Posts: 26607
Joined: Mon 09 Apr 2007, 03:00:00
Location: Alaska (its much bigger than Texas).

Re: THE Cuba Thread Pt. 3

Unread postby Tanada » Wed 21 Sep 2016, 06:43:05

Hmm, I did a google on Cuba Olive Oil and everything that came up was from Spain marketed to Cubans. That seems odd I thought Cuba had a perfect climate for growing olives and they would be an excellent cash crop for export?
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
User avatar
Tanada
Site Admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 17048
Joined: Thu 28 Apr 2005, 03:00:00
Location: South West shore Lake Erie, OH, USA

Re: THE Cuba Thread Pt. 3

Unread postby Synapsid » Wed 21 Sep 2016, 11:48:07

Tanada,

There's a difference in climate. Spain's Mediterranean climate has the winter-wet summer-dry regime that the olive tree is used to. Cuba has no summer dry season; it's climate is similar to that of the Gulf Coast and Florida.

Olive trees would not like hurricanes either.
Synapsid
Tar Sands
Tar Sands
 
Posts: 780
Joined: Tue 06 Aug 2013, 21:21:50

Re: THE Cuba Thread Pt. 3

Unread postby Tanada » Thu 23 Mar 2017, 22:46:15

Helen Coffey wrote:Airlines CANCEL flight services to Cuba – even though it’s SWAMPED with tourists

CUBA has had a recent tourist boom – so why are airlines cutting back on the number of flights they offer?

This week airlines Frontier Airlines and Silver Airways announced they were reducing the number of flights offered to Cuba, following in the footsteps of JetBlue and American Airlines.

“Other airlines continue to serve this market with too many flights and oversized aircraft, which has led to an increase in capacity of approximately 300 per cent between the US and Cuba,” a spokesperson for Silver told the New York Times.

“It is not in the best interest of Silver and its team members to behave in the same irrational manner as other airlines.”

Many airlines originally rushed to offer a large number of scheduled flights to Cuba when improved relations between Washington and Havana meant commercial flights could travel between the two countries for the first time in 50 years.

The flights recommenced from August 2016.

Experts anticipated demand would be huge – but has tourism in Cuba not taken off as predicted, hence the culled flight schedules?

Since 2014, when the old travel restrictions between Cuba and the US became more flexible, American visitors have flocked to the island in increasingly large numbers.

In 2016, a record four million tourists visited Cuba – a 13 per cent increase on the previous year.

In 2017, the Cuban Ministry of Tourism predicts an increase of a further 100,000 visitors.

Of those who visited the island last year, 614,433 were American according to Josefina Vidal, Cuba’s chief negotiator in talks with the United States. This is an increase of 34 per cent from the previous year.

Hotels in Cuba have been overflowing during the winter season, and as the demand for rooms increases, so hotel prices have soared to as high as $500 a night.

Increased visitor numbers also mean there are periodic shortages of beer and bottled water.

The Miami Herald reported that a Havana club, the Yellow Submarine, completely ran out of beer and ice one night in January.

The publication also claimed that the wait in the line to exchange money at Havana airport can stretch for hours.

Business definitely seems to be booming, so why the airlines’ cull?

Perhaps they’re taking inspiration from Donald Trump, who has said in the past that unless the US gets a more favourable arrangement in its dealings with Cuba, he might scrap the new travel freedoms.


http://www.express.co.uk/travel/article ... ba-flights
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
User avatar
Tanada
Site Admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 17048
Joined: Thu 28 Apr 2005, 03:00:00
Location: South West shore Lake Erie, OH, USA

Trump tears up Obama agreement with Cuba

Unread postby Cog » Fri 16 Jun 2017, 14:21:18

This is what I voted for and I'm glad Trump ripped to shreds the normalization with Cuba.

New conditions now apply:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-cuba- ... e-updates/

1) President Trump said the U.S. won't negotiate with Cuba until it meets conditions like scheduling free elections and releasing political prisoners.

2)The policy begins with strictly enforcing U.S. law, Mr. Trump said. No sanctions on Cuba will be lifted until Cuba releases all political prisoners, and Cuba legalizes all party and schedules free elections.

3) The previous administration's easing of restrictions on travel and trade does not help the Cuban people, they only enrich the Cuban regime,
User avatar
Cog
Fusion
Fusion
 
Posts: 13416
Joined: Sat 17 May 2008, 03:00:00
Location: Northern Kekistan

Re: Trump tears up Obama agreement with Cuba

Unread postby Plantagenet » Fri 16 Jun 2017, 18:13:48

Cog wrote:The previous administration's easing of restrictions on travel and trade does not help the Cuban people, they only enrich the Cuban regime,


Thats debatable.

I agree with Trump that Obama basically abandoned Cuban dissidents in order to sign an accord with Cuba, but we already know Obama was the world's worst negotiator. Nonetheless there were some good things about this opening up to Cuba.

I visited Cuba last year shortly before Obama opened it up. I went through the process of getting a US permit---I went as part of an "educational" group. I'm very pleased I got to see Cuba before it got buried by hordes of tourists.

Yes the larger hotels like the famous Hotel Nacional in Havana were nationalized by Fidel decades ago, and dollars spent there go straight into the Castro brother's pockets (or the regimes pockets --- in a dictatorship like Cuba there isn't much difference).

But there is a large and growing micro-economy of private restaurants (called paladars), taxi drivers, tour guides, etc. that partly rely on US visitors, and IMHO the creation of a vibrant private sector in Cuba filled people friendly to the US probably does more to undermine the idiotic communist propaganda and the moribund socialist economy that most Cubans are stuck in then the embargo ever did.

Cuban and North Korea are the last two communist countries, and they are like living museums of communism----. I can understand getting tough with North Korea because they pose a real threat, but the Cubans are like our lost brothers.

The parable of the prodigal son teaches us to welcome back our lost sons and lost brothers, no matter where they have been.

Image
Cuba reminds me of the parable of the prodigal son. We should welcome them back as friends and brothers
Never underestimate the ability of Joe Biden to f#@% things up---Barack Obama
-----------------------------------------------------------
Keep running between the raindrops.
User avatar
Plantagenet
Expert
Expert
 
Posts: 26607
Joined: Mon 09 Apr 2007, 03:00:00
Location: Alaska (its much bigger than Texas).

Re: Trump tears up Obama agreement with Cuba

Unread postby Cog » Fri 16 Jun 2017, 18:18:50

eight more years of sanctions won't hurt anything.
User avatar
Cog
Fusion
Fusion
 
Posts: 13416
Joined: Sat 17 May 2008, 03:00:00
Location: Northern Kekistan

Re: Trump tears up Obama agreement with Cuba

Unread postby Plantagenet » Fri 16 Jun 2017, 18:36:21

Cog wrote:eight more years of sanctions won't hurt anything.


Hard to say.

Cuba is in a delicate economic state right now, since their socialist brothers in Venezuela have destroyed the economy there and the massive aid that Venezuela has been sending to Cuba is drying up.

Maybe Trump will get lucky and the Maduro regime will collapse in Venezuela and the Cuba regime will topple soon after.

On the other hand, pushing on Cuba right now just Raul and Fidel are getting ready to die retire may empower the remaining hard line communists again, and they may decide crack down on the nascent private sector again.

Yes, Trump may get lucky-----but he isn't striking me as a "lucky" president right now. I'm starting to worry about everything going to hell on his watch.

Cheers!
Never underestimate the ability of Joe Biden to f#@% things up---Barack Obama
-----------------------------------------------------------
Keep running between the raindrops.
User avatar
Plantagenet
Expert
Expert
 
Posts: 26607
Joined: Mon 09 Apr 2007, 03:00:00
Location: Alaska (its much bigger than Texas).

Re: Trump tears up Obama agreement with Cuba

Unread postby Cog » Fri 16 Jun 2017, 22:30:16

If communism is a superior business model, then the Castro brothers should have no problems with the US re-applying sanctions. I have found that to judge the merit of an idea is to find out who is against it.

So far, the media, Europe, Democrats, and leftists hate the idea of what Trump is doing. I'm quite comfortable that Trump is doing the right thing here.
User avatar
Cog
Fusion
Fusion
 
Posts: 13416
Joined: Sat 17 May 2008, 03:00:00
Location: Northern Kekistan

Re: Trump tears up Obama agreement with Cuba

Unread postby Newfie » Sat 17 Jun 2017, 17:48:01

I've yet to hear anyone who has significant first hand knowledge of Cuba, and who does not have some personal stake in the Castro regime, recommend a hard line. While they generally acknowledge some political difficulties and abuses they also generally feel very positive of the Cuban people and feel they have more to gain by engagement than by sanctions.
User avatar
Newfie
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
 
Posts: 18451
Joined: Thu 15 Nov 2007, 04:00:00
Location: Between Canada and Carribean

Re: Trump tears up Obama agreement with Cuba

Unread postby Ibon » Sat 17 Jun 2017, 20:38:18

Newfie wrote:I've yet to hear anyone who has significant first hand knowledge of Cuba, and who does not have some personal stake in the Castro regime, recommend a hard line. While they generally acknowledge some political difficulties and abuses they also generally feel very positive of the Cuban people and feel they have more to gain by engagement than by sanctions.


You know Newfie, I have a wealth of information I could share having personal friendships with Cubans both in Cuba and in Miami. I do share stories one and one with guests here at times but I am hesitant on a public forum like this.

The best source of information are the cubans themselves. Within the Cuban American community there is now quite a split generation wise, the majority of 2nd and 3rd generation that were born of first generation immigrants since 1960 are by and large now supporting the end of the embargo. They did not experience the displacement the 1st generation did. The 1st generation of immigrants are still in favor of the embargo but like Fidel and Raul they are a dead or dying demographic.


More info:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/s ... ll/2210950

The Bendixen & Amandi poll showed 44 percent supported normalizing relations; 48 percent opposed it.

Those Cuban Americans born in the United States supported the normalization effort by 64-33 percent. Those born in Cuba opposed it 53-38 percent. Of those born in Cuba, those who emigrated before Mariel in 1980 opposed the deal 64-29 percent. Those who came after Mariel were split, with 45 percent in favor and 44 percent opposed.
Patiently awaiting the pathogens. Our resiliency resembles an invasive weed. We are the Kudzu Ape
blog: http://blog.mounttotumas.com/
website: http://www.mounttotumas.com
User avatar
Ibon
Expert
Expert
 
Posts: 9568
Joined: Fri 03 Dec 2004, 04:00:00
Location: Volcan, Panama

Re: Trump tears up Obama agreement with Cuba

Unread postby Ibon » Mon 19 Jun 2017, 03:57:52

See this video clip...

https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politi ... title-area

This move by Trump is against the long term interests of the Republican party. Younger Cuban Americans, the demographic that will be around for decades, are against this while the demographic that supports it is old and dying.

It's just plainly dumb. Obama didn't catalyse the changes in Cuba, he just adjusted American policy to a momentum that was already accelerating. Trump trying to reverse this just seems totally out of step.
Patiently awaiting the pathogens. Our resiliency resembles an invasive weed. We are the Kudzu Ape
blog: http://blog.mounttotumas.com/
website: http://www.mounttotumas.com
User avatar
Ibon
Expert
Expert
 
Posts: 9568
Joined: Fri 03 Dec 2004, 04:00:00
Location: Volcan, Panama

Re: Trump tears up Obama agreement with Cuba

Unread postby Cog » Mon 19 Jun 2017, 06:07:21

Perhaps Trump is more interested in the long term interests of the USA than his own party. Something I'm sure Obama never considered in his decision making process.
User avatar
Cog
Fusion
Fusion
 
Posts: 13416
Joined: Sat 17 May 2008, 03:00:00
Location: Northern Kekistan

Re: Trump tears up Obama agreement with Cuba

Unread postby Ibon » Mon 19 Jun 2017, 09:01:42

Cog wrote:Perhaps Trump is more interested in the long term interests of the USA than his own party. Something I'm sure Obama never considered in his decision making process.


Maybe he can round up all those geriatric Cubans in Miami and make a 2nd go at the Playa Giron?
Patiently awaiting the pathogens. Our resiliency resembles an invasive weed. We are the Kudzu Ape
blog: http://blog.mounttotumas.com/
website: http://www.mounttotumas.com
User avatar
Ibon
Expert
Expert
 
Posts: 9568
Joined: Fri 03 Dec 2004, 04:00:00
Location: Volcan, Panama

Sanctions-Proof Oil Rig Thwarts US Policy From Cuba to Russi

Unread postby AdamB » Wed 20 Dec 2017, 14:44:19

The oil rig was built mostly in China and drilled its first well in Cuba. Now it’s delivering a victory for Russia in its fight against U.S. sanctions. Italian oil giant Eni SpA and Russia’s state-controlled Rosneft PJSC are using the Scarabeo 9 ultra-deepwater rig to drill in water more than 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) deep in the Black Sea. It’s the first well drilled by a western company at a Russian oil project that falls squarely under U.S. sanctions imposed on the sector in 2014. For Vladimir Putin, it’s a second energy-sector victory in a little over a week after the $27 billion Yamal liquefied natural gas project started shipping cargoes despite U.S. sanctions against its controlling shareholder. "It is important not because of the size, but from a geopolitical perspective it is key," said Alejandro Demichelis, director at boutique investment bank


Sanctions-Proof Oil Rig Thwarts US Policy From Cuba to Russia
Plant Thu 27 Jul 2023 "Personally I think the IEA is exactly right when they predict peak oil in the 2020s, especially because it matches my own predictions."

Plant Wed 11 Apr 2007 "I think Deffeyes might have nailed it, and we are just past the overall peak in oil production. (Thanksgiving 2005)"
User avatar
AdamB
Volunteer
Volunteer
 
Posts: 9290
Joined: Mon 28 Dec 2015, 17:10:26

Re: THE Cuba Thread Pt. 3

Unread postby Tanada » Tue 11 Dec 2018, 15:23:05

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said his government’s last-minute changes to policies that went into effect on Friday following widespread criticism showed it listens to the people and were not a setback.

The Communist government this week watered down the most heavily criticized elements of new restrictions on free enterprise and promised to revise regulations accompanying a law on the cultural sector to address artists’ concerns.

The changes to policies published in July came the same week as Cuba finally launched mobile internet, a long-awaited service that many had been skeptical would ever arrive in one of the world’s least connected countries.

“There is no reason to believe the rectifications are setbacks nor to confuse them with weakness when one is listening to the people,” Diaz-Canel, who succeeded Raul Castro in April, tweeted. “None of us can do as much as we all can together.”

The government said on Wednesday it was lifting a cap of 50 seats for private restaurants and a ban on Cubans holding more than one business license.

Private sector workers, who make up around 13 percent of the island’s labor force, criticized the government for making such big changes so late.

Some restaurants had already shrunk capacity and fired staff, while many entrepreneurs had divested licenses or started the lengthy bureaucratic process of transferring them to others.

Overall they welcomed the move.

“I think it’s the first time they’ve really listened to the private sector,” said Mickey Morales, the owner of a 150-seat restaurant with panoramic views of Havana’s centuries-old port. “It’s a relief.”

On Thursday, the government also said it was consulting with artists on regulations on cultural activities to ease fears about increased censorship.

Ted Henken, a professor of black and Latino studies at Baruch College in New York, said Cuba’s unusual volte-face suggested it was becoming more open to feedback or less able to withstand growing discontent.

Diaz-Canel lacks the historic legitimacy of Castro, who fought alongside his older brother Fidel Castro for the 1959 revolution. He took power as the ailing economy faced dwindling aid from key ally Venezuela and a tighter U.S. trade embargo.

To date, Diaz-Canel has appeared to seek legitimacy through greater public interaction with Cuban citizens, companies and institutions than his reclusive predecessor, analysts say.

Until now, that change in style had not translated into substantive policy changes, nor had he openly met with private entrepreneurs or more critical actors of civil society.

“Hopefully this is the start of a change of course,” Ricardo Torres, an economist at a Cuban state-run think tank, wrote in a public post on Facebook, “where the rights and interests of the island’s inhabitants are adequately taken into account in the politics of the Cuban state.”


CUBA
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
User avatar
Tanada
Site Admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 17048
Joined: Thu 28 Apr 2005, 03:00:00
Location: South West shore Lake Erie, OH, USA

Communism in Cuba

Unread postby Cog » Wed 05 Feb 2020, 13:12:36

This is what the Democrat Party wants for you. About 14 minutes.

In before the usual defenders of communism say "This time we will get it right".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz6VJK3mS08
User avatar
Cog
Fusion
Fusion
 
Posts: 13416
Joined: Sat 17 May 2008, 03:00:00
Location: Northern Kekistan

Re: Communism in Cuba

Unread postby careinke » Thu 06 Feb 2020, 02:17:57

Cog wrote:This is what the Democrat Party wants for you. About 14 minutes.

In before the usual defenders of communism say "This time we will get it right".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz6VJK3mS08


That was well worth watching. I remember as a teenager listening to Radio Free Cuba late at night on my SW radio. The propaganda was first rate.
Cliff (Start a rEVOLution, grow a garden)
User avatar
careinke
Volunteer
Volunteer
 
Posts: 4658
Joined: Mon 01 Jan 2007, 04:00:00
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Communism in Cuba

Unread postby ralfy » Sat 08 Feb 2020, 00:09:28

One can also see Cuba in light of countries like the Philippines, which is not only pro-U.S. (and according to various polls much more than the U.S. itself) but also democratic and capitalist.
User avatar
ralfy
Light Sweet Crude
Light Sweet Crude
 
Posts: 5558
Joined: Sat 28 Mar 2009, 11:36:38
Location: The Wasteland

PreviousNext

Return to North America Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests