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Cuba's First Computer Factory to Make 120K Units per Year
- danharaj 10y agoThe fact that Cuba managed to reach the standard of living that it did while almost completely disconnected from the world economy is remarkable, regardless of what you think of its political situation or what could have been if Batista held on to power. It will be interesting to see how their economy evolves as political and economic isolation is slowly phased out. I would not be surprised however if the United States refused to change its position without Cuba making great concessions to privatization and international investment considering those are the terms neoliberal powers have imposed on any developing country that wants to participate.
- gadders 10y agoPrivatisation, international investment, not imprisoning gays, letting people disagree with the government.
- pjc50 10y agoThose things don't have to be tied together like that, you know.
- ed 10y ago> The fact that Cuba managed to reach the standard of living that it did while almost completely disconnected from the world economy is remarkable How would you describe Cuba's current "standard of living?" You imply the country has a high standard of living but first-hand experience suggests otherwise.
- danharaj 10y agoFor example, a lower infant mortality rate than the United States. Also, this is a statement about a relative change. What was the standard of living under Batista? Pretty bad unless you were one of the people who owned property or participated in the kleptocracy. There's a reason why Castro could gain the support required to overthrow that government in the first place.
- aurelianito 10y agoAnother thing to take into account is that similar countries fare much worse. Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, the countries that are somehow comparable to Cuba are worst in every imaginable way, even when they were not economically attacked for over 50 years by the biggest economic power in the world.
- rhapsodic 10y agoFake News Alert: The article makes repeated mention of a "U.S. Economic Blockade" against Cuba, which implies that the U.S. prevented other countries from trading with Cuba. The U.S. merely had a trade embargo against Cuba that prevented U.S. companies and their foreign subsidiaries from doing business with Cuba. If Cuba's socialist economic system is as awesome as so many people say it is, it shouldn't rely on trade with a greedy rapacious capitalist neighbor in order to provide a decent standard of living for the people of Cuba.
- konschubert 10y agoMy approximate knowledge is that a ship that lands in Cuba is forbidden from entering a harbour in the US for several months after. This means that Cuba is effectively cut off from international container traffic. I don't have a strong opinion either way, but I think that this is relevant information when judging if there is an "Economic Blockade".
- rhapsodic 10y ago> My approximate knowledge is that a ship that lands in Cuba is forbidden from entering a harbour in the US for several months after. > This means that Cuba is effectively cut off from international container traffic. With the massive scope of the world shipping industry? Sorry, but I don't think your conclusion can be logically supported.
- vinay427 10y agoI know nothing about the container shipping industry, but why can't specific ships only be used for deliveries to countries besides Cuba, with other ships being used to countries besides the US?
- ptaipale 10y agoIt surely makes the management of ships more complex. When a country is small and trade volume is small, it's vastly simpler just to drop it off from the logistics chain when entering U.S. ports is important and volumes big. This was surely the point of the embargo.
- friedman23 10y agoTelesur is a propaganda website. Just to inform those that haven't looked at the source yet.
- ptaipale 10y agoWikipedia: "TeleSUR ... is multi-state funded, pan–Latin American terrestrial and satellite television network sponsored by the governments of Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Uruguay, and Bolivia that is headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela". You could perhaps say that it provides the point of view of those countries and their covernments. (Argentina used to be there as well, but withdrew.)
- fcanesin 10y agoLol, just looking at the titles of other news in this site is enough to pass.
- desireco42 10y agoIf anyone could benefit from Raspberry Pi, that is Cuba. With so many smart and educated people, with state mandated program, they could have spread those across the island for great benefit to all.