Cuba Turns to Asia for Friends and Capital

[Judi Lynn]

Cuba Turns to Asia for Friends and Capital
Reuters

Nov 26, 2004 — By Anthony Boadle

HAVANA (Reuters) - Short on cash and squeezed by U.S. sanctions, Communist Cuba is turning to Asia for trade, credit and friends and has received visits this week from the leaders of China, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Chinese President Hu Jintao brought timely political backing for Cuban leader Fidel Castro and a delegation of 200 businessmen looking for investment opportunities on the Caribbean island nation. China's state-owned Minmetals Corp. agreed to invest $500 million in Cuba's nickel industry with Chinese government finance and investment guarantees. Chinese appliance king Haier will produce television sets, refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners in Cuba.

Hu was followed by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is looking to expand cooperation with Cuba's biotech industry which has joint ventures to produce low-cost vaccines in China, India and Malaysia.

Vietnam's President Tran Duc Luong, whose country supplies Cuba with about 250,000 tonnes of rice a year on cheap terms, made two brief stopovers in Havana on his way to and from the APEC summit that gathered the Asian leaders in Chile a week ago.
(snip/...)

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=284600

[bemildred]

1. Revised first sentence:

"No longer fearful of US objections, Asian powers pursue bilateral
trade and investment opportunities in Cuba."

[donsu]

2. it's good to see Cuba.s people gaining some help, friends and trade

nt

[MileHiStealth]

3. Look at those cars and that truck !!!

Nice !!!

[Judi Lynn]

6. Here's some kind of Ford.....

Click on the link for a few more cars:
http://www.cubasun.net/historiccars.html

[bemildred]

7. Whoa! '57 Fairlane (Ford) and a '57 Chevy.

The older one is a Chevy from the late 40s, I think.

[coreystone]

4. Sounds like the rest of the world is "bypassing" the Greatest Super Power!

:eyes:

[Mika]

5. More lies and propaganda

From the lead ABC article,

"Short on cash and squeezed by U.S. sanctions, Communist Cuba...."



Short on cash? Squeezed by U.S. sanctions? Really? Or just more lies?


Then why are the Bush thugs blocking CASH payments (not credit) from Cuba to US agribiz?


U.S. Exporters to Cuba Say Cash Blocked
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=542&ncid=693&e=7&u=/ap/20041124/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_cuba

WASHINGTON - Some companies that sell food and agricultural products to Cuba are reporting that payments are not being credited to their bank accounts in the United States, according to a representative of a group that tracks business between the two countries.

John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council Inc., said Tuesday that fewer than half a dozen companies have contacted his organization recently about such problems.

He said banks have confirmed receipt of payments from Cuba but have not credited the accounts of exporters on instructions from the U.S. government.

[Vogon_Glory]

8. He Who Pays For the Dance Gets To Call The Tune

Castro's turning to alliances and trade partnerships in Asia and elsewhere should surprise nobody. If the Asians are willing to dicker with Fidel, they'll do it. The Asian countries with strong economies or having important minerals and resources coveted by US businesses are a lot freer to deal with whoever they want these days than were their predecessors twenty to thirty years ago, when US economic dominance was unquestioned--even during the Cold War. By and large they are in positions to tell Republican politicos to go soak their heads in buckets of muck.

The Boosh regime and its Cuban exile fan club are discovering that some old adages still are apropos. Those who pay for the dance get to call the tune. Those countries willing to trade with Cuba are going to be able to get a lot more of what THEY want from Havana than the intransigents in Washington, Miami, New Jersey, Crawford, and Sugarland.

The only guy who could possibly mess up the deal isn't Gee Dubya, it's Fidel. And I shouldn't be the least bit surprised if Castro stays in office after Gee Dubya goes back to Texas.