Cuba puts first computers on sale to the public

The news may be a bit deceptive as the hotel issue has already created a catch-22 (just as the government planned). It sems that some Cubans are excersising their right to stay in a hotel and once their vacation is over DTI (FBI counterparts) are at their home the next day asking where they got the $$$ to stay for a week in a $100+ night hotel. Houses and cars are being seized as the person(s) do not have a documented source to explain where the $$$ came from for the lovely decorated 7 bedroom 4 bath house with two 55 Chevy's in the driveway. As of last Sunday Cubans are allowed to buy in a dealership brand new cars, for example in Galeria de Paseo you could buy a Lada (Russian Fiat) without AC for 16,000 CUC or $20K U$D. Lot of money for a car that in other parts of the world sells for about $8-9K. Now if you wanted to buy that for your grandmother to drive in Cuba, you need a letter from your bank (notarized) stating that you are a long time customer in good standing and that you withdrew this $$$ amount prior to purchasing this vehicle. This will serve as a band-aid remedy in preventing DTI in taking your car as they will like to know where the flip granma got $20K on her $19/month pension. John
 
Johnny-O! said:
The news may be a bit deceptive as the hotel issue has already created a catch-22 (just as the government planned).
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Yes but.

Don't you think that as more and more people get a taste of what they have been missing they will start to demand more and more change from the government? Sure in the short term there will be no noticeable change but as time goes on the positive changes that technology can bring should cause a clamor for more change.

I don't care what country you're in, if enough of the people want change there will either be change or there will be revolution. And they did the revolution thing already so I think it's time for a change. I think maybe the government see that too.
 
One thing I did notice recently was how many Cubans were now staying at resorts in Varadero. At least there were lots of skinny white guys with Cuban girls. Used to be that kind of thing was rarely seen unless a non-Cuban guy had a Cuban family and brought them in on a foreign passport.

Commander Bob
But at my resort it was mostly noisy Canadians.
 
It is all a charade. A DVD costs $120 CUC ($150 US) it is said that a large amount of those were decomissioned at the airport. $800 for a rag-tag refurbished computer, yeah their advancing all right. When the house of cards falls down you're going to see a lot of top officials flying out to Europe with lots of cash already set up in a local bank. John
 
Diesel engines are now for sale for use in the pre-60's vehicles. At the fuel stations 80 octane gasoline is .60CUC or .75 USD/liter. Diesel is .45CUC or .56 USD/liter, however "on the black market" it is about .12-.15 USD. Plenty of Fidels truck drivers always tend to have a little bit extra at the end of the day. Nissan and Daihatsu engine/transmission packages are available 3800 CUC or $4750 US. You have to trade in your old V8 along with your 3800 CUC. Very hard for the common folk to come up with that kind of money. John
 
Interestingly enough, it turns out that the reason Raul Castro claims they will not have internet is that the US would be the only one who could provide that service, but the Embargo prevents a US company from profiting from it. Weigh his credibility and intentions, but it still seems like it may be in our interest to let the Cubans have internet.
 
Who supplies for the rest of the Caribbean, solely US Corporations? I doubt that. Can't his buddy Chavez throw him a line? John
 
I should re-phrase that to emphasize that I believe Raul is scapegoating the US, but we could almost benefit by responding. If we could find a way to broadcast internet over there, we could prevent them from restricting it. Kind of like the US radio stations that broadcast there.
 
Footbag said:
Interestingly enough, it turns out that the reason Raul Castro claims they will not have internet is that the US would be the only one who could provide that service, but the Embargo prevents a US company from profiting from it. Weigh his credibility and intentions, but it still seems like it may be in our interest to let the Cubans have internet.
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Not true. There are any number of countries that could provide Cuban with an Internet connection. It's just more "blame the US" BS from the Cuban government. Johnny-O is right (as usual)... the house of cards will eventually fall, and the party officials who have been robbing the populace blind will live in French Chateaus in exile.
 
moki said:
Footbag said:
Interestingly enough, it turns out that the reason Raul Castro claims they will not have internet is that the US would be the only one who could provide that service, but the Embargo prevents a US company from profiting from it. Weigh his credibility and intentions, but it still seems like it may be in our interest to let the Cubans have internet.
Click to expand...

Not true. There are any number of countries that could provide Cuban with an Internet connection. It's just more "blame the US" BS from the Cuban government. Johnny-O is right (as usual)... the house of cards will eventually fall, and the party officials who have been robbing the populace blind will live in French Chateaus in exile.
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Exactly. As has been stated countless times before, the US is the only economy which has an embargo with Cuba. Every other nation does not. The entire Castro family and party government are the ones to blame for the conditions in Cuba, with everything going into and lining their respective pockets. They are nothing other than murdering, lying, thieving, no-good sons of bitches. Point blank and period.
 
moki said:
Footbag said:
Interestingly enough, it turns out that the reason Raul Castro claims they will not have internet is that the US would be the only one who could provide that service, but the Embargo prevents a US company from profiting from it. Weigh his credibility and intentions, but it still seems like it may be in our interest to let the Cubans have internet.
Click to expand...

Not true. There are any number of countries that could provide Cuban with an Internet connection. It's just more "blame the US" BS from the Cuban government. Johnny-O is right (as usual)... the house of cards will eventually fall, and the party officials who have been robbing the populace blind will live in French Chateaus in exile.
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Do you mean this reference in a literal sense as in there is French influence in Cuba and would provide them exile or do you mean it in a figurative sense as a show of their ill-gotten wealth?
 
There is little or no French influence on the island. What has been documented is that Raul's family memebers have been to France and have established "relationships". Many are already holding French passports as this is a matter of public information. In the past two years the top cronies have been traveling extensively visiting as many European countries as they can. Many have set up anonymous corporations, getting ready for the big fall. John
 
CNN is reporting that President Bush will allow US citizens to send cell phones to Cuba!
 
Yeah, I saw Geedubya on C-SPAN says he's got a plan to make sure Americans can get cell phones down to Cuba. That I would like to see. Now on the flip side, the fact that Bush says "Freedom is coming" Raul will broadcast his interepretation and say that Bush is preparing for an invasion (this is no joke). John
 
John I thought they made quarterly announcements that the invasion was coming. Nothing like a good spin doctor to make a bad situation into a good one. It is a start or better said an ending.
 
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