Like Rick in Casablanca, the NYT’s Azam Ahmed was misinformed,
“Cuba’s Surge in Tourism” is not what “Keeps Food Off Residents’ Plates;” what’s keeping food off residents’ plates is Communism. Read my post.
American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture
Like Rick in Casablanca, the NYT’s Azam Ahmed was misinformed,
“Cuba’s Surge in Tourism” is not what “Keeps Food Off Residents’ Plates;” what’s keeping food off residents’ plates is Communism. Read my post.
In his articles on Cuba, Michael Totten has observed that there are a lot of fallow fields in the countryside. The FAO- the same FAO that informs us about Venezuela’s current great food supply- has some agricultural production stats that shatter the “embargo” scapegoat for Cuba’s economic woes.
Consider sugarcane production. In 1961, Cuba was the world’s third leading producer of sugar cane, behind India and Brazil- countries which are much larger than Cuba. In 1961, Cuba accounted for an eighth of world sugar production- 12.5%. In 1990, when it still had the Soviet subsidy, Cuba accounted for 8% of world production. Today, Cuba accounts for less than 1% of world sugar cane production. After nearly 30 years on the Soviet dole, Cuba’s sugar could not compete in the world market.There was no incentive to increase yield. Cuba’s yield of sugar cane per hectare is essentially unchanged since 1961, whereas worldwide, the yield of sugar cane per hectare has increased 39%. Socialism= stagnation.
Sugarcane production, metric tons
1961 55,885,920
1990 81,800,000
2013 16,100,000
In the 1980s, Fidel touted the high productivity of Ubre Blanca, the wonder cow. How does Cuban milk production compare with Latin America’s in 1961 and 2013?
Milk production, Latin America, metric tons
1961 18,195,026
2013 85,562,089
Milk production, Cuba, Metric tons
1961 350,000
2013 589,100
From 1961 to 2013, milk production in Latin America increased by 370%, compared to Cuba’s 68%. When in expressed in multiples, Latin America’s milk production in in 2013 was 4.7 times what it was in 1961. Cuba’s milk production in 2013 was 1.68 times what it was in 1961. The CIA wasn’t shooting Cuban milk cows. Castro’s economics did in Cuban milk cows.
The above examples of abysmal Cuban production are the responsibility of the Cuban government, not of the “embargo.”
My understanding is that the MAXIMUM wage in Cuba is ~ $20/month, and that the foreign hotels pay the Cuban government a monthly sum per hotel worker considerably larger, somewhere in the range of $200-$600 per month. The Cuban government takes the lion’s share of what Cubans earn at foreign hotels. Were the Cuban government to let Cuban workers at foreign hotels get more take-home pay, there would be an increased market for agricultural produce.
http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home
WE TRY, WE REALLY DO, TO UNDERSTAND AND ACCEPT THE DEFENSIVENESS, THE SLAVISH DEFENSE OF CASTRO’S VICIOUSNESS, BLOODTHIRST, ARROGANCE, WHEN CASTRO’S COMMUNIST IDEOLOGY HAS BEEN SHOWN UP TO BE A TOTAL, COMPLETE, ABSOLUTE FAILURE AND NOT JUST IN THE USSR, BUT EVERYWHERE IT HAS BEEN IMPOSED. BUT WE ARE FORCED TO COME BACK TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THE AMERICAN LIBS/LEFTIES/”PROGRESSIVES”/DEMOCRAT TOOLS ARE SIMPLY INCOMPETENT MENTALLY, SOCIALLY, ECONOMICALLY, PERSONALLY, OR MAYBE ALSO BLIND, DEAF. WE PRAY THAT TRUMP, PRACTICAL MAN THAT HE IS, WILL NOT NEGOTIATE PUTTING RAULITO OVER OUR KNEE AND APPLYING THE FANNY-SPANKING THAT CASTRO AND HIS LITTLE BROTHER NEEDED BEFORE NOW, BUT WHICH AMERICAN POLITICIANS LACKED THE MANHOOD TO APPLY.