Castro economy “fatal”

The loud thump some of you may have heard was the sound of some people in the media cayéndose de la mata (falling out the tree) when they read in one of the leaked Wikileaks documents that Cuba’s economy is close to a total and irreversible collapse.

Cuba’s economic and financial situation may become “fatal” within two to three years as the Communist island-nation has been slow to respond to the global financial crisis and accumulates foreign debt, a confidential U.S. diplomatic cable said.

The cable, released yesterday by WikiLeaks, cited Italian diplomats as saying that Cuba may “become insolvent as early as 2011.” It was sent in February before President Raul Castro announced plans to cut more than 500,000 state jobs in a bid to reduce inefficiencies.

The cable described a breakfast hosted by the U.S. Interests Section in Havana for diplomats from most of Cuba’s main trading partners, including China, Spain, Canada, Brazil and Italy. France and Japan, among the country’s largest creditors, were also present.

“All diplomats agreed that Cuba could survive this year without substantial policy changes, but the financial situation could become fatal within 2 to 3 years,” the cable said. “Promised structural reforms remain on hold while the Cuban government wrings its hands in indecision, fearful of the political consequences of these long-overdue changes.”

The most interesting aspect of this news is that the Castro economy has been at this precipice many times before in the past half-century. If not for the financial bailouts it received from other countries such as the former Soviet Union, Spain, Venezuela, and several other countries throughout the world, the Castro economy would have been history many decades ago. As in the past, the only way the Castro economy can weather this storm is for another country or group of countries to come in and bail the dictatorship out.

One other important point to make is that although some describe the current economy in Cuba as the “Cuban economy,” in reality it is the Castro economy. The island’s economic system was devised, set up, and has always been run to the benefit of the dictators, not the Cuban people. Therefore, it  should be referred to as such. To call it the “Cuban economy” is to infer that it is an economy where all people in Cuba have the same economic rights as the ruling elites, and that everyone has the opportunity to contribute and benefit from it. Slaves never benefited from the economies of the slave plantations they were part of, and neither do the Cuban people.

H/T Gabe M.

3 thoughts on “Castro economy “fatal””

  1. Fatal? I doubt it. It just means more remittances, trips and packages from Cubans living outside Cuba. Getting your (presumed) opponents to support you and keep you afloat while you wallow in incompetence and indifference is probably the greatest achievement of Castro, Inc.

  2. IRONICALLY – everytime Cuba is about to go bust – it is saved by the hard earned money of Cubans in Miami who claim to want the system to fail.

    The Castro’s continually take advantage of our charity and good will to not have our relatives starve – thus our generousity fuels his power. What a sick Catch 22.

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