From our Bureau of 21st Century Neocolonialism with some assistance from Yevgeniy Sanchez-Stepanchikov, our resident expert on Czar Vlad the Invader
Just a few weeks after a delegation of Russian “experts” sealed a deal with Castro, Inc. that will allow Grand Putinia to exert substantial control of Cuba, another delegation has arrived and taken control of a moribund sugar mill on the island, in the vicinity of Sancti Spiritus.
The Russians are all staying in a local hotel that is now off limits to Cubans. All of the repair work at the mill is also off limits to Cubans. Naturally, the locals seem a bit disturbed by these developments.
Czar Vlad the Invader is being stealthier in Castrogonia than in Ukraine, but his ultimate objective in both nations is to expand his empire.
Abridged and loosely translated from 14yMedio:
The Uruguay sugar mill, whose closure was brought forward by 14ymedio in April of last year, is already receiving the Russians who came to the rescue. The official press stated in October that there was a planned investment from that country to revitalize the sugar mill, located in Sancti Spíritus, and this newspaper has been able to verify that some experts are already there, staying at the Zaza hotel. “They are staying here and we are no longer accepting national clients”
“The Russians are already here,” says an employee of the Zaza hotel, a nearby accommodation with an architectural style from Soviet times and very similar to the so-called schools in the countryside. The place, which had been deteriorating for years, is now undergoing a “capital repair,” says the woman. “The investment is large because the mill is in awful shape, but it is obvious that the Russians come with resources and their own people for the repairs.”
“They arrived, they signed the contract and they are already working. They are staying here and we are no longer accepting national clients,” remarks the worker at the accommodation belonging to the Islazul chain. “This place is not very pretty but since it is remote, it was cheap and it is close to the dam, there were people who came here to spend a few days, but the word has already spread that we are not accepting Cuban guests.”
The idea is for the Zaza hotel to function as temporary accommodation for the Russian technicians who will try to revitalize the Uruguay mill, which has been in operation since 1905 and has undergone endless transformations and repairs since its foundation. In recent years, stoppages due to breakdowns have multiplied and the plant has spent more months stopped for repair and maintenance work than grinding cane.
“This was the pride of our town and now it is better not to mention it,” considers María Elena, who at the beginning of this century was a worker in the administrative part of the mill, one of the largest sources of employment in the province historically. “We were like a family but all that was lost and now nobody tells us if with the Russians we are going to benefit from Uruguay grinding again.”
Unfortunately, even Russians can run a sugar mill better than the Castronoids, which is a major disgrace.
I love it. Cuba finally has a free market economy if only in this one plant. The capital for repairs and new equipment is Russian since Cuba is “arrancada” / broke. The workers are of course Russian since Cuban workers would steal everything in the place. The sugar made there will be sold overseas to Russians or anyone else who can pay. The sugar that gets spoiled or spilled on the ground and swept up might be given to the locals (since they are only Cuban savages). The only Cubans who can potentially stand to gain are the sugar cane farmers. They will be paid consistently and on time. They might even get a fairly decent pay for their cane. Of course this will eventually be stolen by the communist elites. The communist elite of Cuba will also demand a share of the processed sugar to sell it in their hard currency stores. They will also try to get extortion payments from the Russians which will sour the deal and the Russians will pull out in a few years,
The Cuban elite are like children who are afraid of taking their medicine. They need the Russians to act like their mommy to ease them into the reality that they are really sick and need to take their medicine or they will die. The only difference is that little children are cute and adorable while Cuban elites are abhorrent and despicable. Also children are teachable while the Cuban elite believe they don’t need to learn anything. They are similar in that both are ignorant of reality.