Washington has finally agreed to remove the last barriers preventing Viet Nam from joining the WTO, and thus opening up full trading status between the US and VN. Yet, we still embargo most of Cuba's goods, and travel. Let me see if I'm missing anything here. We lost 58 THOUSAND plus lives in a drawn out struggle in Viet Nam, to no avail. So many of our POWs and their families carry that burden with them today. Countless thousands of Vietnamese, both North and South, lost their lives and everything else over the protracted conflict. We've never had, to my knowledge, any POWs in Cuba, at least since the mid 60's. We haven't attemtped to occupy Cuba, nor have we ever really come the the aid of the Cuban people who would seek to ovethrow the yoke of Communism. Why the dichotomy? H6
San Francisco, CA to Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam 7826 miles Key West, FL to Havana, Cuba 106 miles Any other questions?
Yes, Clif, a series of them. The entire travel and tourism industry looks at Cuba as desirable. Canada trades witht hem, and I think that the US may have some markets there. Are we so afraid of the Communist Boogeyman that we'd not chance allowing free trade to topple Castro, as opposed to trying to contain him? I have news. The embargo is full of holes. And the border security/customs operation that one sees when returning from a cruise into Miami or Tampa is a JOKE. I just don't get it that we can trade with some countries that have worse human rights violations than Cuba..CHINA..for one, and hold oursleves in disdain towards Cuba. It's rather convenient to imprison enemy combatants not protected by Geneva Conventions in Cuba. Why not send them to Asia?
Actually I lean toward agreeing with you. When we decided to begin a unilateral embargo against Cuba, it was out of fear of their alliance with the Soviet Union. While Cuba, by itself, is no real threat to the US, the Soviets could (and almost did) arm them with nukes which didn't require ICBM capability to reach US soil. However, now that the Soviet Union is defunct, Cuba isn't so much of a threat. On the third hand, Cuba and China have been very friendly of late, including allowing China to drill for oil off Cuba's coast (on the US side!). Which is why I say I lean toward agreeing with you, but reserve final judgement until we see what happens after Castro kicks off.
Clif, It's not that I have any love for Cuba. I just don't get the apparent dichotomy. I haven't gotten the latest US National scorecard showing who our allies are, and who they are not. Question...did anyone notice that the Mexican goverment response to the proposed border wall, (well within our own border) was initially that of disagreement (as if they have a vote in it) and then later saying that it was something along the lines of sovereign affairs of the US. Just trying to arrive at a cogent answer on policy.
Hatteras6 I can give a little insight into Viet Nam's society and why they may be chosen over Cuba for entry into the WTO. My response might be a little biased as I have family there. I have visited Viet Nam 2 times in the past 5 years. The Vietnamese culture is under a radical economical and social change and they are currently lifting themselves out of a socialist type society. The government allows and encourages small business development as well as investment from foreign nations. Japan is a heavy investor in manufacturing as well as retail businesses. Viet Nam is a popular tourist spot for Japanese and Australians. The "old guard" is slowly dying out and the "new blood" realizes that they are in a strategic position to increase Viet Nam's position from a 3rd world country. Viet Nam has 3,444 km of coastline and borders China, (strategic for the US), they also border Loas and Cambodia. The main religion is Buddism, but Catholicism is the 2nd higest. Both countries lost support from the Soviet Bloc, but how they are handling their country now differs greatly. Viet Nam is pushing forward while Cuba still attempts to control every aspect of it's citizen's lives. Two excerpts from the cia.gov website concerning Viet Nam and Cuba. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/vm.html Viet Nam: Vietnamese authorities have reaffirmed their commitment to economic liberalization and international integration. They have moved to implement the structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive, export-driven industries. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/cu.html Cuba: note: private citizens are prohibited from buying computers or accessing the Internet without special authorization; foreigners may access the Internet in large hotels but are subject to firewalls; some Cubans buy illegal passwords on the black market or take advantage of public outlets, to access limited email and the government-controlled "intranet" (2005) Viet Nam has also assisted the US in recovery of US POWs and disarmament of land mines placed by both countries. The main issues I see with Viet Nam right now is their treatment of secluded mountainous tribes such as the Khmer, religious freedom, and their attachment to the communist party. Official bribery is also a common problem there, (as we know we have it here also). As previously posted I do find it interesting that we agree to trade agreements with other countries that have done more harm to us. I think America has a syndrome that causes us to jump into bed with the country that will cost us the less money (imports, prices) with little regard to social impact. Hatteras I saw you post that we lost 58,000 lives in Viet Nam, as a secondary fact we lost about 200,000 during WWII with Japan. Quote from wikipedia "Over 3½ years of direct U.S. involvement in World War II, approximately 400,000 American lives had been lost, roughly half of them incurred in the war against Japan.", but we opened trade agreements with them and as some would argue, their products have eroded the American car industry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki I know that as a white male when I was walking the streets of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) I felt very out of place....but I felt safe. I never once received any threatening glaces or remarks (except for one child trying out his English skills by using the F-word). The people were friendly and curious. When I was in the Tourist District I never received a second glance, but when I ventured out into the residential areas I received numerous stares (enough that I think I caused 2 accidents. ). I even considered living there with my wife for a while. Engineers make good money and the cost of BASIC living is very cheap. Electronics are still expensive. Anyways I guess I rambled enough and the point to all this is that the US looks at the current leadership of the country versus the past actions of the country. They also take into account the strategic world placement of the country (again Viet Nam being south of China). I hope I made a good argument for Viet Nam. Afraid I don't really know much about Cuba besides the information I have researched. Maybe when Castro is out of power cuba will reverse their current stance, something to think about. Later, Daniel
https://www.ien.com/product-develop...train-as-rail-overhaul-begins?lt.usr=35692792 Cuba Debuts Modern Chinese Train as Rail Overhaul Begins It marks a first step of an overhaul Cuba's communist government started early last year, repairing some 2,600 miles of aging tracks and dozens of tumble-down stations. AUTHORS Christopher Gillette HAVANA (AP) — The first train using new equipment from China pulled out of Havana Saturday, hauling excited passengers on the start of a 915-kilometer (516-mile) journey to the eastern end of the island as the government tries to overhaul the country's aging and decrepit rail system. The 14 gleaming Chinese cars and a locomotive departed the city's central train station and will wend their way through nine cities before ending in Guantanamo 15 hours later. It has four air-conditioned wagons and a rolling restaurant car. Previously the trip could take days because of equipment breakdowns and track erosion. It marks a first step of an overhaul Cuba's communist government started early last year, repairing some 2,600 miles (4,200 kilometers) of aging tracks and dozens of tumble-down stations scattered around the island. "It's a blessing from God because we had to take this trip and private cars are very expensive, but we got a very good low fare and we are proud to be taking this train," said 69-year-old passenger Virginia Pardo. But much remains to be done to bring Cuba's ailing train system up to acceptable standards with miles of rusting tracks and just a handful of reliably equipped trains. Cuba received a shipment of 80 new train carriages and locomotives in early May, part of a promised consignment of 250 pieces of new equipment by the end of 2019. "We have more work to do because there needs to be better organization to travel on the train, so people don't get so overworked and desperate to travel on it," said 57-year-old passenger Angel Matamoros. The government hopes a revamp of the system will restore one of the region's first country-wide rail services, heavily used to move goods and people around the island. It is part of a plan that runs until 2030, when the government hopes the system will be fully functional. According to the Cuban Transportation Ministry, trains carried 6.7 million passengers in 2018, a sharp drop from almost 11 million passengers in 2004. The government hopes to increase ridership by 1 million in 2019 on long distance routes. Train service to the far-eastern cities of Santiago, Holguin, Camaguey and Guantanamo are heavily used by locals. The Havana-Guantanamo trip costs from 200 Cuban pesos (US$8) roundtrip, to as little as 20 Cuban pesos (80 US cents) between Havana-Matanzas, the first stop on the island-wide circuit. The low costs are still challenging for many Cubans who only earn on average $40 a month, but are far cheaper than bus, plane or car travel. Cuba is the only country in the Caribbean that offers island-wide rail service and once boasted the first country-wide rail line in Latin America, which started service in 1837 with a 17-mile (27-kilometer) long line built to transport sugarcane.
