
Cuba's First Computer Factory to Make 120K Units per Year - mmphosis
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Cubas-First-Computer-Factory-to-Make-120K-Units-Per-Year--20161224-0015.html
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rhapsodic
Fake News Alert: The article makes repeated mention of a "U.S. Economic
Blockade" against Cuba, which implies that the U.S. prevented other countries
from trading with Cuba. The U.S. merely had a trade embargo against Cuba that
prevented U.S. companies and their foreign subsidiaries from doing business
with Cuba. If Cuba's socialist economic system is as awesome as so many people
say it is, it shouldn't rely on trade with a greedy rapacious capitalist
neighbor in order to provide a decent standard of living for the people of
Cuba.

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konschubert
My approximate knowledge is that a ship that lands in Cuba is forbidden from
entering a harbour in the US for several months after.

This means that Cuba is effectively cut off from international container
traffic.

I don't have a strong opinion either way, but I think that this is relevant
information when judging if there is an "Economic Blockade".

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vinay427
I know nothing about the container shipping industry, but why can't specific
ships only be used for deliveries to countries besides Cuba, with other ships
being used to countries besides the US?

~~~
ptaipale
It surely makes the management of ships more complex. When a country is small
and trade volume is small, it's vastly simpler just to drop it off from the
logistics chain when entering U.S. ports is important and volumes big.

This was surely the point of the embargo.

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friedman23
Telesur is a propaganda website. Just to inform those that haven't looked at
the source yet.

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ptaipale
Wikipedia: "TeleSUR ... is multi-state funded, pan–Latin American terrestrial
and satellite television network sponsored by the governments of Venezuela,
Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Uruguay, and Bolivia that is headquartered in
Caracas, Venezuela".

You could perhaps say that it provides the point of view of those countries
and their covernments. (Argentina used to be there as well, but withdrew.)

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fcanesin
Lol, just looking at the titles of other news in this site is enough to pass.

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desireco42
If anyone could benefit from Raspberry Pi, that is Cuba. With so many smart
and educated people, with state mandated program, they could have spread those
across the island for great benefit to all.

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danharaj
The fact that Cuba managed to reach the standard of living that it did while
almost completely disconnected from the world economy is remarkable,
regardless of what you think of its political situation or what could have
been if Batista held on to power. It will be interesting to see how their
economy evolves as political and economic isolation is slowly phased out. I
would not be surprised however if the United States refused to change its
position without Cuba making great concessions to privatization and
international investment considering those are the terms neoliberal powers
have imposed on any developing country that wants to participate.

~~~
ed
> The fact that Cuba managed to reach the standard of living that it did while
> almost completely disconnected from the world economy is remarkable

How would you describe Cuba's current "standard of living?" You imply the
country has a high standard of living but first-hand experience suggests
otherwise.

~~~
danharaj
For example, a lower infant mortality rate than the United States.

Also, this is a statement about a _relative_ change. What was the standard of
living under Batista? Pretty bad unless you were one of the people who owned
property or participated in the kleptocracy. There's a reason why Castro could
gain the support required to overthrow that government in the first place.

~~~
aurelianito
Another thing to take into account is that similar countries fare much worse.
Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, the countries that are somehow comparable
to Cuba are worst in every imaginable way, even when they were not
economically attacked for over 50 years by the biggest economic power in the
world.

