What to Expect After The Embargo?

[Red Saxon]

What will be the immediate changes that will take place after the ceasing of the Cuban Embargo?

[Drace]

What ceasing of the Cuban Embargo?

I found this on the topic.
http://links.org.au/node/1315

According to very conservative figures, the direct harm inflicted on Cuba as a result of the embargo, until December 2008, surpasses 96 billion dollars, a figure that would reach 36 thousand 221 million dollars, if the calculation were to be made using today’s value of the US dollar. It is not difficult to imagine the progress Cuba would have been able to achieve and how much progress has been denied it if it hadn’t been for these 50 years of being submitted to this brutal economic war.


Between May 2008 and April 2009 repercussions on the public health sector add up to 25 million dollars.
Children’s hospitals face serious obstacles when it comes to acquiring materials suitable for small children, such as better quality and more durable vesicular, digestive and tracheal probes, Huber needles for tracheotomies and lumbar injections, most of which come from the US.

Cuban children suffering from lymphoblastic leukemia cannot use Erwinia L-asparaginasa, a medicine commercially known as Elspar, since the US pharmaceutical company Merck and Co. refuses to sell this product to Cuba.
In 2008, because of additional costs coming from the obstacles to transactions with the United States, ALIMPORT suffered losses of 154.9 million dollars. With those resources and in the same American market, at those year’s average prices, Cuba could have bought 339,000 tons of wheat, or 615,000 tons of corn, or 126,760 tons of chicken for the tables of the more than 11 million Cubans included in the “Canasta Básica” (basic shopping-basket) programme.

In the period between April 2008 and March 2009, the agro-food sector, so sensitive for the food security of the country, suffered losses on account of the embargo to the tune of 121.8 million dollars.


In the period of time which we are analyzing, the higher education sector has suffered losses totalling 3.8 million dollars affecting production and services, income other than for goods and services, lack of access to American technology, cancelled academic programmes, bank transfers and projects that could not be carried out.

The School of Economy at the University of Havana needs to renovate three elevators. To do so it needs to acquire GAL and ECI parts from Canada. During 2008, negotiations went on with a Canadian firm that sent an offer for the amount of 11,318 dollars. However, after signing the contract and opening a letter of credit, the purchase could not go through because 100% of the components originate in the USA and the manufacturer refused to make the sale to Cuba because of the embargo. The operation was carried out later with another supplier, at a cost of 200% more than the earlier offer.


The direct economic repercussions on the Cuban people due to the application of the economic, trade and financial embargo by the US against Cuba until December 2008, calculated on a conservative basis, totals 96 billion dollars, a figure that would reach 236,221 million dollars if calculations were made using the current rate of Exchange on the US dollar. That figure does not include direct repercussions on the economic and social goals of the country inflicted by sabotage and terrorist acts that are encouraged, organized and financed from the United States.

[Red Saxon]

What ceasing of the Cuban Embargo?Maybe I should have been specific to say the American Embargo on Cuba.

[Drace]

What I meant is, I haven't received any news of the US ceasing the embargo.

Also, I edited the above post.

[RedSonRising]

It would be hard to tell; it depends on the nature of the economic agreements that occur between the United States and Cuba. There won't likely be a return of invasive, economically-controlled power of the US over Cuba through ownership, but perhaps a return to a dependent cash-crop economics and a way to bully/starve Cuba into accepting certain political terms that may compromise the gains made by the revolution. Then again, Cuba doesn't have much of a choice in whether or not they want to mainline exports of sugar due to a lack of diversity in their raw material productive power, and the international ties they are using to stabilize themselves in terms of trade will allow them more wiggle room policy-wise when facing the monster of the north.

As long as the terms don't allow economic decisions to give government officials an advantage over the worker-run aspects/sectors of the Cuban economy, the gains of national abundance will only benefit the workers of the island.