Blanquist
22nd April 2012, 19:58
I have heard some say that the SU was unfair in their trade policy and took advantage of other countries?
Is this true? Does anyone have the statistics and such?
I always thought the SU was incredibly generous. Take Cuba for example, they had just 6 million citizens when Castro took power and 10 million at their peak but received several billion dollars a year in aid, they sold all their sugar at well above world market prices, the SU didn't even need this sugar and had no reason to buy it, if not to help the Cubans.
They sold their oil well below market prices and allowed Cuba to basically re-sell this oil for a profit. They trained Cuban students in the SU absolutely free, they sent countless specialist to Cuba to train and build etc.
So how can someone like Che complain about the SU taking advantage of anyone?
I don't know that much about this, but I know that quality of life was higher in Eastern Germany than the SU, per-capita meat consumption was higher in many places as well.
Didn't the GDR collapse because the SU withdrew its favorable trade policies?
Can someone describe unfair trade policy to me? And times when the SU took advantage of smaller countries? I've heard some people say they were even worse than the US but I find this hard to believe.
Is this true? Does anyone have the statistics and such?
I always thought the SU was incredibly generous. Take Cuba for example, they had just 6 million citizens when Castro took power and 10 million at their peak but received several billion dollars a year in aid, they sold all their sugar at well above world market prices, the SU didn't even need this sugar and had no reason to buy it, if not to help the Cubans.
They sold their oil well below market prices and allowed Cuba to basically re-sell this oil for a profit. They trained Cuban students in the SU absolutely free, they sent countless specialist to Cuba to train and build etc.
So how can someone like Che complain about the SU taking advantage of anyone?
I don't know that much about this, but I know that quality of life was higher in Eastern Germany than the SU, per-capita meat consumption was higher in many places as well.
Didn't the GDR collapse because the SU withdrew its favorable trade policies?
Can someone describe unfair trade policy to me? And times when the SU took advantage of smaller countries? I've heard some people say they were even worse than the US but I find this hard to believe.