Cuba Cricket Connection – Improving Cuba Barbados Relationship
Now that the powers have deemed that the legacy of lame duck President Barrack Obama must be anchored to the return of Cuba to the fold, it has opened the floodgates for pundits all to spew the ideological and political rhetoric like there is no tomorrow. Although the froth has not receded with the exit of US presidential hopeful and Cuban American Marco Rubio, it will with a little time. In words attributed to J Cole, “The bad news is nothing lasts forever, The good news is nothing lasts forever.” Ominous words as Puerto Rico declines and we see the rise of Batista Castro Cuba!
Instead of engaging in an exercise of nothingness about the response of Fidel Castro to Obama’s legacy building, the rhetoric of the anti Cuban movement based in Florida, the release or not of political prisoners in US and Cuban jails – countries like Barbados must focus on creating economic opportunities in a post Fidel Castro Barrack Obama period. All the experts agree that Cuba is a market investors cannot wait to sink millions if not billions. Observers agree that in the face of the longest and harshest trade embargo imposed on a country by the international community, Cuba has demonstrated it is a resilient, innovative, entrepreneurial and least conspicuous consumption society. There is so much to learn from Cuba.
During the embargo imposed in 1960 Barbados and many Eastern Caribbean countries extended a friendship to Cuba. The tragic event of 1976 that saw the explosion of Cubana Flight 455 about 8 kilometres from the airport after it attempted to make an emergency landing has served to create a bond between the people of Barbados and Cuba. It is a historical footnote represented in a monument built in Paynes Bay, St. James never to be forgotten.
How many Barbadians are aware that Cuba is an International Cricket Council (ICC) Affiliate member? One can attribute interest in the sport of cricket by Cubans to the large West Indian immigrant population who visited in the 1920s to work in the sugar industry.
There is no rocket science required for the leadership of cricket in Barbados and at also at the level of government to pursue a skills exchange program to our mutual benefit. Cuba has been able to establish world class sports and health care programs and Barbados owns a rich cricket tradition and strong democratic system of government, comparatively so. With the changes in Cuba, it opens a world of opportunities for Cubans some of whom are descendants of Barbadians and other islands of the Caribbean and live on the western part of Cuba. These persons have retained an avid interest in cricket and for many years have suffered from a lack of cricket expertise, training and equipment etc. There is the opportunity!
Why not start an initiative to encourage the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) to help the Cuban Cricket Commission (CCC) by funding equipment and exchanging expertise among other initiatives? This is a country that has produced Teófilo Stevenson, Javier Sotomayor, Alverto Juantorena and many others for chrissakes and where our leaders and prominent citizens visit to have serious healthcare procedures done as well as training.
Surely we should not wait for the MCC or another English Cricket body from the Mother Country to fill the breach. Heavens forbid!
Barbados Underground 
@PUDRYR
Your position appears to be steeped in the old Cuba rhetoric as well, the discussion needs to move as we anticipate the lifting of the trade embargo and the possibilities that will abound.
LikeLike
@ David [BU]
Your were writing as I was writing
That paragraph spoke of the experience in the favelas and the places where these tourists have dared to trek while the more stupid of us, in our youth, have lived elsewhere where too new a shirt, or too dark a dungaree pants attracts attention to you even thought your companions tell you, DO NOT SPEAK HERE.
How does biotechnology and the capacity for futuristic pharmaceutical industries, how can they be catapulted by the collective body politik to so accelerate a country’s growth?
Where do you find the Lee Kuan Yew mentalities that can galvanize the respective countries to such action?
The answer, insofar as Barbados is concerned, lies in the actions of small doggie men realizing their shortcomings and physical deficits and standing on the shoulders of giants, ignoring their minuscule penises, prowess and lack of propensity for meaningful thought and using Owen s famous politics of inclusion.
You asked the other day what were Fumbles options? And that is the answer, incorporating the capable minds that abound in Barbados, and ignoring the verbal prostitutes, but therein lies his conundrum for after all he seems to be a small doggie man, who, when they see what other men are packing, like Caucasians are purported to do, say “who he, I ent want he in my house both, causing de next ting me woman tekking dat!!”
Crude but look at the facts of how it plays out in the real world and tell me if I lie?
LikeLike
@PUDYR
Just amazed at the hypocrisy of some, they embrace China yet skin their botsies at Cuba. Go figure!
LikeLike
@David at 7:39 AM …which one is it? Is the palaver here “… centered on extolling the brilliance/quality of the Cuban people achievements in adverse circumstances” or is it “steeped in the old Cuba rhetoric as well..”
The two are can be dovetailed fah sure but you certainly can’t use both to argue both sides of the same premiss.
@Pieces, hence forth I should simply read these blogs and await your distillation as clearly your days spent in the science labs of your school days has left you with above average skills in finessing apparent disparate components to and from their base..viz:
“… the revolution, with its dependencies, gave us the sterling example of Fidel Castro…
But, after such noble struggle, much like we have experienced under Errol Barrow, where is the vision, who takes the mantle …”
I am completely bemused by these discussions of Cuba in 2016. All nations have dark corners…David glibly spoke of welfare food stamps in US last evening, for example. Cuba is not exempt of course so that is absolutely not the issue.
What is at issue in another excellent distillation is: “The thing about war and generals like Castro is that some of us, rather them, are born only for war, and can never know or recede to peace…”
This is 20-20 hindsight of course but had Fidel Castro moved to a mental place of peace is it not reasonable to conjecture that it would have presaged a shift in ‘social, monetary and fiscal’ political strategies -like that of Russia – and would have already brought about different outcomes.
And back to David….you appear to have a very keen eye on certain pending strategies with your repeated pivot to “the discussion needs to move as we anticipate … the possibilities that will abound.”
You are being either very prescient re this Bajan-Cuban nexus or more aware of possible plans than you can state here because the jump off links between BUSINESS forces in DR and to a similar extent PR (but less so) are significantly stronger than any Barbados-Cuba business links.
But based on my now dated knowledge I firmly expect that key regional players with Bajan connections are already extremely well poised – if not already there, as they are throughout Lat Am & Caribbean – in excellent technology money making areas … I have no idea of how well poised (or not) the Bajan owned operations are.
LikeLike
@ the Honourable Blogmaster
Agreed.
It is best expressed in a 1991 book about Vietnam by Major Bruce H. Norton. ‘Carry a big stick’
We venerate the Mao Tse Tung and his social revolution and of course say little of their Tianamen Square because of their nuclear arsenals
No more Russian nukes below the 21st Parallel therefore…
LikeLike
@Pieces, ….favelas, barrios, Brazil, poverty, polluted rivers, police death squads…Soccer World Cup- glowing success…political turmoil, poverty, more police terminations, favelas …Olympics – projected grand success!
So what’s new!
Favelas in Cuba circa 1950s or favelas circa 2016…what’s new in politics really.
Any socialist people-generated revolution which is specifically aimed to turn upside down the concept of haves from have-nots should not maintain alleged impoverished favelas or barrios concomitant with high flying science infrastructure and a well above average literacy rate.
So this disconnect would suggest that in all forms of political governance endeavor there will be ‘lazy folks’ who cannot move beyond self limiting boundaries…I suspect.
LikeLike
How many of the Barbados Foreign Corps speak Spanish? DPD
How many of them can say it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance in Spanish? Or for that matter, how many of them can do so in English?
You ever hear Michael Lashes speaking?
De grandson made a video of de invalid Richard “I can see the spirits ovah your head” Sealy dancing with the Brazilian wumens recently and, as simple as that is, do we understand what it means to engage foreign cultures and engage with Cuba at that level?
Tell me Dribbler, honestly, what can we offer to Cuba that would make this a fair and equitable exchange?
I done been past the rhetoric when I started writing this piece uh opinion here what I really want to see enumerated is the “possibilities” and how we are going to do it comprende amigo?
Dat es de extent of de ole man Spanish so I vell be back manana or some time before that I do not know de Spanish word for
LikeLike
Ah. senor Pieces…madre mia! mi espanol es muy pobre…muy. Pero, pienso que su espanol es mejor…mucho mejor. Hasta luego!
LikeLike
@Dee Word
The US capitalist needs virgin markets to soak up capital investment, it is the way of capitalism out of control. Cuba’s time has come and in the same way Barbados continues to pursue opportunities in China – there is a story from the PM this week about luring more Chines tourists, then there is GOL and Brazil – let us keep it real, Barbados is in no position to cherrypick because we are at the moment operating on exhaust. Cuba presents as good an opportunity as any we are currently pursuing.
LikeLike
@David
Just amazed at the hypocrisy of some, they embrace China yet skin their botsies at Cuba. Go figure
+++++++
What a disingenuous statement, this is not about China you as “blogmaster” have access to the various statements and criticism that we (at least yours truly) have made about China over the past few years. There are no sacred cows that we must avoid although some here want to elevate Cuba (or should it be Castro) to the status of Caesar’s wife.
Some of us are saying that La Revolucion has not been perfect, no system is but Cuba has faced challenges some of its own doing and some imposed by others (let’s not forget the decision to annoy Washington by parking nuclear missiles on its doorstep). We should commend Castro et fils for their decision to assist our African brethren in their fight to obtain Independence however this can also be viewed in the larger context of geopolitics where Cuba was Moscow’s surrogate in that fight.
As I’ve noted on previous occasions La Revolucion was supposed to bestow equality on all citizens but left many with darker complexions in the same position as they were prior to that event, what has the Castros done to alleviate that? If Cuba is supposed to be a beacon of hope for all of us how should we feel when we go to the hotels and see who has the various jobs? What should we think when we look at the composition of various Gov’t Depts. and observe how it is made up yet when we step out on the streets we see a population with a diverse range of hues. If the Castros with a vice grip on Cuba haven’t been able to achieve some degree in equality for those at the bottom of society’s rungs what does that portend for the future? How long is too long if its no good for some people.
Sometimes one can win the war but lose the peace and Castro et fils have been the face of Cuba for 50 years and counting yuh want to tell me that there has been no one who had the skills to manage that country during that time? Do they want to hold on to it by their fingertips forever?
Getting back to your statement we keep calling for change in Gov’ts in Barbados but some embrace the status quo in Cuba. The Brits threw out Churchill after he saved their bacon in WW11 it is time for the Castros to go.
La pura verdad.
LikeLike
@Sargeant
You have said the revolution has not been perfect and who have disagreed? What BU is saying is that Cuba is being allowed to return to the fold and opportunities will be on offer, what is Barbados doing? Understood?
LikeLike
David April 2, 2016 at 10:14 AM #
Bim has offered opportunities to Sandals,Wyndham,China and bajan big bussiness…..QED
LikeLike
@David,
Mr. Blogmaster,
I have a problem. I have not yet finished reading all the contributions of balance and de dribbler, but some of their pronouncements cannot be accepted without correction, when they are patently untrue. Maybe this is due to perception, based on false propaganda, or on stupidity due to a lack of understanding. I get very passionate about these subjects and have to comment, or I would not sleep well at night.
When a statement like :”…The people in Cuba cannot leave as they like and those granted permission to travel can actually have their citizenship revoked if they return within the stipulated time.”
This is patently untrue. I have friends who work, or worked, in Barbados; who have travelled back and forth between our two countries and have not been subjected to any kind of sanctions upon their return to Cuba. I have a friend in Miami who left Cuba, went to Miami for a short time, returned to Cuba, and is now back in Miami living and working. She suffered no sanctions when she returned to Cuba or Miami.
And then Piece has the effrontery to make a statement like:
“…But, after such noble struggle, much like we have experienced under Errol Barrow, where is the vision, who takes the mantle, and brings a represses population where 90% of its Darkside population CANNOT PARTICIPATE in the glitter that is the Cuba that we see.
Many live in huts and life is well very rough bordering on subsistence levels even worse than what we, rather some of us, experience here in Bim, certainly not the poverty of Africa’s poorest but hunger, enforced prostitution, and compulsory crime, a strange term to be sure, knows little difference when you say the hut that the perpetrators live in has a shingle roof as opposed to it being galvanize or thatched straw.”
Piece, when I left here three years ago to visit the Book Fair; an annual event visited by thousands of Cubans from the smallest and youngest (they teach them to read and study as young as possible, an event that lasts an entire week, and patronized by book publishers, writers, seminars lectures and discussions by eminent persons from all over the world, one of my first surprises was when I landed in Havana, via Panama. The flight from Panama was full of Cubans returning from shopping in Panama. That is one of the reasons they don’t need the U.S. they can get whatever they want from Panama and if necessary Mexico. The returning Cuband had loads of consumer goods. First surprise. There were no restrictions on their return; these all seemed to be ordinary Cubans, Black, Brown, and in between. Everyone was treated equally. Second surprise. I have pictures of where I stayed, at a middle class bed and breakfast. Will try aND POST SOME OF THE PICTURES I TOOK. BELIEVE ME these are FAR FROM ANY “HUTS”. THEN I SPENT A WEEK WITH A FAMILY; the wife was the first Cuban I met while she was living and working in Barbados. I lived at their home; she works in one of the hotels, her husband works with the sugar factory. I met their family and shared everything with them. Her fTHER IN LAW FAUGHT AS A SOLDIER IN THE ARMY THAT WENT TO FIGHT IN ANGOLA. WE HAD MANY LONG DISCUSSIONS. (I speaK SPANISH FLUENTLY, so we were able to converse freely.)They live in the countryside; 12 hours by coach from Havana, on well paved roads, modern air conditioned; Chinese built, driven by well dressed drivers who changed after driving for two hours, to the town of Las Tunas, way out in the countryside. Then they showed me their homeland. They may not have Mercedes Benzes in their town; more like horse and cart, but they were warm and happy to share everything with me. The made me a part of their family.
You must visit Cuba, today, and then talk. Right now you do NOT know what you are talking about.
You need to learn. What do you know about Singapore and how it reached the state it is today. Learn about Lees first years of governance and the type of government he ran. One man rule! Learn about the restrictions on personal freedoms and the repression that took place.
More later.
LikeLike
Alvin Cummins April 2, 2016 at 10:50 AM #
You visited Cuba 3 years ago under the leadership of Raoul Castro……do you know if what you experienced existed under his brother Fidel?
LikeLike
@ Alvin
One swallow does not a summer make.
Dribbler speaks to a practice that, depending on who you are can, as in capacity, and has happened.
Was your passport, your Canadian passport stamped upon your entry to Cuba? Why not?
I too have been the guest of persons much higher than your middle class dweller in Cuba so I know the side of Cuba they show you.
But I was not always a good boy, saved in The Blood, so when I read Katt Williams being trumped by a 17 year old in the ghetto, I know why Katt was there and it was not to play football.
Where do you live Alvin? In which spelean caves of the mind do you reside?
Here is the facts, you goodfellas don’t ever hang with the natives, because you can’t!!!
You can’t go outside the goodly nurses home because she will not let you.
I pity you not in a derogatory manner but because you honestly don’t know Cuba and how can you? Or more importantly, why should you?
As to Singapore and one man’s rule though we are heading for such a destination with Mottley the difference is national psyche.
You are incapable of seeing revolution in any other looking glass than repression yet in the same breath will deify Grantley Adams and Errol Barrow.
I do not speak of repression, I speak of motivation, such as would galvanize the collective psyche towards things higher and nobler.
I speak of the constancy of Martin Luther King Jr. fashioned for our indigenous clime against the anarchy of economic stagnation vis a vis his then “opponent” of hatred, bigotry racism and institutional “lynching” and abrogation of rights to people of colour
That is why I say without reservation that you do not extrapolate from the place where you are Alvin, but enough of this, where ignorance is bliss tis…
LikeLike
@Sargeant, well said above.
@David, ah Mr. blogmaster solidly into the weeds@at 9:57 AM …so let’s go foraging.
— “Cuba’s time has come and in the same way Barbados continues to pursue opportunities in China…”
China is the 2nd largest economy in the world. It is the growth engine to which ALL nations need to pivot, as many did for years towards the US. We are in agreement there. So the GoB must look closely at China.
We had some discussions here several months back when we spoke of Chinese being needed as a language for our top students. That still applies. (And this throw away: it is reported that in US the wealthy families who expect their sons and daughters to carry on the tradition of being the leaders of tomorrow that many are ensuring that those scions are enrolled from early days in…Chinese language classes!)
You know the same home truths that I know.
— China is now one of the largest consumers of natural resources and to shore up their expansion have bought or partnered with the big mining companies in Australia and throughout Asia. Massive users of oil of course as they drive their industrial complex.
— So yes tourism is a link but so too the outflow from that industry in terms of large amounts of cash seeking investment
….Absolutely, China (and too India) must be on the speed dial of any country leader and even small nations like us need to ready to tap their resources.
The comparison to Cuba and China though understood as both engines of commercial opportunity is yet in no way equitable. We could live without Cuba … going forward I am not as sure we could without a good relationship with China.
But yes let’s ensure no stone is left un-turned!
LikeLike
@Dee Word
The challenge you and your ilk will always have is that you distil everything in economic terms. Cuba is a part of the Caribbean archipelago, it is where descendants of Bajans can still be found.
LikeLike
@ David
The VERY first thing you need to do in any argument is to make adjustment for the differences in playing field levels – read personal perspectives.
It is wasteful to compete against an opponent who is batting in the basement while you are bowling on the roof….
Dribbles have been totally indoctrinated into the materialistic mindset of his adopted homeland. It actually makes sense to him that China should be engaged and respected ‘because they are the emerging world power’….. Cuba is nothing so frig them.
In his mind, we need not be concerned about any possible medical impediment of the man spending (or at least getting rid of) our money …’because he don’t have any nuclear weapons’.
Even if he suffers from ‘bizzyitis’ (an unnatural and compulsive propensity to give money to Bizzy and Maloney) we should not worry …. he can’t start world war three…..
The only principle that seems to concern Dribbles is located at his Royal Bank, Younge Street account…..
The man head ain’t good David….
…from the time he adopted a pseudonym that suggests that he walks around dribbling Bushie started to worry for him…..
So either come down off the roof and bowl at the man in the basement …or see if you can get him on the elevator…..
LikeLike
@David,
It’s snowing outside. (April). Wasn’t earlier.
Thought over what I said about posting pictures to BU. Better than that I will post the pictures, but I will organize a discussion evening back in Bim, on “Cuba: Getting to know you”, Possibly in collaboration with the Cuban Embassy; show a short film on the role of Cuba in the Angolan situation,; as it was, and have a guest speaker or so. I will keep you informed. I know a Cuban Chef living in Barbados, we might even have some authentic Cuban food. Have you, or any of you who criticize the government there, studied the composition of the top personnel of the government in Cuba? Why are all of you so fixated on colour? In Cuba there is one colour; people.My friend’s uncle is blacker than me, and married to a woman whiter than Frances Chandler. What is her colour? What is her ancestral link like? Shouldn’t her genealogy be assessed? And yet she was a member of our Senate?
Stop with this damn colour foolishness. Accept people for who they are, not who you would like them to be.
Some years ago, we used to get direct broadcasts, on CBC, from Cuba. There was a programme that played music by different groups on Cuba, broadcast in Spanish, and also showing life in Cuba. That channel was replaced by the Africa Channel. It was very educational and would certainly have helped our students in their Spanish lessons and language had they continued with it. But the powers that be could not foresee the need to get closer to South America. I was really disappointed when I got back to Barbados and realized that it had been cancelled. I wish it could come back.
Tell me where the favelas are in Cuba, and I promise you I will go where they are and take pictures. I certainly did not pass any on my journey from Havana to Las Tunas. What I saw was the area of the Bay of Pigs invasion, and spoke with my seat mate on the journey who happened to be a Former member of the Cuban army who fought there and who is now living in Miami. He had come back to Cuba on a holiday. coming through Mexico, because at that time he could not let the AMERICAN immigration know that he had gone to CUBA. Even though the Cuban immigration authorities would not have stamped his passport to show this. (2012). I make friends easily and am not afraid or shy to talk to any and everyone. The only way you can get knowledge is by communicating with people.
LikeLike
@ Alvin Cummins April 2, 2016 at 4:36 PM,
“In Cuba there is one colour; people.”
Alvin calm down – please! Enough of your hyperbole!
The majority of Cubans are creole/mixed race. Those of a darker hue tend to find themselves at a lower position on the social scale; just like in Barbados. Alvin, a man of your age should be aware of this by now.
http://ntv.nation.co.ke/shows/-/2720276/3141840/-/10tbhwg/-/index.html
LikeLike
@David,
I have no idea where Piece lives or has lived, but he is talking nonsense. If he had read my contribution at 10.50 he would have read that I spent a week in the countryside, with people from the grass roots; no middle-class. When I went for the book fair we were a BARBADIAN DELEGATION OF ABOUT TEN PEOPLE; WRITERS, A BOOK DISTRIBUTOR AND A COUPLE OF OTHER PEOPLE. THE ACCOMMODATION WAS ARRANGED BY THE BARBADIAN EMBASSY IN CUBA. There was a reception at the Embassy residence one night; Gabby was there and performed. By the way he is adored by the Cubans, more so because he showed empathy for the Cubans through his
recording of his song on “The Cuban Five”…by the way, Piece, do you know who they were-are? But beside the accommodation for us, as a delegation from Barbados, (we paid our own way, no freeness). I personally, visited my friends in the countryside. NO FAVELAS! I saw small houses provided by the government for poorer residents of the villages we passed through, but no favelas a la Brazil.
David Piece also wrote: “…I do not speak of repression, I speak of motivation, such as would galvanize the collective psyche towards things higher and nobler.”
Don’t we have a perfect example of that in the Cubans? Do you want anything higher and nobler than; under the motivational (urgings of their leader (Fidel Castro), fifty thousand Cubans volunteering to go to a far off land (Angola) to fight for a people with whom they only had a connection through a common heritage, to give their lives, for no other reward than knowing that what you are doing is the right thing, and having defeated the enemy, to return to your homeland in the knowledge that you were victorious.
On another topic;
Does Piece know that we have an Embassy in China? Does he know that we have students studying in China, and that every year our young people are given scholarships to study in China? Does he know the classes in Chinese are on the curriculum at the Community college and the UWI?. He needs to be educated for he is ignorant.
Dribbler states; “We could live without Cuba?” We can choose to live without the Belgian Congo too. But should we live without Cuba? Cuba is part of us. Cuba is family. Can you live without family? Should you?
My friend was in Barbados seeking to make contact with a long lost relative…she was a Yearwood. We actually did find the long lost relative..in the St. Thomas Geriatric hospital. She also had a cousin (now dead) with whom she stayed in Golf Club road; hardly the “high fallutin” folks you imagine I associate with. She lived in a place also in Station Hill; Powder Road.
So you see, Piece; and or Dribbly, you know nothing about me, or what motivates me.
LikeLike
@ Alvin Cummins April 2, 2016 at 4:36 PM,
You bemoan the fact that CBC no longer broadcasts emissions from Cuba; and that Barbados has done little to foster a more profound relationship with the South America continent. Yet, you sound extremely disappointed that CBC has brought you the Africa Channel as a replacement.
Alvin the roots of Cuban music evolved from Africa. You are a Negro, your ancestors are African. Why would you desire to immerse yourself in a South American culture which is both alien and hostile to your brothers and sisters who are still enslaved? Embrace your African roots. Take the time out to visit Africa and learn to embrace that part of you which will always be African.
@ de pedantic Dribbler April 2, 2016 at 11:40 AM,
You should take the advice that I have given to Alvin Cummins.
Do you not find it strange that the two countries that you cited China and India are making huge inroads in the continent of Africa? Both countries are aware that Africa has the potential to be a huge market where enormous profits can be made.
It amazes me that the Caribbean has never seriously made a sincere overture to the continent of Africa. The potential for both hemispheres to work in unity as a people would ensure the amelioration in the living conditions and the spiritual enrichment of the Negro race.
Your consistent omission of Africa in the future development of a stronger Caribbean region is symptomatic of the brainwashed Negro intelligentsia from your region.
LikeLike
@Exclaimer,
YES! I am extremely disappointed in the replacement of the Cuba Channel by the Africa channel. Why did there have to be a substitution or replacement? Why couldn’t there been BOTH? We need to teach our children about both, since there is a common root. no denigrating one for the other.
Yes African heritage lives on in Cuba; yes the roots of Cuban music evolved through African slaves in Cuba. Before there were African slaves in these parts (Barbados after 1627), there were African slaves in Cuba. The Spanish slave holders were more cruel than the slave holders in the Southern United States. Did you know that there were blacks living in North America, before the Spanish landed in Central America, and later in North America?
Check your history. The African heritage is still celebrated in Cuba. Do we have Santoria still in Barbados, or has that been completely replaced by the SDA, the CATHOLICS, THE BAPTIST, ETC? CUBA STILL TODAY CELEBRATE SANTORIA, AND CUBANS ARE TRUER TO THEIR AFRICAN HERITAGE THAN US. Santoria initiates are still taken to Parts of Africa (Nigeria) for their initiation ceremonies. Check it out.
DON.T COME TO ME WITH THAT FOOLISH AFRICAN TALK, and it has Nothing to do with any brain washing. Have we not made overtures in the African continent.?.I seem to remember a venture by Solar Dynamics, with assistance by the BLP administration,some years ago, that ended in abject failure, with a large loss of the original investments. I also remember a visit by Nigerian “businessmen” and the DLP incoming administration having to pay charter costs to get them back to Africa.Check it out.
I would prefer to do business with “Family” than with strangers; and they are indeed strangers (colour does not make you family.)The Negro race (imagine you making such a statement; negro, indeed, and a race at that,? there is no such race.there is not even a Black race. The size of Africa makes such a statement the height of ignorance. The continent of Africa has in many different populations, with many different hues, many different languages dialects and cultures, as well as histories.
What impact do you think we; Barbados and the Caribbean, could make in a place like AFRICA when juxtaposed against the investments that could come from China? Be real !!!.
By the way it was not me that spoke about China and India investing in Africa.
There are different types of brainwashing.
Bushy, these brass bikes nee whacking bad bad. They too ignorant.
LikeLike
“Sargeant April 2, 2016 at 10:10 AM #
@David
Just amazed at the hypocrisy of some, they embrace China yet skin their botsies at Cuba. Go figure
+++++++
What a disingenuous statement, this is not about China you as “blogmaster” have access to the various statements and criticism that we (at least yours truly) have made about China over the past few years. There are no sacred cows that we must avoid although some here want to elevate Cuba (or should it be Castro) to the status of Caesar’s wife.
Some of us are saying that La Revolucion has not been perfect, no system is but Cuba has faced challenges some of its own doing and some imposed by others (let’s not forget the decision to annoy Washington by parking nuclear missiles on its doorstep). We should commend Castro et fils for their decision to assist our African brethren in their fight to obtain Independence however this can also be viewed in the larger context of geopolitics where Cuba was Moscow’s surrogate in that fight.
As I’ve noted on previous occasions La Revolucion was supposed to bestow equality on all citizens but left many with darker complexions in the same position as they were prior to that event, what has the Castros done to alleviate that? If Cuba is supposed to be a beacon of hope for all of us how should we feel when we go to the hotels and see who has the various jobs? What should we think when we look at the composition of various Gov’t Depts. and observe how it is made up yet when we step out on the streets we see a population with a diverse range of hues. If the Castros with a vice grip on Cuba haven’t been able to achieve some degree in equality for those at the bottom of society’s rungs what does that portend for the future? How long is too long if its no good for some people.
Sometimes one can win the war but lose the peace and Castro et fils have been the face of Cuba for 50 years and counting yuh want to tell me that there has been no one who had the skills to manage that country during that time? Do they want to hold on to it by their fingertips forever?
Getting back to your statement we keep calling for change in Gov’ts in Barbados but some embrace the status quo in Cuba. The Brits threw out Churchill after he saved their bacon in WW11 it is time for the Castros to go.”
La pura verdad
Worth posting again. I couldn’t have put it better. Glad to recognize we are seeing eye to eye on an issue at last.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“What BU is saying is that Cuba is being allowed to return to the fold and opportunities will be on offer”
What fold are you talking about? Over 176 countries trade with Cuba even its purported arch enemy the Great Satan.
LikeLike
When a statement like :”…The people in Cuba cannot leave as they like and those granted permission to travel can actually have their citizenship revoked if they return within the stipulated time.”
Sorry I meant if they do not return within the time allowed to them to stay out of the state.
LikeLike
” I have a friend in Miami who left Cuba, went to Miami for a short time, returned to Cuba, and is now back in Miami living and working. She suffered no sanctions when she returned to Cuba or Miami.”
She would have had to be in possession with some form of American documentation. the Cuban system does not interfere with or apply to such persons or Cubans who carry any kind of foreign documentation.
LikeLiked by 1 person
@Piece, or is it Dribbler?
We are the Champions!!. West indies under 19 won the World Championship. West Indies Ladies Won the World Championship. West Indies Men won the World Championship. Surely our cup runneth over.
Re documentation…Don’t Bajans have to have Visas to go to the U.S, even as visitors? And if they stay longer than the time allowed they are in danger of being deported, with all that implies.? You were giving the impression that Cubans even if they had documentation HAD to return to Cuba within a designated time or their citizenship (Cuban) would be revoked. You are wrong again. Like so many others you seem to have inculcated all the negative propaganda spewing from the Cuba haters, and look for any excuse to denigrate a great people in whatever way you can. Wheel and come again.
LikeLike
Strange , this colour thing about Cuba. A few years ago I heard the Cuban Ambassador to Barbados , on a CBC programme, stated that Cuba is 53% White.
LikeLike
@Buggy,
So!! Does that automatically translate to discrimination or racism?
LikeLike
“You were giving the impression that Cubans even if they had documentation HAD to return to Cuba within a designated time or their citizenship (Cuban) would be revoked. You are wrong again. Like so many others you seem to have inculcated all the negative propaganda spewing from the Cuba haters, and look for any excuse to denigrate a great people in whatever way you can. Wheel and come again.”
Let me expand my comment- Cubans travelling abroad on exit visas issued by the Cuban regime as opposed to those Cubans using foreign passports cannot stay out of Cuba in excess of the time granted in their exit visa otherwise they will be denied re-entry.
I am not a Cuban hater I have wonderful friends there of all persuasions but I abhor the denial of the right of the people of Cuba to speak or travel freely.
LikeLike
@balance and Dribbly,
Living in North America, do you have the right to travel freely? Try going to Syria and getting back in the US. Even today Americans cannot travel freely to Cuba. When last has a Cruise ship docked in Havana?
By the way, just for your information and/or edification:
“When Cuban trade with the Soviet bloc ended in the early 1990s, food production collapsed due to the loss of imported fertilizers, pesticides, tractors and petroleum. The situation was so bad that Cuba posted the worst growth in per capita food production in all of Latin America and the Caribbean.
But then farmers started adopting agroecological techniques, with support from Cuban scientists.
Thousands of oxen replaced tractors that could not function due to lack of petroleum and spare parts. Farmers substituted green manures for chemical fertilizers and artisanally produced biopesticides for insecticides. At the same time, Cuban policymakers adopted a range of agrarian reform and decentralization policies that encouraged forms of production where groups of farmers grow and market their produce collectively.
As Cuba reoriented its agriculture to depend less on imported chemical inputs and imported equipment, food production rebounded. From 1996 through 2005, per capita food production in Cuba increased by 4.2 percent yearly during a period when production was stagnant across Latin America and the Caribbean.
In the mid-2000s, the Ministry of Agriculture dismantled all “inefficient state companies” and government-owned farms, endorsed the creation of 2,600 new small urban and suburban farms, and allowed farming on some three million hectares of unused state lands. Urban gardens, which first sprang up during the economic crisis of the early 1990s, have developed into an important food source.
Today Cuba has 383,000 urban farms, covering 50,000 hectares of otherwise unused land and producing more than 1.5 million tons of vegetables. The most productive urban farms yield up to 20 kg of food per square meter, the highest rate in the world, using no synthetic chemicals. Urban farms supply 50 to 70 percent or more of all the fresh vegetables consumed in cities such as Havana and Villa Clara.
You know me; Mr. copy and paste.Tis is just part of a contribution in a blog called Repeating Islands. I gave the link earlier.
LikeLike
@ Alvin
What Cuba did was to grow some balls, put their best brains together to create some claws, and apply lots of common sense…
It was not easy..
it is not perfect..
But where is a better model of national resolve, resourcefulness an innovation in the region?
Don’t mind balance – he is impressed too …
he just want to put some licks in Bushie’s poor ass…
LikeLike
.Alvin Cummins April 3, 2016 at 5:19 PM
No . But it tells us how 53 % of Cubans may possibly view themselves.
LikeLike
@Buggy
The 53% of Cubans you are talking about view themselves as CUBANS first, equal to every other CUBAN, and colour last. When they have to line up to purchase things it is the same for everyone. No one pushing in front or being chosen before another, because of colour. persons chosen as workers’ representatives are chosen by the people of the district, not on the basis of colour.
LikeLike
one and all there is a documentary on BBC right now about Cuba watch and enjoy the beauty and wonders of the island
LikeLike
“Today Cuba has 383,000 urban farms, covering 50,000 hectares of otherwise unused land and producing more than 1.5 million tons of vegetables. The most productive urban farms yield up to 20 kg of food per square meter, the highest rate in the world, using no synthetic chemicals. Urban farms supply 50 to 70 percent or more of all the fresh vegetables consumed in cities such as Havana and Villa Clara’
Bajans wouldn’t use far less purchase the agricultural products sold in the market to the average Cuban
LikeLike
“Alvin Cummins April 3, 2016 at 10:36 PM #
@balance and Dribbly,
Living in North America, do you have the right to travel freely? Try going to Syria and getting back in the US. Even today Americans cannot travel freely to Cuba. When last has a Cruise ship docked in Havana?
By the way, just for your information and/or edification:”
I do not know if I can bother to engage you when you resort to posting such distortions.
LikeLike
Guyana similar or same
LikeLike
It is so amazing how some people can hail Cuba as a beacon of hope. Makes me wonder a beacon of hope for who.?
The cuban flotilla of mass cubans leaving their homeland on rafters and ritty boats is not an indication of hope but a desperation of hopelessness only to be found in people seeking better and brighter frontiers
LikeLike
“Discussing Cuba today in the optics of the 1960s seems so NONSENSICAL to me.”
********************************************************************************************************
Do we hold a similar view about slavery and reparations?
LikeLike
it would only seem nonsensical to those who do not have a shared experience,nothing has change within the psychological will of the Cuban people who has lived in extreme desperation for ore than fifty years looking forward for a better tomorrow under Castro
LikeLike
“ac April 4, 2016 at 10:25 PM #
It is so amazing how some people can hail Cuba as a beacon of hope. Makes me wonder a beacon of hope for who.?
The cuban flotilla of mass cubans leaving their homeland on rafters and ritty boats is not an indication of hope but a ”
Well said
LikeLike
Here is an interesting article that hints at investment opportunities opening up in Cuba, it will take time because of a crumbling infrastructure but …
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/cuba/11514267/Is-Cuba-ready-for-the-business-boom.html
LikeLike
Colonel Buggy April 4, 2016 at 10:37 PM #
Even more nonsensical,as none of us has a clue about the experiences and mindset of those times.
LikeLike
Excuse me ! “None of us have a clue” kind of a presumptuous comment to say the least. Especially coming from a voice who heavily relies on historical archives and books as a vivid picture for slavery. Cant the same principle or thought process be applied to the history of Cuba during the Castro regime
LikeLike
And then again one hears the loud cries of how hard things are in this homeland but when the same is said about Cuba there are the apologist who hails Castro as a King even after fifty years evidence has shown the suffering of the cuban people has given them sufficient reason for rapid flight
Castro apologist are indeed dream makers
LikeLike
Barbados seeking to break into Cuban market
LikeLike
I long for the days of idealistic leaders. Leaders willing to dream of better days for all the people, of achievements, of solving problems. Leaders who inspire the people to try new ways and things. Leaders who look to the future and do not hold on to the past. Unfortunately many of those leaders grow old and become the opposite of everything I long for.
LikeLike
@Ping Pong
We feel your pain. Leaders and vision go hand and glove doesn’t it.
LikeLike
THEY SAY THAT Fidel Castro died last night. But Fidel Castro cannot really die! No man whose actions, spirit, intellect and personality have so positively and profoundly impacted so many millions of lives can die! – See more at: http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/90774/comissiong-fidel-castro#sthash.khGrl4bL.dpuf
LikeLike
Surely we won’t have to wait more than a few hours before Pachamama enlightens us with wisdom about how the bearded one located the praxis of the contextual location within the end of empire’s disaster capitalist trusim.
LikeLike
LikeLike