Re: Going to Cuba...read and weep

Posted by Sandman on October 23, 2003 - 5:40 am

In Reply to: Going to Cuba...read and weep posted by Grshel1 on October 10, 2003 - 10:44 am

Grshell and others; This is clearly a political effort on GW's part to garner the Cuban American vote in S. Fla. They will usually vote the way their leaders encourage them. It is a sizeable block vote that can help carry the state for GW in 2004....and, he is probably gonna need it. The papers in Fl. have been full of threads regarding this topic. GW has the luxury of calling on the Homeland Security resources to help in this effort. The 120,000 or so Americans that travel to Cuba each year illegally are going to be sticking out their necks if they continue to do so....at least until after the election. GW will probably want to make a few examples of people to show the S. Florida Cubans that he is backing up his promise. I have a long time friend and former co-worker that is actively involved and highly regarded in the C.A. community in Miami. I had a long discussion with him regarding this whole issue. He told me they are using GW's promise to actively identify and make known to the INS, people that frequent the island. They have turned over names of individuals, provided details of entry and exit points (canada, bahamas, Bermuda, Costa Rica), stationed people at security gates with cameras etc. in an effort to assist with this program. They know this is a political ruse on GW's part to get their vote but they also see it as a means to further cripple the Castro government beyond the embargo effects. They are a powerful lobbying group, well funded and with strong leadership in the community. Just ask anyone who lives in the area. They also realize the effort may be short lived...until after the election, but see it as a means to cut off the flow of dollars to Cuba for a year or more and understand the hugh economic impact it will have on Castros ability to maintain his leadership and effectively run his government. They estimate it at between a 15-20 million dollar flow which is a sizeable impact on what can only be regarded as a shoestring budget to begin with. Just keep your eyes on the news and the papers. Very shortly, there will be some people tagged and examples will be made to scare others from attempting to go. They will be targeted, repeat offenders who are not exactly upstanding citizens in their communities. Their exploits will be highly publicized, their fines boldly noted, their incarcerations blatantly reported. They will pick their targets well (according to my friend). The real travesty of this whole effort will be the impact on the Cuban people themselves. They are already suffering a 50% or greater drop in tourism (their number one source of income) from European and Canadian visitors due largely to Castros crackdown, increase in prices at resorts and visible police presence. To loose the illegal American visitor with their pockets full of cash and willingness to spend will only help to make a sad state of life even worse. After Nov. of 2004, it will be interesting to see if this effort continues. The numbers of illegal Americans traveling to Cuba will have dropped off to the point it makes no economic sense to continue the effort. GW will claim victory in his campaign speeches; the Cuban Americans in S. Florida will relish that their efforts continue to impede Castros government and will continuie to prognosticate his ultimate demise; and us lowly mongers who go to the island in search of beautiful agressive Cuban women, may again be able to return without worry or fear of reprisal. Bet the cost of mongering goes down by then as well. It will be a buyers market with many very hungry sellers available! Just MHO of course!.....and some well informed inside information! I will miss going there. I will miss the lovely chicas that have become regulars. I will feel angst for their suffering but know they will survive...just as they have for the past 44 years. Perhpas I will resurect the island as a hobbying destination in 2005 but from now until after the election....Cuba is not in my gunsights. Sandmansadlymissinghiscutie

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