Havana.– The only time Cuba's Fidel Castro is known to have
played golf was in 1961, in
a stunt thumbing his nose at the United States. Cuba is now setting aside any ideological objections and
embracing golf.
Investors from Canada and Europe have proposed building
gated communities with luxury hotels, villas and condos surrounding 18-and
36-hole golf courses near beach resorts across the Caribbean island.
Some of the projects, which include one by top British
architect Norman Foster's firm, has been on the drawing board for years and
their backers are hoping Cuba's new president, Raul Castro, will give them the
green light to revive golf.
"Old-school objections to golf on ideological grounds
have fallen away," said Mark Entwistle, a former Canadian ambassador to
Havana who now consults to foreign companies planning to do business here.
There are today at least 10 golf resort projects in the
pipeline at various stages in the approval process, Entwistle said.
The only time Fidel Castro was seen armed with a putter
instead of a gun was two years after seizing power in the revolution in 1959
that ousted US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista and changed Cuba from a Mafia
playground into a Soviet ally.
That was in March 1961, one month before the disastrous
landing by CIA-trained Cuban exiles at the Bay of Pigs. Castro played golf with
Ernesto "Che" Guevara, wearing military fatigues and boots, as a
publicity stunt then.
The Colinas de Villareal golf course where the two
revolutionaries played was soon turned into a military camp. Havana's elite Country Club was taken over and its fairways
became the grounds of Cuba's top arts and music school.
Today, Cuba's capital has only one 9-hole course, the former
British-owned Rovers Athletic Club, where foreign businessmen and diplomats
play.
The rugged course has seen better days - sticks are used for
flag poles on the parched greens. Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona played
there almost every day when he lived in Cuba undergoing treatment for cocaine
addiction.
The only new golf course since the Cuban revolution was
opened in 1998 at the Cuba's prime resort of Varadero after the country opened
up to foreign investment and tourism in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet
Union. The 18-hole Varadero Golf Club is on the grounds of Xanadu, a seaside
mansion built by US chemical industry millionaire Irenee du Pont.
Cuba's new interest in golf arises in response to the
stagnation of its $2 billion-a-year tourist trade, which saw the number of
visitors dwindle in 2006 and 2007.
Cuba has no choice but to build new golf courses if it wants
to compete with other Caribbean resorts in Mexico, Jamaica or the Dominican
Republic, a smaller country that draws more tourists than Cuba and has 22 golf
courses, says Miami lawyer Antonio Zamora, an expert on Cuban real estate.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
"Cuba has no choice but to build new golf courses if it wants to compete with other Caribbean resorts" Cuba is years away from any quality golf situation,....even if they opened it to development ...as long as the present type of government exists they better stick to low ball rubber chicken all inclusives ....and lefty back packers.....on the other hand you may want to visit during the death rattles of the current communist government just to say you were there before it was swept into the dustbin of history.....the changes are happening fast think glasnost.in the soviet union.....it wont be long
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
SPLATl we await your drivel from granma ,the toilet paper of cuba and not by choice....the graveside ceremony is not far in the future by then Charmin will be available for the graveside ceremony of fidel...the plans for the sewage treatment plant are being drawn up as we speak with the plans for the golf course...the clock is ticking...party stooges prepare for reprisals
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Splat.....remember commies dont golf....I can see the cuban people riding around in their golf carts talking on their cell phones to their stock brokers....the statues will be coming down soon....do you think they will name the course after che the phony doctor so they can sell more T shirts
Written by: Belial, 10 May 2008 9:41 AM
From: United States, Texas
"Cuba has no choice but to build new golf courses if it wants to compete with other Caribbean resorts in Mexico, Jamaica or the Dominican Republic, a smaller country that draws more tourists than Cuba and has 22 golf courses, says Miami lawyer Antonio Zamora, an expert on Cuban real estate," The DT reports in the article above about the necessity of golf courses.
0000
In 2007, Cuba had estimated foreign exchange reserves of $4,247,000,000. the Dominican Republic 2,525,000,000, Jamaica $1,490,000,000, Mexico with an impressive $91,837,000,000, and the bankrupted USA $75,850,000,000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List....ries_by_foreign_exchange_reservesIn 2007, China was number one with an amazing $1,682,000,000,000 in foreign exchange reserves.
Some look at the number of golf courses, but others look at the amount of money in the bank.
Lying cappie slaves argue that number of golf courses is a better indicator of solvency than the size of bank accounts.
Written by: Belial, 10 May 2008 9:52 AM
From: United States, Texas
The reserves of Mexico, the DR, Jamaica are deposited in the US financial institutions and managed by US investment banking firms.
Until recently Bear Stearn was one of the firms.
China's reserves are held in China but a heavily invested in US dollar-denominated securities, especially US Treasury bonds, which grow increasingly worthless as the dollar falls.
Cuba's reserves are kept in Cuba with the mass of them in Euros [the value of which has greatly increased in recent years] physical gold, and silver.
Constructing a netwiork of golf courses will result in further lifting the standard of living of the Cuban people [already the highest standard of living in Latin America and the Caribbean, if health care, education, housing, and nutrition are used as indicators of living standards], providing Cubans with another sport to excel in, and growing the all-important foreign exchange reserves of Cuba.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Splat ...you are in denial just like a druggy or an alchoholic cuba is building the the #1 capitalist game GOLF because nooooobody buys into that granma stuff any more...I can see it now cuban golfers defect at tournament.....I dont think so
Written by: Belial, 10 May 2008 9:59 AM
From: United States, Texas
"Splat......who cares .....directly to the cuban sharks they will eat anything.including raw sewage....as the cuban people ride around on their golf carts talking to their stockbrokers.....commies dont golf....it is over"
0000
As everyone can see with his on eyes, GC is a babbling idiot who puts on airs of being a prophet of the bourgeoisie. This pretense shows the degree of degeneracy to which he has fallen.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
The Colinas de Villareal golf course where the two revolutionaries played was where Ricky Ricardo used to caddy before he became a bus boy at the Copa......Ricky and Lucy are gone but they would be happy to know the commie swine are FINITO
Written by: Escott, 10 May 2008 10:43 AM
From: Dominican Republic, Cabrera and Sosua a 2 days a month for payday
Cuba has all those foreign reserves and no food on the tables except 2 lbs of rice per person per month and if you get more you go to jail.
Great to have all that money. I understand Fidel has more than that in Switzerland as well.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Escott ...but now they have fancy chinese rice cookers that only cost 6 months pay to buy..... to cook their 2 pounds of rice in....what a paradise
Written by: Belial, 10 May 2008 11:41 AM
From: United States, Texas
"no food on the tables except 2 lbs of rice per person per mon" Escott says falsely.
0000
"A table follows that illustrates the standard ration distributed through this system. Figures are per person, per month. An indication of the subsidized prices is given, as well."
[Note, philistine, "per person" not household.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationing_in_CubaProduct ...........................Quantity .................... Price (CUP)
Rice.................................... 6 lb............................ 0.70 / lb
Beans.............................. 20 oz........................... 0.32 / lb
White (refined) sugar...... 3 lb.............................0.15/lb
Dark (unrefined) sugar ...3 lb.............................0.10/lb
Milk children under 7 )... 1 lt / day..................... 0.25/each
Eggs (*) ........................ ...120............................. 0.15/lb
Potatoes..............................15lb...........................0.40/lb
Written by: Belial, 10 May 2008 12:06 PM
From: United States, Texas
The Cuban peso (CUP) trades at 25 to 1 against the Cuban convertible peso which in turn is officially pegged at US 1.08.
So, CUP is about the equivalent of a US quarter in the Cuban marketplace.
Thus, to pay for the rationed 6 lbs of rice a month [not 2 lbs as the philistines falsely allege], each PERSON (not family) has to pay 70 CUPs per pound or about US 0.75 cents a pound.
In the economies of US imperialist allies, like El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia [and many others] which have foolishly taken the capitalist path under repressive bourgeois regimes, millions of people are starving for the want of even a HALF OR QUARTER pound of rice a month. Millions of people who are starving under pro-US imperialist regimes in Latin America and the Caribbean think the Cuban rations are nothing less than marvelous abundance.
And there are growing number of people in want in the USA who think and feel this way.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Blogger Yoani Sanchez won the prestigious Ortega y Gasset prize; the ceremony in Madrid is today, but the Cuban government won’t let her go pick it up....why tell us why
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Yoani takes it with a grain of salt, calling the government’s refusal to allow her to travel to Spain to receive her award a “second decoration.”......a Cuban hero
From: United States
Lets just make sure that these Cuban Communist Thieves don't sell the property to foreigners that had been taken from US entities during the Castro regieme.
Don't forget the Helms Burton law all you Canadian's. You don't realy care where the property came from and are willing to pay a communist government for stolen property.
Canadians and the Canadian Government don't care until it hits their wallet and then they scream foul and expects the rest of the world to help Canada.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
hey Splat the commies are going to import 2 billion dollars worth of food this year .....is that just for those horrible rubber chicken buffets they serve the el cheapo tourists.....no that is for the people
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
this is from Spats list of foodstuffs for cubans note milk is only legal for children under 7...jail otherwise
Milk children under 7 )... 1 lt / day..................... 0.25/each.
Written by: juanb, 10 May 2008 5:28 PM
From: Dominican Republic
Glad I live somewhere where there is no rationing of food
Written by: Belial, 10 May 2008 7:12 PM
From: United States, Texas
" note milk is only legal for children under 7...jail otherwise ... Milk children under 7 )... 1 lt / day..................... 0.25/each" lying GC says.
0000
GC is an ignorant cappie philistine, daydreaming about a non-existent poverty in Cuba.
[Poverty here is defined as extreme poverty (not the relative version) ... that is, a degree of poverty that consist of basket of goods and services that cannot sustain life, a killing or whore-making poverty.]
The Cuban rations system guarantees certain amounts (6lbs, 2lbs, etc.) of specified items of food(rice, potatoes, beans,etc.) at heavily subsidized prices to each adult person [or to 7 year old kids for milk] in the Cuban population.
Contrary to GC's lies, the system doesn't illegalize the purchases of unsubsidized food items that exceed the rationed amount if an adult or kid (milk) possesses the money to buy additional food outside of the rationing system, whether in Cuban pesos or convertible pesos.
Written by: Belial, 10 May 2008 7:16 PM
From: United States, Texas
Compare the minimum level of nutrition for the Cuban people to the minimum level in the DR, one of the "booming," "prosperous" and "robust" capitalist economies of Latin America and Caribbean.
According to CIA, about 42% of the Dominican people live "poverty," [defined by the same criteria used for other countries as extreme poverty].
This means 42% of Dominicans regularly have NOTHING ... zero ... to eat ... whether the food is subsidized or unsubsidized ... rationed or unrationed.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publi....-world-factbook/geos/dr.html#EconWritten by: Edward, 10 May 2008 7:19 PM
From: United States, Faux News: Unfair Imbalance
Reform is coming so hang in there my Cuban brothers and sisters! :-)
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
b4 you say anything about Cuba Remember they have better medical coverage then DR.....
More educated people. Lets not forget About 1965
these americans are not our friends .... I have great respect for Fidel, more then Bush or Leonel
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
I don't know about you but i am sick of Non dominicans making comments about DR... Read books writen by Tony Raful , Fidel helped Dominican that tried to get rid of Trujillo... And the U.S. put him in power.... when will you learn that these people "America" Doesn't really care about you and your land... They don't even care about the democracy in there own country as you can see with Bush
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
chillaxin stop smoking that stuff it will make you stupider than you already are,,,,if so enamored why dont you go there......you would be sorry real fast......lets not forget Pearl Harbor are you nuts
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
gouletcolonial , what does pearl harbor have anything to do with this ?
and about cuba i am working on going.
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
jimharrington , your comments are funny. americans are ones to talk about stolen land...
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Chill Try working harder ....and me saying remember Pearl Harbor is as passe as you saying remember 1965.....which was before you were born dude
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Splat " Cuban jubilation at their government’s announcement that common citizens would be able to stay at the country’s exclusive five star hotels died down today after a government spokesman clarified that it would be exclusively as cleaning personnel "
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Splat "Now that TV sets have been widely distributed among the Cuban population we have heard that the most popular programme by far — as a matter of fact, the only programme — on the air is: “Hey Rodríguez, face the screen and empty out your pockets!”
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Splat..".Cuba is allowing its citizens to have cell phones for the first time. The government’s calling plan isn’t the most attractive. If you roam, they shoot you. "
Written by: Trujillo, 12 May 2008 10:16 PM
From: Dominican Republic
I hope that the DR moves far ahead in tourism, economic and everything else (good things) from all other countries in the caribbean and central america before Cuba wakes up from its communist nightmare. When Cuba opens up, I expect very rapid growth (china style). They will be our main competition.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
T he educated class in Cuba combined with the young educated and wealthy expatriate Cubans in the US and elsewhere ....who by the way do not hold the same attitudes as their parents and grand parents will make a very dynamic mix combining capital ,education and purpose....to pole vault to the head of the class economically ....this is the position Cuba had always had .....They were known as the Jews of the Caribbean for their entrepreneurial skills....We can expect more of the same....without the oligarchs
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
there will be a great reconciliation and the country will move ahead in prosperity .....A similar prosperity came to Spain with the passing of Franco and their reconciliation
Written by: Trujillo, 12 May 2008 10:37 PM
From: Dominican Republic
I admire the cubans for the entrepreneurial spirit as well.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Cubas prosperity will com even quicker than Spains and the whole Caribbean will benefit particularly ..Dominican Republic ,Cuba ,and Puerto Rico
From: United States
Goullet
In all honesty I do not see Cuba's prosperity helping DR or Puerto Rico as much. Cuba will only hamper both countries tourism. I feel DR is too interested in American Investment and being like NYC. Cubans in Cuba do not like the exiles, and do not want their country to be like America. IF anything, I see cuba being like China. A growing economy with economic reforms, but in terms of politics they will have a socialist/democratic type of government. Similar to what is found in the Norwegian countries
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Cubans in Cuba...... ARE TOLD WHAT TO LIKE....dont you think when they find out what happened and the reason they could not visit a hotel or own a cell phone or access to books and movies and the internet....Let alone the rice cookers....they are gonna be pissed ....cubans are cubans no matter where they are.....stop thinking china or viet nam and start thinking Hungary Poland East Germany,Ukraine etc. etc. etc.....Cuba is not a Confucian Society it is European based civilization..You are comparing apples to volkswagens
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
and the Spanish Antilles will be the winners....I believe you as a Dominican should look at the downfall of the communists as a positive more prosperity awaits everyone .....that is unless you support nutty hugo and the whining lefties......say it aint so
From: United States, Port Washington, LI (New York)
God bless "Fidel Castro" and "Che Guevara"................
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Splat cuba has the most educated escape artists in the world The six men and two women, the entire juggling and high-flying acrobatics act of Havana-based Circuba, arrived in the Mexican state of Queretaro last week for an annual festival of musicians, actors and artists from around the world.
The group was part of a troupe of more than 20 Cuban performers attending the fair for the second year in a row.
“They arrived on Thursday, bought cell phones, and by eight in the morning on Friday they were gone,” said Guadalupe Navarro, a spokeswoman for the Queretaro fair.
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"Cuba has no choice but to build new golf courses if it wants to compete with other Caribbean resorts" Cuba is years away from any quality golf situation,....even if they opened it to development ...as long as the present type of government exists they better stick to low ball rubber chicken all inclusives ....and lefty back packers.....on the other hand you may want to visit during the death rattles of the current communist government just to say you were there before it was swept into the dustbin of history.....the changes are happening fast think glasnost.in the soviet union.....it wont be long
0000
In 2007, Cuba had estimated foreign exchange reserves of $4,247,000,000. the Dominican Republic 2,525,000,000, Jamaica $1,490,000,000, Mexico with an impressive $91,837,000,000, and the bankrupted USA $75,850,000,000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List....ries_by_foreign_exchange_reserves
In 2007, China was number one with an amazing $1,682,000,000,000 in foreign exchange reserves.
Some look at the number of golf courses, but others look at the amount of money in the bank.
Lying cappie slaves argue that number of golf courses is a better indicator of solvency than the size of bank accounts.
Until recently Bear Stearn was one of the firms.
China's reserves are held in China but a heavily invested in US dollar-denominated securities, especially US Treasury bonds, which grow increasingly worthless as the dollar falls.
Cuba's reserves are kept in Cuba with the mass of them in Euros [the value of which has greatly increased in recent years] physical gold, and silver.
Constructing a netwiork of golf courses will result in further lifting the standard of living of the Cuban people [already the highest standard of living in Latin America and the Caribbean, if health care, education, housing, and nutrition are used as indicators of living standards], providing Cubans with another sport to excel in, and growing the all-important foreign exchange reserves of Cuba.
0000
As everyone can see with his on eyes, GC is a babbling idiot who puts on airs of being a prophet of the bourgeoisie. This pretense shows the degree of degeneracy to which he has fallen.
Great to have all that money. I understand Fidel has more than that in Switzerland as well.
0000
"A table follows that illustrates the standard ration distributed through this system. Figures are per person, per month. An indication of the subsidized prices is given, as well."
[Note, philistine, "per person" not household.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationing_in_Cuba
Product ...........................Quantity .................... Price (CUP)
Rice.................................... 6 lb............................ 0.70 / lb
Beans.............................. 20 oz........................... 0.32 / lb
White (refined) sugar...... 3 lb.............................0.15/lb
Dark (unrefined) sugar ...3 lb.............................0.10/lb
Milk children under 7 )... 1 lt / day..................... 0.25/each
Eggs (*) ........................ ...120............................. 0.15/lb
Potatoes..............................15lb...........................0.40/lb
So, CUP is about the equivalent of a US quarter in the Cuban marketplace.
Thus, to pay for the rationed 6 lbs of rice a month [not 2 lbs as the philistines falsely allege], each PERSON (not family) has to pay 70 CUPs per pound or about US 0.75 cents a pound.
In the economies of US imperialist allies, like El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia [and many others] which have foolishly taken the capitalist path under repressive bourgeois regimes, millions of people are starving for the want of even a HALF OR QUARTER pound of rice a month. Millions of people who are starving under pro-US imperialist regimes in Latin America and the Caribbean think the Cuban rations are nothing less than marvelous abundance.
And there are growing number of people in want in the USA who think and feel this way.
Don't forget the Helms Burton law all you Canadian's. You don't realy care where the property came from and are willing to pay a communist government for stolen property.
Canadians and the Canadian Government don't care until it hits their wallet and then they scream foul and expects the rest of the world to help Canada.
Milk children under 7 )... 1 lt / day..................... 0.25/each.
0000
GC is an ignorant cappie philistine, daydreaming about a non-existent poverty in Cuba.
[Poverty here is defined as extreme poverty (not the relative version) ... that is, a degree of poverty that consist of basket of goods and services that cannot sustain life, a killing or whore-making poverty.]
The Cuban rations system guarantees certain amounts (6lbs, 2lbs, etc.) of specified items of food(rice, potatoes, beans,etc.) at heavily subsidized prices to each adult person [or to 7 year old kids for milk] in the Cuban population.
Contrary to GC's lies, the system doesn't illegalize the purchases of unsubsidized food items that exceed the rationed amount if an adult or kid (milk) possesses the money to buy additional food outside of the rationing system, whether in Cuban pesos or convertible pesos.
According to CIA, about 42% of the Dominican people live "poverty," [defined by the same criteria used for other countries as extreme poverty].
This means 42% of Dominicans regularly have NOTHING ... zero ... to eat ... whether the food is subsidized or unsubsidized ... rationed or unrationed.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publi....-world-factbook/geos/dr.html#Econ
More educated people. Lets not forget About 1965
these americans are not our friends .... I have great respect for Fidel, more then Bush or Leonel
and about cuba i am working on going.
In all honesty I do not see Cuba's prosperity helping DR or Puerto Rico as much. Cuba will only hamper both countries tourism. I feel DR is too interested in American Investment and being like NYC. Cubans in Cuba do not like the exiles, and do not want their country to be like America. IF anything, I see cuba being like China. A growing economy with economic reforms, but in terms of politics they will have a socialist/democratic type of government. Similar to what is found in the Norwegian countries
The group was part of a troupe of more than 20 Cuban performers attending the fair for the second year in a row.
“They arrived on Thursday, bought cell phones, and by eight in the morning on Friday they were gone,” said Guadalupe Navarro, a spokeswoman for the Queretaro fair.