Washington and Florida insiders are exploring lucrative deals for a post-communist Cuba crushed by ever-increasing US sanctions

Washington and Florida insiders are exploring lucrative deals for a post-communist Cuba crushed by ever-increasing US sanctions

Spanish hotel chains. A Canadian mining firm. European shipping giants. Visa and Mastercard. Scores of foreign companies have been driven out of Cuba this summer over fear of being hit with potent, new secondary sanctions. Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, told Axios last month there are “no escape valves” from his unprecedented pressure campaign against the island.

But not everybody is losing out. A growing cast of Washington and Florida insiders – from billionaire Trump cronies and Rubio-linked lobbyists to Cuban exiles – are jockeying for control of the communist-ruled island-nation’s key assets, charging top dollar to help clients navigate the ever-expanding web of sanctions, and positioning themselves for lucrative business opportunities in the case of regime collapse.

Since an executive order signed by Donald Trump on 1 May drove Canada’s Sherritt International from its nickel and cobalt mining joint venture with the Cuban state, two rival US bids to buy out its stake have been presented to US authorities.

    • SpruceBringsteen@lemmy.worldEnglish
      14·
      17 days ago

      There were a lot of very well off Cubans who fled to the US who probably see this as an opportunity to go and reclaim what they see as long lost family fortunes.

      • comrade_twisty@feddit.orgEnglish
        9·
        17 days ago

        It’s all gonna be Trumps family fortune and they will probably be deported by Steve Miller and charged an exit fee or some BS.

          • 🌞 Alexander Daychilde 🌞@lemmy.worldEnglish
            0·
            16 days ago

            I don’t even think it’s funny, personally. I think it’s sad. In part because of all the people that suffer, and the suffering of those who were surprised by it really doesn’t make that up, in my mind.

            I get it. I just have a different take.

  • Malica@lemmy.zipEnglish
    4·
    16 days ago

    Cuba has spent the past 50 years sending doctors all over the world, quietly, without looking for recognition or praise. Meanwhile the USA has spread only death and destruction during that time. These people make me sick.

    • LocalAreaMan@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      17 days ago

      What’s up America’s obsession with Cuba? An embargo against a country who never harmed America for SIXTY YEARS?

      • lechekaflan@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        16 days ago

        More like Trump wanting to get the Cuban emigre vote as well as being poised to declare war to finish what Kennedy wasn’t able to do.

      • JustPlainDave@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        17 days ago

        Maybe the Cuban missile crisis? I don’t know and never understood it, however, Obama had pretty much ended all that, the the orange idiot showed up.

      • potter2010@lemmy.caEnglish
        1·
        16 days ago

        I had to look up these numbers to put it in an American/tRump context.

        It’s about the size of the USA states of Virginia or Tennessee. About 3.5x the size of Hawaii and 9x the size of Puerto Rico.

        It would be 36/57 of USA state, federal district, or territory by size.

        They’re also butt hurt since their invasion failed at the Bay of Pigs.

        None of that justifies a USA takeover of a foreign country. The only people that can decide Cuba’s future are the Cuban people.

        Edit: In a European context it would rank 17/50 in size between Iceland and Bulgaria. Bigger than either Hungary, Portugal, Austria, or Ireland to name a few.