Ozzie Guillen in Trouble

[cohibasmoker]

I prefer to interact with people who were there, too. I also prefer to interact with people who ARE there. Get both sides of the story, and get a more authentic understanding for how it is in Cuba today. And if you want to know the truth, a good majority of the Cuban population hate Castro, but they hate the Miami Cuban Americans just as much.

But you're right, the black market is a good indication of how bad things can be there with government economical repression, but in the grand scheme of things, the black market is also a sign that government control over the population is fading.

Do you live near Miami or southern Florida? I ask because your statement that a good majority of the Cuban population hates the Miami Cuban Americans as much as Castro is quite a statement so I was just wondering how did you quantify that? As for the government control fading, Raul is harder on the Cuban people than Fidel was/is and the folks in-line to take over, are hard core Communists.

Jim

[Skizzick]

Do you live near Miami or southern Florida? I ask because your statement that a good majority of the Cuban population hates the Miami Cuban Americans as much as Castro is quite a statement so I was just wondering how did you quantify that? As for the government control fading, Raul is harder on the Cuban people than Fidel was/is and the folks in-line to take over, are hard core Communists.

Jim

I live in Central NJ, which has a huge Cuban population (NJ has the 3rd largest concentration of Cubans behind Havana and Miami), plus I have a lot of family down in the Miami/Ft. Lauderadale area whom I visit often. I also have a great-uncle that left Cuba in the late 1950s, amist the violence from the war. He used to be very hardline about enforcing the embargo, but he has even said it's time to move on.

And while Raul is personally a lot more hardline than his brother, the guy has implemented a number of reforms in the past couple of years, mostly allowing people to open their own businesses and promoting more private sector jobs. Also, the Raul government has engaged the US government on some diplomatic agreements, which mainly deal with drug enforcement and immigration.

[cohibasmoker]

I live in Central NJ, which has a huge Cuban population (NJ has the 3rd largest concentration of Cubans behind Havana and Miami), plus I have a lot of family down in the Miami/Ft. Lauderadale area whom I visit often. I also have a great-uncle that left Cuba in the late 1950s, amist the violence from the war. He used to be very hardline about enforcing the embargo, but he has even said it's time to move on.

And while Raul is personally a lot more hardline than his brother, the guy has implemented a number of reforms in the past couple of years, mostly allowing people to open their own businesses and promoting more private sector jobs. Also, the Raul government has engaged the US government on some diplomatic agreements, which mainly deal with drug enforcement and immigration.

So you must be up near Union, NJ? I asked because your statement, "a good majority of the Cuban population hate Castro, but they hate the Miami Cuban Americans just as much" pretty much indicts a large portion of Cuban immigrants.

As for the so-called reforms, Communism will continue. I haven't checked lately but is the average Monthly income on the Island still around $25.00 - $30.00 per Month? With the Government's export of oil, sugar-cane and tobacco, that's pretty sad. Thankfully, residents have the black market to make extra income - that's unless they are caught and placed in jail and their home seized by the government. Immigration has also changed unless your are an "asset" to the government - if you are an asset, you had better build a raft because you're not going anywhere. Just a few "Positive" steps.

As stated, we'll be heading down to Miami next week - I am interested to see what the situation is down there. I'm pretty sure I won't be seeing a whole lot of Marlins memorabilia - but we'll see.

Jim