It didn't take long for the Cuban exile community -- at least the part of it that left large haciendas and dark complected maidservants behind when they fled the island in Castro's wake -- not to mention money-minded American businessmen everywhere -- to start calculating the potential benefits of a "democratic" Cuba. (Here's hoping that's not "democratic" in the Iraq sense...)
(CBS News) MIAMI As Cuban-Americans in Miami begin to hope that Fidel Castro’s illness could lead to real change in their homeland, where they see a chance for freedom, others are seeing a chance to make a buck. A Cuba free of a US embargo could be a goldmine in everything from grocery stores to condos.
Savvy investors look at a free Cuba with anticipation, because the largest island in the Caribbean offers a host of opportunities. The infrastructure needs replacing, businesses and shops are in disrepair, consumer product manufacturing is almost non-existence, and the only real-estate investment has been done with foreign partners.
Developers see miles and miles of shoreline, and for those un-interested in the beach, mountain get-a-ways in the famous mountains of Cuba.
Tourism alone could bring a huge opportunity; Miami-based cruise lines eye potential new ports with a built-in clientele, including millions of refugees eager for a visit home.
All that’s needed is a friendly government and an end to US restrictions, and, say some exiles, a look toward the human factors.
“There are many people on the island who have nothing”, one Miami Cuban exile pointed out. “Before we start building condos, let’s build bridges and help them first.”
Blimey.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration is trying to figure out how to step out of the wee, little box U.S. policy toward the communist island has left us in ... it's not entirely clear whether Castro is healthy, unhealthy, or dead ... reports of suspicious troop movements are raising the excitement level in Miami ...
...and Miami exiles aren't waiting for a death certificate to begin counting up the spoils.
<%
dim done
done = request.form("done")
if done = "" then
done = "No"
%>
Tell a friend
<%
Else
if request.form("done") = "Yes" then
'sets variables
dim email, sendmail
email = request.form("email")
Set sendmail = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
'put the webmaster address here
sendmail.From = "webmaster@aspbasics.com"
'The mail is sent to the address entered in the previous page.
sendmail.To = email
'Enter the subject of your mail here
sendmail.Subject = "Check out this website"
'send a specific page or send a site url
dim url
'url = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
'This is the content of the message.
sendmail.Body = "Site recommendation from a friend!" & _
vbCrlf & vbCrlf & "A friend has sent you this email and thought you would should check out this site." & _
vbCrlf & url & vbCrlf
'this sets mail priority.... 0=low 1=normal 2=high
sendmail.Importance = 1
sendmail.Send 'Send the email!
response.redirect Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
'Response.write ("Sent to ") & email
End if
End if
%>
"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
