Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by blendo 704 days ago
> Hardliners have grown worried that the experiment with capitalism could threaten the government’s tight grip on power, and the Cuban military, which used to control most foreign currency coming into the island, is viewing these companies as competition, sources in Cuba said.

How much blame does the military have for the mass exodus of Cubans?

1 comments

Everything? Allow me to expand a little.

The military is where all the real power is concentrated, and not because of being military per se. They have no might whatsoever in relation to other countries... they probably have two working jets from the 1970s, four boats with rotting hulls, eleven pistols, and eight rifles. However, they do have a shadow and parallel economic system that exists beyond public scrutiny. By design. Quoting the Treasury Department: Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA) is a Cuban military-controlled umbrella enterprise with interests in the tourism, financial investment, import/export, and remittance sectors of Cuba’s economy. GAESA’s portfolio includes businesses incorporated in Panama to bypass CACR-related restrictions.

Those people can, and do, summon whatever resources they need to do whatever they want. In particular, the idea that Cuba should be a tourist destination has made them build hotels left and right, bleeding other services dry. And by services, I mean, everything else. That's why everything is in decay, collapsing, and why people choose to leave (one of the reasons, of course).