Ac- Cuba has a lot of potential. Havana was relatively prosperous catering to gringos prior to the revolution. Even if Cuba devolves into a quagmire of corruption, drug running and civil war in a few years it should be more commercialized than it is today. That would not be good for the Cubans but good for stocks like FCX, IPSU, UST and DEO. Maybe we see casinos, condos, golf courses, etcetra in 15 years like the time span between Tiannenmen Square and the forward looking China.
So basically, cubans are screwed regardless? Damn. The embargoes always were stupid , vicious, bloody minded and pointless, because you know it was never a question of whether fidel wanted to do biz, its that he wanted it on his terms. Which, when you have a country to look after, seems a reasonable approach, to not sell out everything to faceless and unnacountable corporations. But i think change will be MUCH faster than china, im not sure such a large country is a good comparison, to a carribean island a boats row from mainland us, and associated little -umbrella -in- a -martini business. FWIW, as far as totalitarian control -freak nutcase dictators go, he wasnt the worst around. Plus, the work ethic- he did LONG hours , for what, 40+ years, when evidently, you can be president of the richest country on the planet-and do most of your work from the ranch.
Yeah, he was a quixotic murderer and demagogue but not the worst in history. I agree with ya that a small country like Cuba can come around faster than a China.