Thursday, June 5, 2008

A Fly in the Ointment

In a case of you're gonna bully me; I'm gonna get my boyz; Cuba is standing in the way of agreement at the UN food summit in Rome. At issue is Cuba's demand that embargoes be condemned. As a member of the Spanish delegation explains in this AP article:

``We are looking for an agreement to solve the dramatic situation'' of widening hunger in the world, Lopez told The Associated Press. ``We cannot have political declarations coming at the advantage of a single nation.''

Since there is no embargo on food, it would seem that what Cuba wants is credit that they are not likely to repay, as in witness their dismal record. As my Mom would say, limosna con escopeta. Or maybe access to US markets. That's it. Trading with the US is magically going to erase the economic mismanagement of half a century. And all those unemployed young men in Havana are going to race out to get a job because now they will make $30 dollars a month instead of $20. Oh and by the way, the sound you hear is the rustling of that olive leaf.

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