What if Cuba never went communist?

[marathag]

s was a factor leading to the Cuban revolution, to any historical revolution honestly. Lower class Cubans very clearly saw an opulence of wealth and patronage from the Cuban elites, many

Now the Elites are Party Members.
But hey, at least they aren't Gringos or previously Rich Cubans.
So you have Elites, and the Poor, with a tiny Middle Class.
Moving on up!
Except that doesn't normally happen, unless you try to get off the Island to Florida.

 

[marathag]

Haiti has a GDP per capita of $1,272 while Cuba's is $8,822 - almost 7 times higher. That's the same difference between Peru and New Zealand. You should research your claims more carefully.

Being 3rd from the Bottom is an awesome achievement.
Except it isn't, when your next in line is Venezuela.

 

[garfieldleifrag]

Being 3rd from the Bottom is an awesome achievement.
Except it isn't, when your next in line is Venezuela.

I'm not saying Cuba is a great place to live or that Castro was a nice guy, I''m saying that your previous post was factually incorrect. So was this one - according to the World Bank, in 2019 the following countries in the Americas had a lower GDP per capita than Cuba:

• Belize
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Colombia
• Dominica
• the Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Jamaica
• Nicaragua
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

There seems to be substantially more than two countries on this list.

 

[GauchoBadger]

Now the Elites are Party Members.

Every revolutionary period in history has gone through distinct phases going from agitation with hope for reform, government crackdown, uprising with high fervor, and a subsequent counter-revolution by the same old revolutionary government. That is also observable in Cuba, so long as the economic relationship of its government with the world and its own citizenry remains capitalistic in nature and intent. No matter how much the Cuban government claims to cater to the human demands of the poor, its interest is, after all, profit, and the increase of labor production to go with it. Note how it peddles a miracle solution out of a possible extension of free trade with more countries, citing lack of money as a concern... there has been, ever since Castro went to the podium in 1970 and urged his totally equal compatriots to do more back-breaking labor in the farms to export products to pay for growing debt, an observable pattern in Cuban government policies of precarious dependence which implies it was never intended to be an industrial communist society (something that remains mostly speculative) in the first place.

But hey, at least they aren't Gringos or previously Rich Cubans.

Never implied the current state of affairs is better. What i care about is finding out what led the Cubans to rise up against the old pro-American regime, why the latter failed to resist, and why the country has become isolated.

And why the United States somehow decided not to just invade the country like they did to Panama back in the 90's when it was most vulnerable. That still kind of baffles me.

 

[Iron_Lord]

At some point, Cuba will have to move away from agriculture and raw materials and towards some level of industrialization, which it could definitely try making it work - even if agriculture remains important, à la NZ, there's enough potential for Cuba to start trying to industrialize.

'a la NZ'. What sorry?

 

[Dan1988]

'a la NZ'. What sorry?

Well, I was referring to its reform of the agricultural sector (oui, je vous comprends !/yes, I know!), which in this case would accompany the land reform and breakup of the plantations. While agriculture still remains a constant of the Kiwi economy, the changes to its system were enough to help make the system more efficient and quality-based. The same could also work for Cuba several decades earlier, although in a different context and with a different emphasis that could also allow for other things, such as diversifying the amount of crops it produces.

 

[Alexniko]

Not going to name names, but I think it's a waste of time to try and argue with people who have never experienced a second of life under the Communist Cuban government,

Ok, first of all part of my family is from the former GDR. Secondly, this is pure polemics (and pretty bad one at that).

who vehemently argue that somehow the Cuban Revolution which dragged Cuba from being one of the most developed countries in Latin America to competing against Haiti in order to claim the crappiest economy in the hemisphere.

In 2018 Cuba's GDP per capita amounted to 8.822 USD. During the same year that of Haiti amounted to 1.435 USD. Not really comparable.

Well then, let's put things into perspective. In 1970, Cuba's GDP per capita amounted to 653 USD – the average GDP per capita of the Latin American and Carribean Region amounted to 613 USD (so much for "one of the richest countries in the region"). In 2018, as allready mentioned, Cuba's GDP per capita amounted to 8.822 USD – the average GDP per capita of the Latin American and Carribean Region amounted to 9.093. Cuba's economic performance was, if one looks at the picture as a whole, pretty average compared to it's neighbours. However, one must not forget how devastating the special period was. Without the virtual collapse of Cuban foreign trade during the early 1990s, the countries economy would be way above the regional average today.

Oh yeah, and by the way, the name calling is not all that constructive actually.

That insanely idiotic stance aside, to answer the question: if Cuba hadn't gone Communist it would be one of the best economies in Latin America, it would boast some of the largest amounts of tourism in the hemisphere and would have developed a strong consumer/tourism based economy with gambling, world class clubs and casinos, some of the best beaches in the whole world, and possibly even hosting a Disney theme park. In addition it would have a strong agricultural industry based on tobacco and sugar, coupled with major liquor distilleries. At some point in the early to mid 60's democracy would be restored in Cuba and there may even be movements like those of Costa Rica to disband or severely curtail the military in order to avoid another coup but that's anyone's guess.

Cuba and the United States would be extremely close economic partners although they might differ in foreign policy, it would ultimately not be divisive gap. We may see a sort of population exchange between the two countries in the sense that younger Cubans move to the United States for more work opportunities as older Americans choose to retire in Cuba for the lower cost of living as well as the warm weather, in effect replacing Florida in that sense as well.

Yeah, evil communism made everything bad. Without it world would be paradise.

 

[durante]

Not going to name names, but I think it's a waste of time to try and argue with people who have never experienced a second of life under the Communist Cuban government, who vehemently argue that somehow the Cuban Revolution which dragged Cuba from being one of the most developed countries in Latin America to competing against Haiti in order to claim the crappiest economy in the hemisphere.

...if this happens to be directed at me, I have spent over a year in Cuba, which of course is not really the same as living there as a Cuban, but in addition their probably isnt another country who's history I've studied more.

 

[The Gamer Sunflower]

If Cuba never went communist, would Fidel Castro and Raul Castro still be in the power while assuming that Bays of the Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis never happened so they would be butterflied away soo
And, who will be in the power without Fidel Castro and Raul Castro backing up a Communist Cuba?