Re: [Marxism] With a Whisper, Cuba ¹ s Housing Market Booms By MARC LACEY January 28, 2008

[Bonnie Weinstein <giobon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks, Walter, for your insightful comments. Revolutions in other countries
wouldn't hurt Cuba either.

Viva la Revolution!

In solidarity with the Cuban revolution,

Bonnie Weinstein



On 1/28/08 1:23 PM, "Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Defenders of the Cuban Revolution like to point out that most people
in Cuba
> own their own homes. But that home ownership is of an unusual
form because you
> cannot simply buy or sell property there. The state
has the right of first
> refusal. I've heard frequently about deal gone
wrong, scams discovered and so
> on. Also, there's no discussion here
of the problem of foreigners who get
> involved in these schemes.

Though it's not possible to say EVERYTHING about a
> problem which is as
complicated as the island's housing problem, this articles
> does give
some indication of its complexity, an area which people in
> solidarity
with Cuba rarely talk about, but which needs to be better
> understood.

I've heard about and had proposals made to me during my time in
> Cuba
along some of these lines, which I've always avoided because
> buying
property is illegal for foreigners. While some efforts are made
> to
build more housing, these efforts don't meet the needs, even with
> a
population that is not growing numerically, and which is as a whole
getting
> older. The U.S. blockade, which is the contact for everything
that happens on
> the island, as it restricts the amount of income which
enters the country,
> exacerbates every kind of problem which exists.

Furthermore, even if
> relations with the United States were to be
normalized, an unlikely prospect
> in the short term in any case, this
housing problem would remain one in need
> of a longer-term and systemic
solution. Please don't ask me for the answer, as
> I do not have one.

In general, normalization of relations, and an end to the
> relentless,
world-wide, U.S. effort to strangle the country into submission to
> US
pressure, would make it possible for the island to confront some of
its
> long-standing problems, such as those described here.

If you doubt that
> what's being discussed in the often unsympathetic
pages of the NYT, here is an
> article, from the pages of the Cuban
trade union newspaper, TRABAJADORES from
> 2005 which gives a further
indication some of Cuba's complicated housing
> situation:
http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs269.html


Walter
> Lippmann













.

=========================================
     WALTER
> LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews

> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el
> bloqueo"
=========================================

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