[Marxism] U.S. left out of Cuban oil drilling

[Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Washington's blockade of Cuba has caused great damage to Cuba's
economy and also has made it imperative that Cuba take political
steps to protect itself from destabilizing activities by the US-
funded opposition within the country. Democracy can't flourish
in a country at war and it's a miracle, indeed, that the Cuban
system remains as open as it has. Today, it's becoming an even
MORE open system. Fidel's stepping aside has opened up further
channels for discussion, dialogue and debate within Cuba as the
island faces up to long-standing challenges, problems and also
some of its own self-generated difficulties.

None of this mattered to most U.S. companies who were either
not involved with Cuba or who didn't hope to make a few bucks
doing business there. But since the fall of the Soviet Union,
and the increasing competition between the remaining countries
in the world capitalist system, some U.S. companies have begun
to see potential opportunities for themselves in the Cuba of
today, one which is fully open to respectful investments by
foreign companies willing to work with the island on a basis
of mutual cooperation. Only U.S. companies are today denied
their God-given right to invest in the Cuban market because
of the ongoing influence of the rightist Cuban exile militants
in U.S. politics.

Today, as international competition sharpens, some who've been
happy to sit by while Cubans accept investments from abroad
are now starting to think there might be opportunities for 
THEM in places like Cuba. With North Korea about to be taken
off the US-created "terrorist" list, Cuba, which isn't and
never was a nuclear power, is the only country left on that
list. The absurdity and the crudely-political character of the
list are, as a result, becoming more starkly apparent today.

Some of this is also behind some of the corporate support 
for the Obama candidacy, as should be evident to everyone.

A more normal relationship between the two countries would,
of course, be in the best interests of the U.S. and Cuba.
Both countries would have a great deal to benefit from it.
We already have a good model to consider in this respect:

Canada-Cuba relations: a model to be copied
by Manuel E. Yepe, March 4, 2008
http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs1812.html

Having just returned to the United States following two weeks
in Canada, I'm really struck by the differences, though there
are plenty of similarities as well. Since Canada and Cuba now
and have always had normal relations, Canadians - at least on
the eastern side of the country, sometimes just fly down to
Cuba for the weekend. Canadian companies contribute to Cuba's
economy, via mining and the hotel industry, and you can buy
Cuban products in Canadian stores as well. While it's not by
any means all peaches and cream, I got the impression that
some people in Canada don't fully appreciate the advantage
they have living in a country which has normal relations
with Cuba. I sure wish I live in such a country!

On the other hand, I also sometimes get the strongest
impression in the US, that the great importance from both
a Cuban and a U.S. viewpoint of normalizing relations with
our Cuban neighbor also isn't fully appreciated, either.

In Canada, the enthusiastic group of young people who asked
me to come up and talk about the relevance of Che Guevara's
ideas for the 21st century have a concept which they use to
refer to some others who don't feel the urgency they feel
about social change and about the Cuban revolution. They
often refer to "the status quo left" in reference to some
elements who, whatever sympathy and support they feel for
Cuba, don't share the urgency which my hosts certainly feel
for activism regarding the Cuban Revolution. My hosts put
together an attractive program about Che's 80th birthday 
and hundreds came out to participate in it.

Some people seem to be fearful that Cuba would be corrupted
if it had normalized relations with the United States, as
that would mean lots more people from the U.S. visiting,
spending time and money, and interacting with the Cubans.
They seem to think that Cuba would be better off as a lonely
but pure revolutionary outpost. That is, poor, but pure.

Some fret over the problems which tourism has brought in
its wake, though tourism brings the same problems to every
other country where it's used to generate money. 

Those interested in the problems tourism brings can also
check out Rosalie Schwartz's wonderful historical study
PLEASURE ISLAND: Tourism and Temptation in Cuba, of which
here are two chapters:

Rosalie Schwartz: Pleasure Island, Ch. 12
http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs1121.html

Rosalie Schwartz: Pleasure Island, Ch. 13
http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs1022.html

Of course, tourism an foreign investments do bring their
own share of problems, difficulties, challenges and B.S.,
but what's the alternative? Should the Cuban try to build
a complete socialist society, even in a single country?


Walter Lippmann
Washington State, USA
===============================================================

ST PETERSBURG TIMES
U.S. left out of Cuban oil drilling
By David Adams, Times Latin America Correspondent 

Published Thursday, June 26, 2008 10:15 PM 

If American oil companies are allowed to drill in the Gulf of Mexico, when will 
they be permitted to engage in offshore oil exploration in Cuba?

That's one of the questions some analysts are asking after Sen. John McCain 
and Gov. Charlie Crist recently suggested lifting the 26-year-old moratorium on 
drilling off Florida's coast.

American oil companies have long had their eyes on Cuba's offshore potential.
The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that Cuba could have somewhere between 
4.6-billion and 9.3-billion barrels of oil as well as even greater quantities of
natural gas. That's about half the size of the estimated resources in the Gulf
of Mexico.

"It's ironic that the Bush administration won't allow American companies
to exploit those reserves â just because it's Cuba," said former U.S. 
Ambassador
Vicki Huddleston, who is leading a project at the Brookings Institution in 
Washington
looking at U.S. policy toward Cuba.

Cuba reportedly plans to start drilling sometime next year. It lacks the money 
and
technology to develop the resources itself so it has sold rights to a number of 
major oil companies, including Repsol (Spain), Norsk Hydro (Norway) and 
Petrobras
(Brazil).

Cuba's offshore oil has the potential to make Cuba self-sufficient, perhaps 
even a modest exporter of oil. But, under a four decades-old economic embargo, 
American
companies are barred from participation in Cuba's energy industry. Washington
has long argued that permitting U.S. companies to invest in Cuba was 
unacceptable
as it would help perpetuate communist rule on the island.

Opening Cuba to American petroleum companies could favor U.S. interests, says 
Huddleston,
who served as head of the U.S. diplomatic mission there from 1999 to 2002. 
Letting
U.S. companies into Cuba would give the United States greater influence over the
technology and environmental safety of Cuba's offshore drilling.

"Why can we buy from Venezuela and not Cuba? That kind of boggles the mind 
right there," she added, noting that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez currently
represented a greater threat to U.S. interests in Latin America than Cuba.

As with the Gulf of Mexico, oil drilling off Cuba is a potential risk to 
Florida's
coast. However, the Gulf Stream in the Florida Straits, which pushes the ocean 
current
from west to east and out into the Atlantic Ocean, provides some protection.

Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida wants to block drilling in Cuba, saying its 
northern-most
limits lie only 45 miles off Key West, posing a serious risk to the Florida Keys
in the event of an oil spill.

U.S. oil companies have not hidden their interest in Cuba. "In general, we 
favor greater access to all areas," said Karen Matusic, a spokeswoman for the
American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry's trade association.

"It's frustrating to see they (Cuba) are moving forward with developing
their energy resources, and yet we can't," added David Mica, director of
the Florida Petroleum Council.

Several U.S. oil companies attended a controversial meeting with Cuban officials
in Mexico City in February 2006. The meeting was briefly interrupted after U.S. 
officials ordered the meeting be moved out of the hotel â a member of the 
Sheraton
chain.

"Some of those characters continue to contact me and ask 'When can we get
into Cuba?' " said Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado, an expert on Cuba's 
energy industry at the University of Nebraska.

But Benjamin-Alvarado isn't holding his breath when it comes to the Bush 
administration
lifting restrictions on U.S. companies in Cuba. 

"It won't happen. That's just an article of fact," he said.

Cuban embargo supporters have been circling the wagons over the oil issue for 
the
past couple of years. In March last year, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, 
filed
a bill that would deny visas and impose a $1-million fine on any employees of a 
company that "contributes to the development of Cuba's oil-exploration 
program."

With a new administration or a significant oil find, the U.S. position might 
change,
says Benjamin-Alvarado. But it would still require Congress revoking many of the
elements of existing embargo legislation.

Huddleston rejects the argument that allowing American companies to become 
involved
in exploiting Cuba's oil would help strengthen communist rule. 

"If we don't do it, others will," she said.

David Adams can be reached at dadams@xxxxxxxxxxxx

 


=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un ParaÃso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: 
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40archives.econ.utah.edu