The Poblete DC Dispatches » Cuba

Cuba’s Deep Sea Quixotic Oil Exploration Suffers Setback

Jason Poblete — Sat, 19 May 2012 10:38:31 +0000

The Miami Herald reports:

“Cuba’s dreams of an oil bonanza suffered a tough but possibly temporary setback Friday when the Spanish Repsol company confirmed it hit a dry hole when it drilled a well off the island’s northwest coast.”

What a shame …

Spain’s Conservative Government Gets Jello Knees

Jason Poblete — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:32:35 +0000

Spain’s conservative government has called for an end to U.S. sanctions on Cuba. They’re wrong, however, with high unemployment and several Latin American leftist regimes expropriating Spanish companies, the announcement is not a surprise.

As a regional Western Hemisphere power, try as it may, Spain has been a nation in decline for decades. The [...]

Cuban Regime Supporters Lobbying Members of Congress and Staff

Jason Poblete — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 10:32:49 +0000

The Babalu Blog reports that a group pro-regime Cuban-Americans were in DC recently lobbying in favor of easing U.S.-Cuba sanctions. The eclectic group with a quixotic mission even recorded a (propaganda) video of the visit. Raul Castro’s nephew was among the participants.

The Left-wing Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) had a representative tagging [...]

Transitional Justice, the Coming Case of The People of Cuba v. The Castro Regime

Jason Poblete — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:45:09 +0000

Although Pope-bashing by pundits on his recent trip to Cuba may have generated web traffic for the chattering class and headlines for the politicians, its time to move on to more constructive commentary on U.S.-Cuba policy matters. There are a few prickly issues that US-Cuba policy planners need to start discussing in a more focused manner. [...]

What about the Brazilian Government? The Israeli and Spanish Companies?

Jason Poblete — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:31:36 +0000

This past week Pope Benedict visited Cuba. Focusing on just the purpose of the trip and the mission of the Church on the island, it was a successful trip. I think it did a lot more but we’ll leave those thoughts for another post. In the ivory towers of official Washington, elitist universities, as well [...]

CNBC Story Touches the Third Rail of U.S.-Cuba Policy, Property Claims

Jason Poblete — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:17:39 +0000

CNBC’s Michelle Caruso-Cabrera was in the Cuba this week covering the Papal visit to the island. She did a story that was long overdue: starting a discussion about settling the multi-billion dollars worth of claims by American citizens against the Communist country.

Resolving certified and uncertified claims against the Cuban government is the third rail [...]