Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Middle Eastern investments

“The fact that even allies of the U.S., including the moderate Persian Gulf states of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, are investing in Cuba and collaborating with the government of General Raúl Castro is itself indicative of the Cuban regime’s remarkable ability to continue to circumvent and outmaneuver Washington around the world.”

That quote comes from an interesting paper by the University of Miami’s Cuba Transition Project, “Islamic Investment in Cuba. The paper discusses investments by Qatar, Dubai, and an OPEC development fund. It reinforces my belief that one of the biggest, and least noticed developments in Raul Castro’s Cuba has been a steady renovation of Cuba’s diplomatic relationships, bringing aid, investment, political support, and reduced dependence on you-know-who.

“Islamic investors have demonstrated confidence in Raúl’s vision of a Beijing in the tropics,” the paper concludes, saying a little breathlessly that Cuba could become “a safe haven for Islamic capital and interests” in the Caribbean.

But in case you were wondering, it is “not likely that a substantial segment of the island’s population will convert to Islam in the near future.”

2 comments:

leftside said...

More nonsense from this government established "Transition Project" outfit. The obvious intent of the US commissioned report is to malign Cuba's relationships with certain Muslim countries on purely Islamophobic grounds. They say idiotic things like Iran's modest relationship with Havana represents a "financial lifeline" and make the trade in doctors and concrete seem like some sort of national security threat. They carelessly lump all business deals with Muslim countries as "Islamic investment" - a term designed to inflame passions no doubt.

Anonymous said...

unlike leftside, I am not a comandante bootlicker -- but I can't imagine any serious foreign investment interest in an economic basketcase like Castro's Cuba.