This is the second piece of a two part series published by the Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies' Cuba Transition Project (see below "Iran & Select Middle Eastern Muslim Countries - Cuba's Burgeoning Trade Partner" posted on August 11, 2008). Of note, is arguably the biggest foreign investment commitment to Cuba in the post - Soviet Union era -- United Arab Emirates-based Dubai Ports World (DP World) US $250 million commitment to form a joint venture with the Cuban government to transform the Port of Mariel into a word-class port that by 2012 -- and what amongst other things it may suggest, "a high degree of trust in the stability of the Castro regime as well as confidence in the longer-term economic value of the island."
Hans de Salas-del Valle*
Islamic Investment in Cuba: Part II
The reach of Cuban diplomacy in today’s Middle East transcends Havana’s historic alliances with fellow archenemies of the United States and the West. Since Fidel Castro’s first foray into Middle Eastern affairs in the early 1960s (1), an eclectic array of anti-American regimes from North Africa to the Persian Gulf, among them Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, Qaddafi’s Libya, and the Iran of the Ayatollahs, have all found a friend in Castro’s Cuba.
The island’s longstanding political alignment with Iran, for instance, has expanded into a billion-dollar financial lifeline from Tehran to Havana. (2) Yet, the best measure of Havana’s recent diplomatic triumphs in the region lies in its rising profile as a pragmatic geostrategic partner and safe haven for Islamic interests in the Western hemisphere. 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.
Qatar
In April 2008, Qatar’s real estate development fund Qatari Diar announced that it will invest $70 million in a joint venture with Cuba’s state-run Gran Caribe hotel group to build a 200-room five-star hotel and an accompanying 60 luxury villas on Cayo Largo, an exclusive island resort off the Cuban mainland. (3) The commitment of Qatari capital in Cuba is the culmination of many years of political courting by Fidel Castro, who in September 2000 bestowed Cuba’s highest honor, the Order of José Martí, on Qatar’s ruling emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. At $70 million, the investment by Qatar surpasses in value the declining number of new business deals with Spain and other European nations, which have dominated Cuba’s hospitality sector since the Castro regime opened the island to foreign investment in the early 1990s. Moreover, such a large infusion of capital by Qatari Diar, a government-funded subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority, suggests a high degree of trust in the stability of the Castro regime as well as confidence in the longer-term economic value of the island.
Indeed, Qatar has also signed an accord with Havana for the services of Cuban public health professionals to establish and operate a new comprehensive hospital, staffed and supervised by Cuban physicians and specialists, in the Qatari town of Dukhan. (4) While the details of the deal have not been released, the contract with the wealthy Gulf emirate will undoubtedly generate a substantial stream of hard-currency revenue for the Cuban government. Qatar is a potentially very lucrative market for the export of Cuban medical services as Havana increasingly relies on hiring out physicians and other highly-skilled Cuban workers to developing countries in order to compensate for the low productivity of the Cuban economy. (5)
OPEC Fund
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has emerged as one of the island’s largest aid donors since 2003, when Cuba ended all official cooperation with the European Union (EU) and rejected further bilateral assistance from most EU member states. Through the Vienna-based OPEC Fund for International Development, the oil cartel has funneled more than $50 million in low-interest development loans to the Cuban government for major investments in electrical infrastructure, water sanitation, and agricultural production. (6) And unlike the aid provided by European and other Western governments, which publicly reprimanded the Castro regime following the widespread repression of Cuban dissidents in 2003, the OPEC Fund does not exert any pressure on Cuba to democratize its political system or liberalize its economy.
It is undoubtedly for this reason, as well as for the magnitude of the aid itself, that Cuban vice president Carlos Lage has praised the OPEC Fund as “one of the few institutions left in the world that offer[s] such concessional and untied aid,” (7) i.e., with no reform conditions attached. Considering that grants and other assistance from Spain, the island’s leading European investor which at times has sought to use its economic presence as leverage to influence the direction of a post-Fidel Cuba, totaled 44 million euros (about US$56 million) over a three-year period from 2004 through 2006 (8), aid from the OPEC Fund and other alternative sources has enabled the Cuban government to break its post-Soviet dependency on Western donors and in the process largely nullify Spanish and EU political pressure on the Castro regime, especially at times of crisis.
Dubai Ports: Mariel v. Miami
After Congress forced the United Arab Emirates-based Dubai Ports World (DP World) to sell its operations at six U.S. ports, including New York and Miami, to a U.S. company in response to the perceived security implications of an Islamic firm running major American ports, the Dubai-owned marine terminal operator found an alternative to Miami in the Cuban seaport of Mariel. In what may be the single most ambitious foreign financed project in Cuba since the collapse of the Soviet Union, DP World, which is backed by the sovereign wealth fund of the emirate of Dubai, revealed in October 2007 that it will commit some US$250 million in a joint venture with the Cuban government to transform Mariel, about 30 miles to the west of Havana, into a world-class transshipment center. The flow of Arab capital into an undervalued but strategic asset like Mariel could transform Cuba once again into a major entrepôt at the crossroads of the global economy.
A prescient analysis in The Economist argues that by the time DP World completes its planned modernization and expansion of the Cuban port’s facilities in 2012, “Mariel…would be a well-positioned hub” with the potential to compete for international business. (9) East Asian container lines (DP World, currently the third largest international shipping terminal operator, manages several ports in China) might be willing to reroute their vessels via Cuba for both economic and political reasons. How? Assuming that Washington’s trade sanctions against Cuba have been lifted or relaxed sufficiently so as to allow merchandise imports from the island to enter the U.S. market, by the end of the next administration in the White House both Cuban and multinational “goods could be transferred from the big container ships arriving at the port to smaller vessels which could then reach dozens of harbours in the southern United States.” (10) The possibility that a DP World-run Mariel could eventually challenge Miami’s dominance as the preferred commercial port along the Florida Straits has already been acknowledged by the current director of the Port of Miami with “great concern” at what lies “right around the corner” in 2012. (11)
Cuba, 2012: Islamic Island?
It is not likely that a substantial segment of the island’s population will convert to Islam in the near future or that the fundamentally secular nature of Cuban society will be altered by recent contacts with the Muslim cultures. Nevertheless, the emerging economic ties with Islamic nations do suggest that Cuba is seen as a secure and stable country for Islamic capital and as a reliable political partner to Islamic regimes.
The immediate concerns of most Western observers with respect to Cuba, particularly in light of the catastrophic costs to the island’s economy and infrastructure by hurricanes of recent memory, tend to be short-sighted. While the danger of short-term social upheaval must always be taken into account, it is unlikely that Havana’s allies will allow the strategically located island to sink into chaos simply for a lack of resources, which they are able and willing to provide as a long-term investment in Raúl’s regime. Instead of short-term apocalyptic fears, Islamic investors have demonstrated confidence in Raúl’s vision of a Beijing in the tropics.
By 2012, the island could very well become a leading financial and logistics center for Islamic firms seeking proximity to the United States while remaining beyond the reach of Washington’s policies and regulations. Only Cuba could offer such a safe haven for Islamic capital and interests.
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Notes
(1) Cf. Piero Gleijeses, “Cuba’s First Venture in Africa: Algeria, 1961-1965,” Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Feb. 1996), pp. 159-195.
(2) See “Islamic Investment in Cuba,” Cuba Focus, August 11, 2008, http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/FOCUS_Web/Issue99.htm.
(3) Amy Glass, “Qatar to build $70 mn Cuba resort,” ArabianBusiness.com, April 29, 2008, http://www.arabianbusiness.com/517917-qatar-investment-authority-signed-70mln-deal-with-cuban-republic (accessed September 2008).
(4) “Qatar, Cuba sign deal on medical services,” Doha, The Peninsula, April 23, 2008.
(5) Cf. Marc Frank, “Cuban service exports continue dramatic rise,” Havana, Reuters, January 10, 2008, http://in.reuters.com/article/asiaCompanyAndMarkets/idINN1016624020080110.
(6) Cf. OPEC Fund for International Development, “Country Profiles, Cuba,” http://www.ofid.org/projects_operations/latamerica/cuba.html, (accessed September 2008).
(7) OPEC Fund for International Development, “Cuban Vice-President visits OFID,” Press release, Vienna, May 17, 2006.
(8) “España reactiva la cooperación con Cuba,” El Mundo (Spain), September 30, 2007. The approximate value of euros to U.S. dollars is based on October 2006 exchange rates.
(9) “Foreign investment in Cuba: Bye-bye embargo?” The Economist, November 22, 2007.
(10) Ibid.
(11) “Port Director Expresses Concern Over Cuba’s Mariel,” Miami, Local 10.com, April 14, 2008, http://www.local10.com/news/15875315/detail.html.
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* Hans de Salas del Valle is a Research Associate, Cuba Transition Project, Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami.
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14 comments:
US law prevents US companies from investing US money in Cuba. Not Cuban law, but US law.
Cuba would love to have US investment, since it takes investment from Canada, the UK, China, Spain, Germany, and the Islamic states from the Middle East.
Why, after all, should Cuba NOT accept investment from those who wish to do business with Cuba, and whose national laws don't get in the way?
It's not Cuba's fault it cannot accept US investment. Washington won't allow US companies to invest there. That can be changed easily by changing US law to permit it.
I did not find a Spanish version of this post.
Mr. Gonzalez,
Welcome to the blog site and thank you for your query. Unfortunately, after a quick check of ICCAS' site, I don't think a Spanish version of this piece and/or the earlier piece posted on this site on August 11, 2008 is available. You might want to check out ICCAS Cuba Transition Project's website (http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/spn/main.htm) at a future date to see if a Spanish version is subsequently posted.
Surely EL NUEVO HERALD will publish a Spanish version. It's their stock in trade. These things are also distributed, in both languages, by the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.
But back to the point: US law prevents US businesses from making money by investing in Cuba, just like so many other foreign companies and countries have been doing for years.
Why won't the US join the rest of the world, especially now that it seems to need the rest of the world even more than it did a few weeks ago?
Walter,
I'm begining to think that you really enjoy hearing the answer to that question, because nothing deters you from asking it continously.
I must sadly admit that rote repetition, regardless of what you're saying, is a form (if a weak one) of winning an argument - you keep repeating something until people forget reality and start accepting it.
Indeed, this is the basis of propoganda, which the Castro regime, and every other oppressive regime, is so good at.
Denial is not a river in Egypt. A tree makes noise in the forest when it falls, even if no one is there to hear it.
Washington prevents US companies from doing business with Cuba, not Cuba.
US law, not Cuban law, Axel. US LAW.
Anonymous,
Had never heard the Egypt reference...thanks for that one.
On the point of why US companies do not trade with Cuba, there is no dispute that it is US Law.
My post was in reference to Walter's question of "why", which we've discussed many times.
I've come to the conclusion that many of the people that admire the Castro brother’s defiance of the United States are also people that are eager to identify a successful socialist state to hold up as an example of their ideology.
To get to this point they are obviously very willing, either consciously or subconsciously to overlook the realities of the conditions of the vast majority of the aspects of Cuban life.
WALTER RESPONDS TO AXEL:
Take my word for it, Axel, if US law permitted US companies to invest in Cuba, they would do so. They invest in every other country on earth where they think there's a profit to be made. Why would they NOT invest in Cuba if it were legally possible to do so?
You'd think that, in these terrible economic times, you'd be pleased at the thought that there was SOMEPLACE in the world which would welcome US business and US dollars. And there is one place: Cuba.
That's why normalization of relations is needed, and indeed, it's long, long overdue.
Walter,
You have no idea what living on the island is like. How about this: the U.S. should consider lifting the trade embargo IF
1. They releases all political prisoners
2. Begin to pay citizens in the currency in which they can buy ALL goods and;
3. Stop lying to citizens about the US and begin promoting democracy and equality
Hmm..maybe then the US would consider lifting the embargo. Till then, I see no reason why the US should.
Hi Walter,
Thanks for the official statement, I like that.
Anyhow, do not doubt that many US companies would trade with Cuba...indeed, as you frequently point out, many already do so.
The point is that the Cuban government continues to be an opporessive regime, and uses its economic resources to concentrate power. No need to contribute to that. However, I am a pragmatist at times, and would fully support a ban on the embargo if the Cuban government adopted several reforms.
So in effect, your facts are correct (US law bars trade with Cuba), but you are incorrect in the cuase. If Cuba desires to trade with the US so keenly, even though it trades with every other country on earth, it is completely within their power to do so. The fault is theirs, and no one else's.
As a side note, I wholeheartedly disagree with the implications and tone of your email with regard to the US.
Most countries on earth welcome US investment, expertise, and culture. This will not change in your lifetime.
Mr.Lincoln Manuel thank for your comment. I linked this post to my blog.
It's very difficult to be agree with Mr. Lippman view.
Walter and Walter-likes:
Prior to the revolution, the U.S. was by far Cuba’s largest trading partner. In fact, despite of Cuba’s significantly smaller population, the converse was also true - Cuba was one of the U.S.’s most important trading partners. There were very robust capital flows between both countries and the Cuban peso and the U.S. dollar were currencies of equivalent value. It was against this backdrop that Fidel and Raul Castro and other opportunists changed the course of the Revolution from its original democratic and free market ideals towards communism and dictatorship and, as part of that plan, decided to nationalize all private property from U.S. and Cuban companies alike. The embargo was the U.S.'s response to this mass nationalization. It was the Castro brothers and their goons who, out of their own volition, severed ties with their most important trade partner, destroyed the domestic production of Cuban private enterprise, large and small, and in the process erased billions of dollars of economic productivity over the years. It is still these same characters, who you and others like you sadly support, that still hold on to power in Cuba today by force. Why would the U.S. reward these individuals and their previous theft by agreeing to again trade with them? What kind of precedent does that set? How is that the principled thing to do when the characters and the circumstances in Cuba have not changed?
The prescription for lifting the trade embargo is quite clear in Helms Burton and it begins with the Castro brothers stepping down from power and Cuba beginning to respect the basic human rights of its people. This is not only the principled approach, but it is the approach that, for now, makes the most sense from a foreign policy perspective – the ball is in Cuba’s court.
The embargo against Cuba has no moral weight behind it. Unfortunately the US, and particularly its brainwashed citizens, cannot understand the concept of hypocracy. Why was it right to impose an embargo against Castro's Cuba, supposedly based on lack of democracy, human rights, etc but not against Saudi Arabia, Sadanm Hussein's Iraq, Pinochet's Chile and scores of other appalling regimes? The answer to most of the world is obvious - oil or other economic interests. The answer to the average American is that I 'must be a God-dammed commie!!!'
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