Comments on: Cuba's Oil

Cuba's Oil

Burhanistan — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:34:19 -0800

Cuba's Undersea Oil Could Help Thaw Trade With U.S. [WAPO bugmenot] - Deep in the Gulf of Mexico, an end to the 1962 U.S. trade embargo against Cuba may be lying untapped, buried under layers of rock, seawater and bitter relations.

Why Cuba's Dreams of Major Oil Discoveries Might Come True - US News & World Report Cuba claims massive oil reserves - BBC News Russia to help Cuba with oil projects - Cuba Headlines

By: PenDevil

PenDevil — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:52:09 -0800

Well it'll either be a thawing of diplomatic relations or a full blown invasion...

By: oddman

oddman — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:53:32 -0800

Let's hope for neither without people being held accountable for their crimes.

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:57:09 -0800

Yeah, the U.S. will invade under some pretext. What are those commies doing living over OUR oil anyway? They'll be better off anyway-- the only McDonalds in Cuba is in Guantanamo, and the freedom-starved populace of Cuba can't even patronize it.

By: toroi

toroi — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:02:23 -0800

Not mentioned in the article but the Eastern Gap looks to be the area outside the various 230 mile exclusive economic zones.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:13:56 -0800

No Cohibas and yellow rice and black beans for oil! Ok, well maybe.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:15:39 -0800

Wait, I totally did that wrong. They already have both of those. Guh. /too hot

By: Crotalus

Crotalus — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:31:41 -0800

I hear Fidel was trying to buy yellowcake in Niger . . .

By: rokusan

rokusan — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:45:40 -0800

What, spreading glorious American freedom to a nation of people who doesn't want it wasn't a good enough reason to "save" Cuba?

By: Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Sat, 16 May 2009 19:01:05 -0800

I seriously doubt Cuba is going to get invaded over this. US/Cuban diplomatic relations are starting to open up right now. Following that path, America could become Cuba's largest customer. Cuba profits, America gets oil; everybody wins.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Sat, 16 May 2009 19:05:35 -0800

Yeah, invasion precedents notwithstanding, I don't see the basis for actual military invasions here.

By: NoMich

NoMich — Sat, 16 May 2009 19:29:15 -0800

Wait, I thought Cuba was drilling for oil right off the shores of Florida? Wasn't that the right wing scare of the week last year? Or was it some other commie country drilling *our* oil off of our shores?

By: rough ashlar

rough ashlar — Sat, 16 May 2009 19:33:35 -0800

Yeah, the U.S. will invade under some pretext. They need to be rushed US car parts ASAP! It will be an intervention - not an invasion.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 16 May 2009 19:36:57 -0800

As long as Shell or Exxon or BP or some gigantic oil conglomerate can get that oil at cheap prices, Cuba hasn't a thing to fear. And even at cheap prices, that revenue stream is enough to keep Cuba's citizens in very good stead. They'll eventually become Swedish: a socialist democracy. All things considered, that's a pretty damn fine way for a society to go: it works. That's a lot more than you can say for some of the systems America does support.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Sat, 16 May 2009 21:44:21 -0800

buried under layers of rock, seawater and bitter relations. Has anyone developed a drill bit for the last?

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Sat, 16 May 2009 21:51:16 -0800

They need to be rushed US car parts ASAP! It will be an intervention - not an invasion. "As long as you're comfortable, it feels like freedom."

By: Artw

Artw — Sat, 16 May 2009 22:51:53 -0800

Rokusan - the US has already "saved" Cuba once - Fidel is the unintended consequence of that.

By: Artw

Artw — Sat, 16 May 2009 22:53:21 -0800

Also: "I drink your milkshake!"

By: saysthis

saysthis — Sat, 16 May 2009 23:09:42 -0800

This is so cool. This would be such a major shift in global politics, and it's a story I'd love to see. And, I'd finally get to go to Cuba. Please let them find oil...

By: Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Sat, 16 May 2009 23:13:46 -0800

Also: "I drink your milkshake!" Yes! A colony of Montgomery Burns-style 45° angled oil derricks all along the south Florida coast.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 16 May 2009 23:19:37 -0800

Some pundit was joking that Cuba's the last place on earth where American-built cars are still popular.

By: Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Sat, 16 May 2009 23:21:49 -0800

And, I'd finally get to go to Cuba. Obama's already lifted travel restrictions on Americans who want to visit family members in Cuba, and is talking about a "new beginning" in relations between the two countries, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that soon direct travel from the US to Cuba could be on the horizon.

By: Tashtego

Tashtego — Sat, 16 May 2009 23:48:19 -0800

I can't see the U.S. lifting the embargo on Cuba. It's a matter of principle that we cannot trade with nondemocratic countries, especially those that are run by communist governments. If we were to open up trade with Cuba what would be next, Red China? Would we trade with countries with questionable human rights records like Saudi Arabia and Vietnam?

By: Artw

Artw — Sun, 17 May 2009 07:39:58 -0800

Heh. There's an argument that the US directs it's special anger at countries where it's meddling has turned out "wrong" - Iran being another big one.

By: MarshallPoe

MarshallPoe — Sun, 17 May 2009 08:50:32 -0800

This line made me pause: "Enough [oil] to turn the island into the Qatar of the Caribbean." If the point is that oil will make Cuba rich, then the oil is redundant b/c Cuba already has what it needs to be rich--some of the most valuable real estate in the world. Cuba could be Florida without a drop of oil. But the Communist dictators of Cuba have decided the people of Cuba don't want to be prosperous because, you know, prosperity is bad for you. If the point is that oil will make Cuba into a one-party state run by ideological fanatics who derived most of their political views from a long-dead age, then, again, the oil is redundant because Cuba is already there. So Cuba doesn't need oil. Cuba needs democracy.

By: Artw

Artw — Sun, 17 May 2009 14:48:57 -0800

Then they can be the Iraq of the Caribbean.

By: Surfurrus

Surfurrus — Sun, 17 May 2009 15:56:13 -0800

"Cuba already has what it needs to be rich--some of the most valuable real estate in the world. Cuba could be Florida without a drop of oil. " - MarshallPoe Oh yeah, and who wouldn't want to be Florida. (As if!) Cuba has sovereignty, pride, sustainability, good health and education for all their people ... and you think selling their "valuable real estate" to rich interlopers would make them 'happy'?! You want them to return to the "Old Havana" and to bow down to the wealthy elite and mafiosa?! Cuba should burn all their oil in the ground now! Then they should pull up any welcome mats before they are enlisted as the 51st state and have to live the servant life made famous in the 50th state.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Sun, 17 May 2009 21:49:19 -0800

Yeah. Cuba wants to be Florida.

"At the end of the third quarter in 2008, Florida had the highest for mortgage payment delinquency rate in the country, with 7.8% of mortgages delinquent at least 60 days.[70] The state also had the second-highest credit card delinquency rate, with 1.45% of cardholders in the state more than 90 days delinquent on one or more credit cards.[70] A 2009 list of national housing markets that were hard hit in the real estate crash included a disproportionate number in Florida." So. Yeah. Cuba should give up it's sovereignty and sustainable development and sell their most productive land to corporations so they can build mega resorts for forigners and factories for cheap labor. That will lift the economy. Like it has done in Mexico. Oh. Wait. That's right. It didn't. And it won't in Cuba. In fact it would be a one stop ticket to narco-trafficking state run by oligarchs. Like 70% Mexico. Or like it was BEFORE Castro, when the mob ran the place. I like how Poe equates democracy with selling out to real estate developers. Awesome. Here I thought democracy was a system in which state-power is held by the majority of citizens within a country. Yeah that sounds good. I'd like it here, too.

By: MarshallPoe

MarshallPoe — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:10:44 -0800

To Mr. tkchrist, I would only say that the people should decide, not the dictators. Since the dictators won't allow free elections--the surest sign of a corrupt and frightened government--maybe they should try this: open the borders. What do you imagine would happen? I would guess--and this is only a guess--that Cuba would empty and Florida would fill. For further information, see "East Germany."

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:00:06 -0800

For further information, see "East Germany." Sure. See "Mexico", too. Poor people don't like being poor.