Foreign Firms Plunge In!!
This brand-new and magnificently modern hotel signals that the island of Cuba plans to survive physically and economically regardless of the threats from the new Trump administration in the United States and the near-collapse of Venezuela, its long-time major financial partner. The official name for this hotel is Gran Hotel Kempinski Manzana La Habana and it is almost ready to open for business as Cuba's first five-star hotel. The Kempinski group is a 120-year-old Swiss company that operates 75 famous five-star hotels in 30 countries. This one is located in Habana Vieja {Old Havana} and has 246 rooms and suites.
A Kempinski 5-star hotel room in Old Havana.
A Kempinski 5-star terrace, dining, swimming area in Havana.
A powerful, beautiful Swiss investment in Cuba.
China is among the countries trying to help Cuba recuperate from its massive loss of oil that oil-rich Venezuela had provided in exchange for massive health care provided by Cuba. In the second half of 2016 the oil shipments from Venezuela to Cuba had shrunk by about 50%, down to 55,000 barrels a day. With China's help, Cuba is attempting to sharply increase its own production of oil but also is concentrating on developing renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind and even oceanic. The Miami Herald reports this week that Cuba in 2016 repaid $5.2 billion of its foreign debt as a gesture toward encouraging other nations to invest in what looks like a more stable island that is now brimming with economic potential.
Although his two-term presidency ended a few weeks ago, the legacy of President Obama's efforts to normalize relations with Cuba are still in drastic contrast to the previous half-century of U. S. antagonism -- economically, militarily and otherwise -- following the triumph of the Cuban Revolution over the U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship on January 1, 1959. Although Obama defied the U. S. Congress by bravely and astutely using Executive Orders to roll back staunchly mandated Congressional laws designed to annihilate Cuba while also enriching and empowering Cuba's prime enemies in the U. S., the new President Trump can rescind Obama's Executive Orders with his own, which he is likely to do. Cuba, anticipating that possibility, is working feverishly with other nations -- from Switzerland to China -- to counteract what might be a sharp renewal of U. S. hubris at a time when the island's two prime Latin American supporters -- Venezuela and Brazil -- are embroiled in economic and political turmoil. But Cuba's famed resilience, boosted by Obama's dynamic tactics that revived long-dormant U. S. commerce, was already legendary.
Donald Trump fancies himself as a master builder of hotels, such as the one above bearing his name in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Even as President, he may still be fixated on luxury hotels, even in Cuba.
If his aides show President Trump photos of Cuba's newly built 5-star hotel -- the Gran Hotel Kempinski in Old Havana -- it would be interesting to see what his reaction would be, don't you think?
Last week American Airlines opened an office in Havana and is now training Cubans to soon run what figures to be a very busy U.S.-Cuba connection. In fact, American is one of nine major U. S. airlines now making daily round-trip flights to ten Cuban cities, including Havana, from many major American cities.
This week -- February 7th, 2017 -- Norwegian Cruise Line -- announced that it is sharply "bulking up" its cruises from Miami to Cuba. Norwegian is based in Miami and it is one of many Florida businesses in heated competition with each other to take advantage of the still viable Obama-mandated overtures.
The leader of Miami's Norwegian Cruise Line is Andy Stuart. Yesterday Andy Stuart released this official statement: "We have seen great demand from our guests for sailing to Cuba and we look forward to providing more opportunities for them to experience the incredibly culture-rich destination on a weekly basis."
In 2016 a record four million tourists visited Cuba and that Obama legacy, if it is to be blunted, will take some obnoxious doing by President Trump, hurting American businesses. The two tourists above were watching a huge cruise ship filled with more tourists arrive in Cuba. Prior to President Obama, commercial cruise and air traffic from the U. S. to Cuba had been illegal for over half-a-century to sate the revenge, economic and political motives of a few extremists who still chafe from the 1959 triumph of the Cuban Revolution over the U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship. The photo above, made possible by Obama, also spawned such things as the new 5-star Swiss-built Kempinski Hotel in Old Havana but, more importantly, already the influx of legal cruise and air traffic from America has created many jobs and some significant profits for American businesses, including many in Florida run by Cuban-Americans. And as Cuba waits to see if President Trump will return to the pre-Obama U. S. tactic of regime-change and other fierce animosity towards Cuba, the island itself is casting sterner gazes elsewhere...from Switzerland to China.
At this Havana news conference, Josefina Vidal -- Cuba's Minister related to U. S. relations -- was asked about the U. S. presidential transition from "the friendly Obama to the supposedly unfriendly Trump." She replied, "Every day since January 1, 1959, our primary goal has been to defend our hard-earned sovereignty and to make our citizens safer, better educated, healthier and more prosperous. We have succeeded in many of those things but not-so-much in others, with fierce opposition from neighboring America being an ongoing obstacle. The Obama presidency, for the first time really, has afforded us at least the opportunity to prioritize things other than just survival. If the Obama advances are curtailed, we will just have to adjust...again."
Cuba's primary ADJUSTER -- Josefina Vidal.
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