Cuba Concentrates on Friends

While Lessening U. S. Contacts!
{Updated: Thursday, October 19th, 2017}

    The Times of Israel this week -- Oct. 17-2017 -- reported that a delegation of top Israeli business-people will travel to Cuba in early December to promote trade between the two countries. It will be the first-ever such overture from Israel to Cuba. In recent years, Israel -- tightly aligned with the U. S. economically and militarily -- is the only nation in the world to join the U. S. vote in the UN supporting the American embargo of Cuba that has persisted since 1962. But during the Democratic Obama administration, the U. S. itself and Israel both abstained on that vote and thus the current UN vote opposing the embargo is 191-to-0 with the two abstentions cast by the U. S. and Israel. The upcoming visit has been organized by the Israeli Latin American Chamber of Commerce and it's good news for Cuba.

      The CEO of the Israeli Latin American Chamber of Commerce is Gabriel Hayon. He says that the Israeli government has offered "no objection" to his group's efforts to do business with Cuba. Mr. Hayon told The Times of Israel: "As per the Cubans request, we are inviting Israeli companies that are willing to invest in Cuban businesses or enter into joint ventures to engage with Cuba. Cuba is not listed as an enemy of Israel. Business is the best bridge to diplomacy. Israeli firms can provide the Cuban people with many cost-effective solutions to improve the quality of life on the island nation, to the benefit of Israelis and Cubans." The actions and words of Gabriel Hayon are a big deal, especially at a time when the current Republican President Donald Trump is reversing many of the positive overtures in U.S.-Cuban relations that his predecessor Obama forged.

      The AP photo above shows President Trump at a news conference Oct. 16th in the White House Rose Garden. He took the opportunity to stress that, "Cuba is responsible for the sonic attacks on the United States embassy staff in Havana."

      This AFP photo showed Trump at that Rose Garden news conference this week continuing to use the sonic-wave attacks to justify more and more assaults on Cuba to appease counter-revolutionaries in Miami and Congress. Meanwhile, most American and Canadian experts on Cuba believe the mysterious sonic assaults are the work of agents who would benefit from blaming Cuba, such as counter-revolutionaries in Miami or Congress or rogue Cubans on the island who oppose closer relations with the United States. In other words, like the massive wave of hotel bombings in Havana in 1997, the sonic-wave attacks seem most likely intended to discourage tourism to Cuba, the island nation that depends on tourism as its lifeline.

      As further evidence that Cuba has tired of dealing with a Trump presidency that takes its Cuban policies only from Miami or Congressional hardliners, Cuba's Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero has reacted, first off, by paying a vital visit to Canada, which is Cuba's friend and also the prime supplier of badly needed tourists to the island.

   On his visit to Canada, Manuel Marrero met hastily with tour operators, travel writers, and government officials. He told The Canadian Press news agency, "Our hotels and other tourist facilities are back in shape after the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma. Canadians will find the hotels better than before and their friends and workers in Cuba are very enthusiastic and welcoming. The best help that our Canadian friends can give to the Cuban people is traveling as tourists so that hotels realize their potential and we can get back to normal after Irma. As for the sonic-attack excuses used by Cuba's U. S. enemies, there is zero reliable evidence that a single foreign tourist has in any way been exposed to whatever or whoever is trying to severely hurt us."

    The best Caribbean newspaper, the Jamaica Observer, reports fairly on Cuban issues and it too equates the current sonic-wave attacks with the hotel bombings that Miami terrorists admitted were designed purely to discourage tourism to Cuba.

     The Gran Manzana Kempinski Hotel is fully engaged in welcoming visitors to the heart of Havana. It opened in June of 2017 as Cuba's very first Five Star+ hotel.

     The magnificent pool area atop the Gran Manzana Kempinski offers a panoramic view of Havana's historic area. It has 246 Five-Star+ very luxury rooms.

   Havana now has a jewel in the Kempinski chain.

     The CEO of the Kempinski Hotel Empire is Markus Semer. He says, "In the heart of Havana, the Gran Marzana Kempinski is a shining example of our interest in Cuba. It has all the amenities any visitor to Cuba could desire." It features 246 luxury rooms, a variety of restaurants and bars, a luscious swimming pool, business rooms, a spa, a gym, and a terrace that provides magnificent views of Havana. The Swiss company also reflects Cuba's desire to seek investments from important foreign nations.

     An Australian company, Melbana Energy, is very interested in helping Cuba develop its potential for oil and that enthusiasm is about to produce results.

      In September of 2015 Peter Strickland of Melbana Energy signed a major deal with Juan Torres of Union CubaPetroleo to develop the oil potential in Cuba's Block 9.

     And now Peter Strickland at Australia's Melbana Energy says its extensive geological surveys indicate strong potential for block 9's oil production in Cuba. Thus, plans are underway now for two wells to begin pumping by mid-2018. Mr. Strickland said, "We are prioritizing Cuban exploration. Cuba is now becoming globally recognized for a wealth of energy resources that have largely remained untapped, partly because of the long-standing U. S. embargo. We have made the tests and we know there is much oil in Block 9." Block 9 on Cuba's northern coast is close to Cuba's largest oil field near Varadero that is owned by Toronto-based Sherritt International. Varadero has a projected 1 billion barrels in one structure and is currently producing 14,500 barrels per day. Sherritt is also beginning to drill in Block 10. Regarding his Block 9, Peter Strickland says, "I take some comfort knowing that Sherritt has shown you can invest with confidence and build a long-term profitable business in Cuba."

     The photo above shows where the Australian company, Melbana Energy, will soon begin drilling for Cuban oil at its Block 9 Alameda-1 well. With Canada's long-time partner Sherritt International expanding its oil drilling in Cuba, the commitment of Australia's Melbana Energy also looks promising. It also reflects Cuba's efforts to forge important business associations with new foreign partners such as the Swiss Kempinski hotel giant as well as Australia's Melbana Energy...and even in December major business executives from Israel will be in Cuba hoping to strike some deals.

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