Raul Castro is hoping that Mexico will buy from or invest more in Cuba. It’s a good idea given that Mexico has the second largest economy in Latin America. However, the deal has not been sealed yet.
Allan Wall recently visited the island and did not see a lot of Mexican products:
As for Mexico, you’d think that, after all these years of trading with Cuba, that there would be more Mexican products on sale there.Admittedly, I didn’t see everything, but the only Mexican product I saw on sale in Cuba was Mexican Coca-Cola. And that doesn’t even appear to be the most common soft drink. There is a regime-connected enterprise that makes Cuban soft drinks. And I didn’t find the Cuban Coca-Cola equivalent to be very good.Nor did I find any Mexican snack products, of which there are many good ones, for sale in Cuba.Now however, there is interest in the Mexican business community for more opportunities in Cuba.In Merida, Raul Castro appealed to such hopes by declaring, “We also welcome the interest of Mexican companies to do business and invest in Cuba, particularly in the special development zone of Mariel and in sectors such as agriculture and tourism.”That’s what Raul says, but it still remains to be seen.
That’s correct. It remains to be seen whether Mexico does anything.
Mexico recently waived (a nice word for wrote off) almost $500 million of Cuban loans. It was a public sector loan, since most of Mexican private sector companies sell on a cash basis.
So it remains to be seen if Mexico jumps in. There is a lot of talk about opportunities but not much more.
My guess is that they will be very careful because Cuba is not much of a market to invest or do business with. I guess that’s what 50-plus years of misguided socialism will do to a country.
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