Theories

Senior Cuban officials are confident the US commercial and trade embargo, which has been in place since 1962, is about to be lifted. What's left of it, that is.

At least that’s what they have been telling the respected and normally well-connected British weekly The Economist.

The magazine claims in its latest edition that with Fidel Castro on his deathbed and a Democrat likely to win next year’s presidential election in the US, economic relations between Havana and Washington are about to improve.

“The Cuban ministries that deal with foreign investment … have recently been putting the word out to foreign investors that tenders are welcome for a raft of projects,” the magazine reports. “Theme parks, super-yacht marinas, golf courses, even airlines—all apparently geared to a future American market too—feature prominently on the list.”

According to the report, the first major project is expected to be funded by Dubai Ports World, a partly State-owned company in the United Arab Emirates that is looking at investing USD250 million to convert the “decrepit” port of Mariel into a “modern container facility”.

The attraction? Mariel is within spitting distance of major US handling facilities.