Let's go to Havana! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Kuan · #1 06-05-2009, 11:19 AM

Hell no. Not until the locals are allowed to do the same things as tourists.

Honus · #2 06-05-2009, 11:38 AM

Kuan's right, but I still look forward to the day when there is a Major League Baseball team in Havana.

LUVMBDiesels · #3 06-05-2009, 11:51 AM

The embargo has not worked in 50 years. Maybe we need to do something else like encourage investment and travel down there. Give the Cubans McDonalds, Disney, Chevy, and dollars and they will forget the revolution pretty quickly.

I agree that the Castro brothers have to go, but NOTHING we have done has done anything but strengthen their grip on Cuba.

Honus · #4 06-05-2009, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LUVMBDiesels

The embargo has not worked in 50 years. Maybe we need to do something else like encourage investment and travel down there. Give the Cubans McDonalds, Disney, Chevy, and dollars and they will forget the revolution pretty quickly.

I agree that the Castro brothers have to go, but NOTHING we have done has done anything but strengthen their grip on Cuba.

OK, I said Kuan was right, but you're also right. I guess I'm flip flopping here.

Fitz · #5 06-05-2009, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LUVMBDiesels

The embargo has not worked in 50 years. Maybe we need to do something else like encourage investment and travel down there. Give the Cubans McDonalds, Disney, Chevy, and dollars and they will forget the revolution pretty quickly.

It hasn't worked that way in China.

JonL · #6 06-05-2009, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LUVMBDiesels

The embargo has not worked in 50 years. Maybe we need to do something else like encourage investment and travel down there. Give the Cubans McDonalds, Disney, Chevy, and dollars and they will forget the revolution pretty quickly.

I agree that the Castro brothers have to go, but NOTHING we have done has done anything but strengthen their grip on Cuba.

It's really, really unfortunate that McDonalds, Disney, and Chevy are what have come to symbolize the US and are the things we have to offer the world.

Jim B. · #7 06-05-2009, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonL

It's really, really unfortunate that McDonalds, Disney, and Chevy are what have come to symbolize the US and are the things we have to offer the world.

Do you "YAHOO" ?

JonL · #8 06-05-2009, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim B.

Do you "YAHOO" ?

Sorry... I don't understand????

Jim B. · #9 06-05-2009, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonL

Sorry... I don't understand????

America is also the undisputed world leader in internet and electronic commmunication technology, and famous for computers, and wireless innovation.

Carleton Hughes · #10 06-05-2009, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LUVMBDiesels

The embargo has not worked in 50 years. Maybe we need to do something else like encourage investment and travel down there. Give the Cubans McDonalds, Disney, Chevy, and dollars and they will forget the revolution pretty quickly.

I agree that the Castro brothers have to go, but NOTHING we have done has done anything but strengthen their grip on Cuba.

I went to cuba as part of "government research team"

a decade ago..my wife works for the Govt.as do some friends of hers,easy enough if you word the visa right.
Had to go thru Honduras.
Now,for any old car buffs,the plain truth is many of the vintage cars being driven are essentially the shells of cars with sometimes Russian and european drivetrains,occasionally just different trannies,rear ends,n*gg*r rigged suspension units,Et,AL.
Saw a nice "20 foot" '39 Packard but the motor was a 6 cyl Bedford truck flathead.
Did manage to snag some really rare trumpets and saxes for cheap and found a fellow sails to Miami and back who would smuggle the stuff out of Havana and mail them to me from a Miami post office,for U.S dollars nonetheless,they're king down there!that's how Rum and Cigars get to these shores.
Going back in 3 months.

LUVMBDiesels · #11 06-05-2009, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carleton Hughes

I went to cuba as part of "government research team"

a decade ago..my wife works for the Govt.as do some friends of hers,easy enough if you word the visa right.
Had to go thru Honduras.
Now,for any old car buffs,the plain truth is many of the vintage cars being driven are essentially the shells of cars with sometimes Russian and european drivetrains,occasionally just different trannies,rear ends,n*gg*r rigged suspension units,Et,AL.
Saw a nice "20 foot" '39 Packard but the motor was a 6 cyl Bedford truck flathead.
Did manage to snag some really rare trumpets and saxes for cheap and found a fellow sails to Miami and back who would smuggle the stuff out of Havana and mail them to me from a Miami post office,for U.S dollars nonetheless,they're king down there!that's how Rum and Cigars get to these shores.
Going back in 3 months.

We actually have an office in Havana to process visas. I have been trying for a year to wrangle a way down there. The list of techs that want to go there to 'fix issues' is 10 pages long... Obviously there is a pent up demand for us to visit Cuba. I think we could really engage the people there and maybe bring about a 'velvet revolution' like they had in Czechoslovakia by going there in droves, spending $$ investing in their country, and by showing the people we are not United Fruit by treating them with respect (while drinking mojitos and seeing the cabaret shows -- hey we are NOT all saints right?)

We should have swept down there as soon as the USSR fell apart and stopped sponsoring them.

Jim B. · #12 06-05-2009, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LUVMBDiesels

We actually have an office in Havana to process visas. I have been trying for a year to wrangle a way down there. The list of techs that want to go there to 'fix issues' is 10 pages long... Obviously there is a pent up demand for us to visit Cuba. I think we could really engage the people there and maybe bring about a 'velvet revolution' like they had in Czechoslovakia by going there in droves, spending $$ investing in their country, and by showing the people we are not United Fruit by treating them with respect (while drinking mojitos and seeing the cabaret shows -- hey we are NOT all saints right?)

We should have swept down there as soon as the USSR fell apart and stopped sponsoring them.

I have read for years that all you need to do is to fly to Toronto or Cancun Mexico, and contact a travel agency there that will buy you RT tickets to Havana and back.

There is an unwritten, informal, agreement that the Cuban Aduanas (customs) officials will agree to *NOT* stamp your US passport either "entrada" or "salida" so upon return to the USA ultimately, nobody will EVER know, in US customs, that you wen to Cuba and had a nice time.

Through the internet, it is easy to arrange lodgings in Havana, anywhere you wish.

I thought about going there, with my wife about 8 years ago, and looked into all of it pretty thoroughly.

Finally settled on a cruise that hit San Juan, PR, instead.

Also, if you are in one of the accepted and legally "exempted" professions, like accredited teachers or journalists or others, you can legally go directly there to Cuba from the USA.

What Carleton Hughes said about the cars is mostly true, but not always. Gifts like small parts such as spark plugs and filters for the old cars are much adored in Cuba....

EricSilver · #13 06-05-2009, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carleton Hughes

... n*gg*r rigged...

Huh? What does that mean?

t walgamuth · #14 06-06-2009, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricSilver

Huh? What does that mean?

Where I come from in the rural midwest we might say "Farmer rigged"....it means fixing things with anything that will work but does not include actually using the correct factory part.

My dad was excellent at it. I will do it occasionally if a part is needed immediately and not available. What I like about having a 123 mb is that about any part I might need I have on hand....some new and some used.

In my family we generally did not use racially related slang.

OMEGAMAN · #15 06-06-2009, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

Where I come from in the rural midwest we might say "Farmer rigged"....it means fixing things with anything that will work but does not include actually using the correct factory part.

My dad was excellent at it. I will do it occasionally if a part is needed immediately and not available. What I like about having a 123 mb is that about any part I might need I have on hand....some new and some used.

In my family we generally did not use racially related slang.

Farmer Rigging can be truly impressive. I love looking at old farm equipment and wonder if I could come up with the same solution to a problem. Everyone has seen Car Dealer rigging at some time or another