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I have a few points to discuss:
One, there were plans laid out by the Cuban government to implement a biofuels industry, these were openly discussed in late 2006. There were parallel plans in Venezuela, as shown in the PDVSA website, also in late 2006. I've also shown the Brazilian bio-fuel industry is thriving, profitable, and is sustainable. This implies the plans laid out by both Cuban and Venezuelan government officials were reasonable, and could have led to sustainable development of a fuel alternative to oil. This was good in particular for Cuba, which survives thanks to the oil handouts from Venezuela.
Two, in early 2007, without any discussion whatsoever in the Cuban national assembly, nor any mention of a debate, Castro writes a simple essay coming out (wrongly) against the biofuels industry in general. At that point in time, both the Cuban and Venezuelan efforts are suspended. Killed off. The point, my friend, is that a decision appears to have been made because an old man, sick in bed, and suposedly no longer in power, read an article by Atilio Boron and decided the biofuels industry was "genocide". Which is, as they say in Texas, a crock of feces.
Three, there are two ethanol models, one is the Brazilian model, based on sugar cane, and the other is the US model, based on subsidized corn. Therefore the "let them eat cake" comment is thoroughly out of line. It is possible to develop a biofuels industry to satisfy some countries' needs. This may not be possible for Europe or the USA, but it's possible for Brazil, definitely possible for Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and other nations with the right soil and rain conditions for sugar cane.
Four, the failure to grow food in sufficient quantities is a structural failure unrelated to the growth of sugar cane for biofuels. There is sufficient soil, water, and fertilizer at this time to develop a biofuels industry in the countries I listed above. In Cuba's case, it's difficult to say, because the communist regime has ruined the agricultural sector, and today Cuba can't feed itself even though it does have the land, water, and other requirements.
Five, in most of Latin America, the rural sector is poorer than the urban sector. Therefore justice is served is the agricultural sector increases its earnings, and the urban sector has to pay more for food. Farmers have been screwed by urban intellectuals, the rich, and parasites who think food ought to be cheap while they sell their wares at a premium. Well, it seems biofuels help balance the odds in favor of the farmer, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Six, maybe what you need to do in Cuba is learn to grow your own food, and stop depending on imports from the yankees. This is the real reason Castro got upset, Cuba happens to import food from the USA, and when the Americans diverted their corn crop to biofuels (a dumb move dictated by special interests who receive subsidies), Cubans had to pay more for their food imports. So why not learn from everybody else, privatize the farms, let the people be free to grow what they want, let them earn a profit in farmers, and dump that marxist dogma which is the real reason why you go hungry?
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