Don Elton

What’s next for Cuba? amzn.to/4rP3XHX

I’m not advocating that the communists get anything. But evicting people who are not communists and who suffered under communist rule for decades from the home they lived in for decades so you can give their home to kids of dead people is counterproductive. There are better ways to compensate people for loss of their abandoned property that don’t alienate and injure the people you would presumably want to support the new government.

@delton @sasncsheri @RonDeSantis Cool story, but I am not seeing in here why anyone *who currently occupies the confiscated property* needs to be paid. A process for the original owners to reclaim can be established, and if they don’t claim it it gets auctioned off. Why shouls the communists get anything?

At a minimum this needs to happen.

Primarily the other way around: most Cuban property/home owners (especially from the middle and upper classes) fled first due to opposition to the revolutionary government's direction, fear of political persecution, loss of status, or rejection of the emerging socialist/communist system—and then their properties were confiscated after they left (or as part of broader nationalizations that targeted their class). Here's the key timeline and dynamic based on historical records: - Early 1959 (right after Castro took power on Jan 1): The first wave of departures began almost immediately. Initial exiles were mostly Batista regime collaborators, military/police officials, and some upper-class figures who feared retribution or opposed the new government. Emigration was still limited but growing. - May–June 1959: The first Agrarian Reform Law (May 17, effective June) expropriated large landholdings (>1,000 acres in many cases), targeting big estates (often foreign-owned or Cuban elite-owned sugar/cattle ranches). This hit rural property owners hard, but urban homes were not yet broadly affected. Many larger landowners or those tied to foreign interests began leaving around this time or shortly after, anticipating worse to come. - Late 1959–1960: Expropriations expanded rapidly: - Urban Reform Law (October 1960) slashed rents and began nationalizing rental properties. - Major wave of U.S.-owned businesses and properties nationalized starting mid-1960 (oil refineries in June, sugar mills in August, broader assets by October). - Cuban middle/upper-class owners (professionals, business owners, homeowners) increasingly left as the revolution radicalized—seeing executions of opponents, loss of political freedoms, economic controls, and class-based targeting. By the end of 1960, commercial flights were still running, and ~150,000–200,000 had already left (the "Golden Exile" phase, mostly urban professionals, businesspeople, and property owners). - December 1961 onward (key escalation): A specific law (Law 989 of 1961, with related resolutions) declared that Cubans who left the country permanently (e.g., didn't return within set time limits: 29 days for U.S. travel, longer for elsewhere) had abandoned their property, which then became subject to confiscation by the state. This formalized what was already happening: people fled (often with little more than they could carry), and the government seized homes, businesses, cars, etc., left behind. - 1961–1962 peak: ~248,000 fled before commercial flights ended in October 1962 (Bay of Pigs fallout + Missile Crisis). Many were property owners who left before full seizure of their specific assets—but the regime's policies made staying untenable for that socioeconomic group. In short, the large-scale exodus of property-owning classes (1959–1962) was driven by: - Political opposition / fear of repression - Rejection of socialism - Economic uncertainty - Early targeted reforms (especially agrarian) Confiscation often followed departure (via abandonment laws) or occurred as part of class-wide nationalizations that pushed more people to leave in a feedback loop. Very few stayed until their home was directly seized and then fled—most property-owning exiles left proactively as the revolution turned against their interests. This pattern fueled the strong exile community narrative (especially in Florida) that properties were "stolen" without compensation, while the Cuban government framed it as reclaiming wealth from the elite/exploiters. Both sides have valid points in their perspectives, but the sequence was overwhelmingly flight first → confiscation after.

@delton @RonDeSantis They fled because their property was confiscated, you know the tried and true, from each according to his ability, to each according to their needs. That worked out really well 🙄

Compensation can take many forms. If the current Cuban country had serious money they would not be in this situation but people just don’t produce anything anyone wants to buy under communism. That said, a new democratic capitalist Cuba could compensate people who lost property in other creative ways such as offering licenses and contracts to do various types of business in a future prosperous Cuba. Taking crumbling homes from the people living there for decades is not a viable solution.

You've heard the Governor already. You're not fooling anyone. Most of the top houses went to CDR and all that kind of bastards. BUT, in any case, where's the money from unpaid rentals, unpaid mortgages? Cubans that left the country had to paid their rentals/mortgages without hesitation.

You mean the communist party apparatchiks who benefitted from the confiscation? They can be housed in a prison in post-communist Cuba.

@psoreilly @RonDeSantis Compensation can work if there was anything of value in Cuba to offer as compensation. Obviously they’ve been operating on charity for many years so cash isn’t an option but offering licenses for various concessions in the new Cuba? That is worth discussing.

@delton @RonDeSantis First establish the principle that there will be compensation and then it is just math to figure out an equitable compensation.

@RonDeSantis Mas cobre el camino adelante para Cuba... amzn.to/3NpBVVb

@RonDeSantis More on a path to democracy in Cuba... amzn.to/4sNIWOo

@PGStheone Yes it will do great for hours and then just wander around

@delton Navigation has been terrible recently.

Tesla FSD maybe has been drinking?

X was down for minute but looks like we’re back up and running 😂

BREAKING: Marco Rubio has started partying like it's 1999.

Ayer en el estadio de Miami cientos de venezolanos gritaban en celebración: "Maduro coño e tu mad*e". Lo que la dictadura no quiere que veas.

Don’t know who needs to hear this but if you have a protocol for monitoring you can safely give pressors through a PIV. This meta-analysis of 49 studies of peripheral vasopressors found that extravasation led to necrosis just ONCE in 29,596 patients. jamanetwork.com/journals/jaman…

Peripheral vasopressor administration in critically ill adults was associated with a low incidence of adverse events—major events were rare using short peripheral intravenous catheters, and use avoided central venous catheter placement in 60% of cases. ja.ma/4btNGSr

Chávez en su campaña de 1998 llegó a decir que: -No quería socialismo ni comunismo. -Respetaría la propiedad privada. -Respetaría la libre empresa. A quienes se preguntan cómo ganó, la respuesta es simple: mintió. Ganó mintiendo porque sabía que si decía la verdad perdería.

Best ever - who did this one ?

I understand opposition to Trump. But I'll never understand how opposition to Trump entails support for tyrannical regimes in Venezuela, Iran, and Cuba. It is a baffling phenomenon.

RT @nickmmark: Authors: “our trial was really underpowered but it would have been really hard to do it correctly.” Maybe pick a different…