Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkinCA
 ...Do you think they (Altadis/Habanos SA) have an "insider" with the US Gov't on some future event regarding trade and the lifting of the embargo? |
No, but they certainly have enough money to hire a competent lobbyist or two. With Castro very likely to die within the next decade, and with U.S. antagonism in foreign policy shifting away from Marxist states to Islamic theocracies, the climate is certainly right for an end to the embargo. In fact, as long as they don't go all Kim Jong Il on us and start pursuing nuclear weapons, a lifting of the embargo is likely, if not assured in the long run, say 10-20 years. I don't know exactly what kind of game of dice Altadis was playing when they bought into Habanos, but you can bet that one of their long term goals is to break the embargo and have sole distribution rights of Cuban tobacco in the U.S, and they will throw a lot of money at the problem until they solve it, because there is so much potential for profit there that they would be idiots not to do so.