GE, Google and Cruise Lines in Pending Deals

GE, Google and a number of cruise lines are rumored to be involved in negotiations with Cuba. This is probably quite true.  It is hoped these deals will be signed and sealed before the US President-elect steps into office in January. There’s a strategy involved here.  If these deals go through, it will be more difficult for the incoming president to step back in time and return to a failed business policy.  That big fail policy is known as the embargo against Cuba.

Regression and its Consequences

Stepping backwards in time is not going to make American Big Business happy.  Corporate giants such as GE and Google as well as Airbnb, Netflix, Verizon, T Mobile, AT&T, airlines, IDT Corp and all the other large corporations currently in negotiations or operating businesses in Cuba will be irritated, to say the least.  Count the numbers, count the dollars.  If there’s a reversal in the advances made by the Obama administration, think of the ramifications.  Imagine the lawsuits to follow.

The following was published yesterday on the Market Watch website:

“…In addition, three American cruise lines are expected to announce deals to start service to Cuba, including Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Royal Caribbean and Pearl Seas Cruises.

The new business agreements are expected to be announced over the next few weeks, those familiar with the discussions said. For the White House, which ramped up an effort before the election to prod Havana, the deals are aimed at cementing President Barack Obama’s policy of advancing U.S.-Cuba relations.

White House officials are unsure how Trump, the president-elect, will approach Obama’s Cuba policy. He has said he would reverse the effort to build relations, and this week wrote on Twitter that “if Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate the deal.”

While there is no formal deal between the U.S. and Cuba that can be undone, there has been a broad effort to expand economic, trade and cultural ties between the two countries since Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro announced in December 2014 that they would re-establish diplomatic relations.

Asked about the possible agreement, a GE  spokesman said: “We continue to talk to Cuba and we’re in the middle of negotiations.”

Naturally, the cruise line representatives from Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Pearl Seas Cruises, are all enthused about the prospects of offering new cruise ships and itineraries to Cuba.

Officials from Google didn’t respond to requests for comments.”