On February 1 President Castro will begin an official visit to France. Apart from confirming the historic, philosophical and cultural affinities between the French and Cuban revolutions, the visit is expected to result in new economic, financial and commercial ties, and will add further to global interest in change and opportunity in Cuba.
It will be another example of how, paradoxically, the process of normalising US-Cuba relations and the removal of Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, has freed all G20 nations and many others to engage at high levels with Cuba, and more generally has spurred a dialogue about future financing, multilateral development support, resolving indebtedness, and commercial opportunity.
By limiting the openings for its own people, the US administration has also, perhaps intentionally, created rapid tourism driven growth in Cuba, built pent-up demand in US corporations, indirectly encouraged corporate lobbying and congressional interest in the
