Kevin Ellis, of Cayuga Milk Ingredients, and Hamdi Ulukaya, of Chobani, are going with the Democratic governor on a two-day trip . . . .Why is Chobani going? Greek yogurt is expensive. Do they really think that people from Cuba, a country that can barely feed its people, can afford NY yogurt? Or cheese?
Interestingly, also in dairy news today, CNY Central is reporting that the Heluva Good Cheese packaging plant -- a plant that has been open in Sodus since 1925 -- is closing. But . . .
HP Hood says customers will not see a change in the availability in the product. . . .Since the product will still be available, it is going to be packed someplace other than Sodus, NY, but CNY Central fails to report where.
If current market conditions make it difficult to package dairy products in New York, and current market conditions make it difficult to purchase dairy products in Cuba, market conditions suggest that products will be produced in Cuba and sold in New York rather than the other way around. This will allow New York corporations to take advantage of the almost "slave wages" paid to Cuban workers and high prices paid by NYS consumers.
Look who else is lining up at the gate for Havana per the Post Standard:
Others include leaders from JetBlue, MasterCard, the Plattsburgh International Airport, Pfizer, Regeneron, the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and and Infor. State representatives include Empire State Development Corp. CEO Howard Zemsky, SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeff Klein.Travel, technology, developers and politicians.
Now how could New York State possibly benefit from trading with impoverished Cuba?
Looking at the who's who going, it looks like certain elite New Yorkers hope to cash-in developing Cuba's potential as a travel destination and place to manufacture pharmaceuticals -- just like people did years ago with Puerto Rico. At least with Puerto Rico, the money wasn't propping up a dictatorship and in theory is still in our country.
These people are looking out for themselves, not the average New Yorker.
Whether we have Republicans or Democrats in office, we seem to repeat our mistakes: Allowing our corporations to send jobs overseas to places that oppress their people like China, Vietnam, and Venezuela -- allowing those countries to build their economies or militaries on our dime -- while also allowing the corporations to take advantage of our market's prices. And the politicians making this happen get enriched by the corporations.
New York State is practically Cuba already, with a well heeled urban elite running things to their benefit while everyone else become serfs. Trading with Cuba will only seal the deal.
There is a pre-revolucion Cuban export that we all can enjoy. But trade with Cuba now is Babalooooo-ney!
For another take on this story, check out CNYTruth.
1 comment:
The best we can hope for is that the whole delegation gets thrown into one of Castro's prisons never to be heard from again.
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