Apparently, these Summits are a good business in-and-of themselves. Ultimately, their goal is to have Cuban officials seduce the U.S. travel industry with "lucrative" business opportunities, in the hopes that they will ramp up their lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C.
The organizers enthusiastically highlight that, "Cuban participants from previous Summits have included (titles at time of participation)":
Ibrahim Ferradaz, Minister of Tourism
Miguel Figueras, Senior Advisor to Minister of Tourism
Berto Perez, General Director, Havanatur
Antonio Diaz, Vice Director, Havanatur
Pedro Vilches, Chief of Commercial Department, Havanatur
Meise Weis Graibe, President, Habaguanex (Old Havana)
Jesus Calderon, President, ITH (purchases for tourism industry)
Silvio Calves, Ministry of Transportation (cruise ships)
Juan Jose Vega, President, Cubanacan
Maria de la Luz B'Hamel, Ministry of Foreign Trade
Rafael Dausa, Ministry of Foreign Relations (U.S.-Cuba Relations)
Gustavo Machin, Ministry of Foreign Relations
Dagoberto Rodriguez, Chief, Cuban Interests Section, Washington, D.C.
Elvira Castro, Ministry of Foreign Investment
So what do all of these people have in common?
They are all officials of the Castro regime.
But wait, there's more.
Havanatur is part of the Cimex conglomerate, the notorious commercial arm of Cuba's Ministry of the Interior, which runs the country's intelligence apparatus. Meanwhile, Cubanacan is a part of the GAESA conglomerate, the notorious commercial arm of Cuba's military, which is run by Raul Castro's son-in-law, Col. Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Callejas.
Those are Cuba's tourism "entrepreneurs."
And that's what it boils down to -- the Castro regime looking for U.S. private entrepreneurs to provide a financial windfall to its aging regime and ensure that its repressive forces are the ultimate arbiters of Cuba's future.
Who loses in this scenario?
The victims of this repression -- the Cuban people.
