embargo of describes the island nfl tickets gathers also are assessing potential investments, though they are doing so more cautiously. The most obvious interest comes from the gambling and tourism industries, which have long marveled at the untapped potential of a Cuban coastline, less than 100 miles from the United States, that once was considered the jewel of the Caribbean. During Cuba's tourism heyday in the 1950s under dictator Fulgencio Batista, Havana casinos, such as the Riviera run by mobster Meyer Lansky, rivaled those of Las Vegas. "Cuba's gaming history certainly demonstrates that a casino resort would work there," said Gordon Absher, a spokesman for MGM Mirage, the world's second-largest gambling company "It's a special island. Like many other locations, we would be interested in looking at Cuba if gaming there became a real possibility. "Amid the excitement, however, some Cuba experts are voicing caution. John S. Kavulich, the founder of the U. S. -Cuba Trade and Economic Council, said he gave the following advice to an executive from a multibillion-dollar American corporation: "Do not fuel up your corporate jet Do not reassemble your Cuba team. Do nothing. "The lawyers and consultants that have been trumpeting the illness of Fidel Castro as a business opportunity are usually trying to line their own pockets," added Kavulich, now a senior advisor to the nonprofit group. The Helms-Burton Act, a 1996 law that toughened the U. S. embargo of Cuba, specifically forbids the United States from recognizing any transition government headed by Raul Castro, Fidel's brother, who is now in power in Cuba.

So even if Raul Castro attempted to usher in economic reforms, as some believe he might, American companies could not take advantage. What's more, Cuban exiles who lost everything when Castro seized assets and nationalized the island's industries have filed more than 6,000 claims for compensation with the U. S government. Buccaneers tickets Resolving the thicket of property rights disputes if a new government is established in Cuba is expected to take years bucs tickets . In the meantime, uncertainty over who really owns land in Cuba could have a chilling effect on reinvestment Tampa Bay Buccaneers tickets . Then there is the crumbling state of Cuba's roads, waterworks and telephone networks, which are in even worse shape than those of the former communist states of Eastern Europe . "This is a country where almost nothing has happened for 50 years," said Julio Alvarez, a leading Miami architect bucs football tickets Tampa Bay Buccaneers tickets - buccaneers . His company, Wolfberg Alvarez & Partners, conducted a study of Cuba's electrical grid, which found it prone to blackouts because it was pieced together with incompatible old Soviet and U. S tickets . equipment Tampa Bay Buccaneers tickets - wikipedia . But the biggest challenge to massive outside investment may be working with the more than 11 million residents of Cuba, who will surely want more than a token role in their country's reconstruction. One of the more grandiose proposals for rebuilding Cuba -- a Florida International University master plan funded by Miami developer Sergio Pino -- contemplates moving out all Cubans currently living in Havana while the old town is redeveloped, presumably for the Cubans in Miami. "This is not about money for a lot of people.