How soon until US, fast-food outlets uglify Cuba's charms? Or even its dumps?
This article presents a basic, voyeuristic depiction of what Cuba looks like from a tourist's distance. Neuman sensationalizes the old American car, a machine that is an everyday reality for the average Cuban, in a condescending way in order to further the notion that Cuba is "stuck in the past." As though life can be measured on a linear time trajectory from traditional to modern. It is true that many Cubans would greatly benefit from economic and material development, but that development does not need to be tied to markers like the Eisenhower administration and "before Kennedy was elected president." Finally, the author gives the impression that he is offering a glimpse into new changes, ones that occurred since Obama's policy move, when really many of these changes have been taking place for years. Neuman should make this more clear. I visited Cuba in 2012 and lived there in 2014 and the observations that Neuman shares are not direct effects of the recent easing of U.S restrictions.
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It might not be popular to say this, but money represents a kind of freedom. While Cubans could buy enough to scrape by on their previously very low salaries, they were nonetheless trapped. Most people in Cuba, then and now, have no prospect of any sort of economic advance that would give them more choice about what to do with their lives.
The inherent promise of successful American capitalism is that you can make enough money to survive AND have something left over for options. The freedom to make choices depends on having enough money to pursue them. The options that follow include things like vacations, distant travel, helping aging relatives, being able to pursue higher education. One very important option is to believe that things will be better, with lessened tensions and fewer worries about paying basic bills.
Somewhere around the lower economic 1/3 of America does not have options. Day by day life is a struggle to pay bills and try for very small advances. In this sense, those who rule American capitalism from the top, the executives, CEOs and big shareholders, are killing the American dream by taking more for themselves and leaving less and less for the people who do the work that supports them. They are destroying their own source of success.
Is the ideal for American capitalists to keep workers in a state of near slavery, chasing their tails round and round? Cuba and the US are contrasting societies, but we seem to be similar in important ways.
Doug Terry
The inherent promise of successful American capitalism is that you can make enough money to survive AND have something left over for options. The freedom to make choices depends on having enough money to pursue them. The options that follow include things like vacations, distant travel, helping aging relatives, being able to pursue higher education. One very important option is to believe that things will be better, with lessened tensions and fewer worries about paying basic bills.
Somewhere around the lower economic 1/3 of America does not have options. Day by day life is a struggle to pay bills and try for very small advances. In this sense, those who rule American capitalism from the top, the executives, CEOs and big shareholders, are killing the American dream by taking more for themselves and leaving less and less for the people who do the work that supports them. They are destroying their own source of success.
Is the ideal for American capitalists to keep workers in a state of near slavery, chasing their tails round and round? Cuba and the US are contrasting societies, but we seem to be similar in important ways.
Doug Terry
2
"I never saw a tow truck."
That's because friends are never too busy to help.
Tow trucks are for tourists.
Once our newish rented Peugeot konked out on the Autopista--"middle of nowhere." My better looking friend flagged a passing car, offered $10 to use a cell phone. Four came out the window. She made one call to our Havana travel agent--Umbrella Travel.com.
The tow truck and new car showed up an hour later. Beat that for customer care. Umbrella has a great website and you can't beat their prices. (I have no interest in this other than gratitude.)
That's because friends are never too busy to help.
Tow trucks are for tourists.
Once our newish rented Peugeot konked out on the Autopista--"middle of nowhere." My better looking friend flagged a passing car, offered $10 to use a cell phone. Four came out the window. She made one call to our Havana travel agent--Umbrella Travel.com.
The tow truck and new car showed up an hour later. Beat that for customer care. Umbrella has a great website and you can't beat their prices. (I have no interest in this other than gratitude.)
1
My first automobile was a 1956 Ford Fairlane, so I can be a bit nostalgic! That said, U.S. collectors would probably pay big bucks for these 1950's cars, even if they required a lot of work to become road-worthy back home. I hope the Cubans don't get scammed out of their antiques.
Let us remember that the aging cars and lack and general lack of modern development is mainly due to American sanctions. The commentary in US media is disgustingly patronizing, as if the Cubans are backward and need to be Americanized. As if the political basis of the Castro regime was the sole cause. Let us also remember that the Cuban infant mortality rates and the education scores surpass those in the United States.
Allowing Cuba to exit from its US-imposed pariah status is a fine thing. Let's not ruin this.
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My travels through Cuba were a bit more audacious. I originally was attracted to Cuba as an artist, I rented a car and w/ my limited Spanish off I went into this unknown world not sure what to expect. I traveled the width and breadth of this island, visited remote villages, stayed in the homes of ordinary Cubans. Some of the food was prepared using pre-Columbian recipes. I found Cuba to be rich in history and culture, venturing past battlefields at a time when Cuba's people wanted independence from Spain and an end to slavery, to more present visual reminders of the Revolution w/ bullet holes riddled in building walls. I stood where Columbus landed and planted a cross, now sitting in a church.
Cuba at one time was a major hub for commerce, the United States was not even born yet. At this time, America was undeveloped and unexplored. Ironically, now America is well developed, and Cuba is the unexplored frontier. In an indirect way, its isolation has given Cuba it's unique culture. Cuba's isolation has created unique microcosms at all levels. Endemic plants and animals are preserved, in a way have been protected. Ending the embargo would improve Cuba economically. Yes, I want the people to have a better life. As I traveled all through this island I fear many things about Cuba could become folkloric. This experience had a profound impact on me that I had to write a book about it. I felt it was important to document what I saw and experienced before Cuba inevitably changes.
Cuba at one time was a major hub for commerce, the United States was not even born yet. At this time, America was undeveloped and unexplored. Ironically, now America is well developed, and Cuba is the unexplored frontier. In an indirect way, its isolation has given Cuba it's unique culture. Cuba's isolation has created unique microcosms at all levels. Endemic plants and animals are preserved, in a way have been protected. Ending the embargo would improve Cuba economically. Yes, I want the people to have a better life. As I traveled all through this island I fear many things about Cuba could become folkloric. This experience had a profound impact on me that I had to write a book about it. I felt it was important to document what I saw and experienced before Cuba inevitably changes.
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Their current way of life sounds better than much of what we have here in the U.S., at least if you long for fewer cell phone calls, and a pace of life which is slow because it can't be any other way. A few of the middle-aged Cubans who live through what is to come in the next 25 years may look back on life as it was in the older, slower Cuba as a halcyon period. Anybody who believes our system of the most aggressive form of capitalism on the planet is the only way to live probably worship the Koch brothers.
I am not saying I don't want Cuba to progress. I am saying that faster, more, and better are not always better. Look where extremely wealthy people like to vacation if you doubt what I am saying. They will choose some thatched hut out on the water in the South Pacific you can only get to by water taxi, and will pay through the nose to get there, too.
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For those who ask – what is US getting out of this? – Please stop expecting something back for everything. Please stop expecting something tangible, something immediate for everything. The pictures reveal a people and culture beautifully preserved in the past. They need to be treated delicately, like a treasure buried in the ocean depths.
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Well said. Who remembers before 1959 not the casinos and the gambling but all that was Cuba and or its people.
It is amazing that there are some who would prefer to see Cubans remain frozen in their abject poverty and oppression rather than see a new McDonalds franchise open in Havana. Do they have any idea how much an average Cuban yearns for change and modernity? Hoping that Cuba doesn't change because it is so picturesque as is, is rather selfish.
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I just got back from Jamaica. Outside of the resorts, things look worse than they do in this report. And Kingston is much more dangerous than any place in Cuba. Other Caribbean nations (e.g., Haiti) are even worse off.
I understand that Cuban people are suffering - and that this is in part due to a repressive regime and a failed communist system. However, many of these other Caribbean nations did not suffer under communism, yet are no better off. Capitalism doesn't magically fix everything - and can make some problems worse (extreme poverty, violence, environmental problems).
I just hope for a transition to capitalism that keeps some of the humanity that inspired these socialist politics initially. Not what happened in Russia.
I understand that Cuban people are suffering - and that this is in part due to a repressive regime and a failed communist system. However, many of these other Caribbean nations did not suffer under communism, yet are no better off. Capitalism doesn't magically fix everything - and can make some problems worse (extreme poverty, violence, environmental problems).
I just hope for a transition to capitalism that keeps some of the humanity that inspired these socialist politics initially. Not what happened in Russia.
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I read this whole article and except for the 'for sale sign' and the fact that the author did not officially have a guide with him along the way (and who really knows about the driver?) this sounds no different from my trip to Cuba in 2003. Even then there were very few billboards and they mostly proclaimed the same sentiments the author detailed.
One should not jump to quick conclusions, based on a political change.
One should not jump to quick conclusions, based on a political change.
Does anyone else find it odd that we criticize Cuba for human rights violations when Guantanamo Bay is open on the island, operated by us?
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So what does the US get out of this exactly?
1
17 hours? Wow. What would 17 hours on I-95 tell you about the hopes and dreams of average Americans?
I doubt it is possible for the main stream media to comment on places like Cuba without unconscious condescension, and hypocritical double standards arising at every fork in the cliche'd road.
I doubt it is possible for the main stream media to comment on places like Cuba without unconscious condescension, and hypocritical double standards arising at every fork in the cliche'd road.
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Laissez-faire is not the favorite song in Havana , but the same applies in D.C. with some Lincoln´s remarks about people and government. I propose a decrease in the attempts of killing some of the Castro brothers in order to put things in the way to peace , love and flowers.
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It will be a long and winding road indeed until "relations" between the U.S. and Cuba are "normalized". I believe in the good hearts and good intentions of people everywhere, but first they must prove that.
Many Americans lost property that they owned in Cuba when Castro took all of the cards in 1959. My parents were among those who lost property, and very beautiful property at that. It has been a quest of mine for some time now to get it back. Cuba's economy is less than roboust - but - I hope that our State Department opens up some kind of dialogue and avenue that will bring the confiscated properties of Americans back to their legal and rightful owners.
Many Americans lost property that they owned in Cuba when Castro took all of the cards in 1959. My parents were among those who lost property, and very beautiful property at that. It has been a quest of mine for some time now to get it back. Cuba's economy is less than roboust - but - I hope that our State Department opens up some kind of dialogue and avenue that will bring the confiscated properties of Americans back to their legal and rightful owners.
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"Poor Cuba, so far away from God, so close to the United States." Whether or not Porfirio Diaz originally said it about Mexico, it certainly applies now.
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Let's step back a bit and look at the big picture: Are we saying, or accepting, that a boycott/embargo by only one country - the US - is so devastating as to ruin a nation? Is our embargo that powerful? What about the rest of the industrialized world? Has, for example, western Europe been embargoing Cuba? Or could the real problem that has held the country back be more traceable to its leadership and its subscription to a flawed economic or governmental doctrine.
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The McCarren (?) Warren Act. Which dictates that any foreign business that does business with Cuba ail be banned from doing any business in the USA.
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Canadian banks pulled out--or else lose the ability to do business in the freedom loving USA. Probably others too.
But it's not just imports; exports to the USA were prohibited too.
It would be a great place to develop California-like agriculture. Take some of the stress off their water supply.
But it's not just imports; exports to the USA were prohibited too.
It would be a great place to develop California-like agriculture. Take some of the stress off their water supply.
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Let's look at a more accurate picture: No, Western European countries have not embargoed Cuba but the U.S. has and is severely punishing foreign companies under the Helms/Burton act that do business with Cuba.
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This is not a "tired" country, it is a ruined country. Or, it might be tired, but is tired of the inept, anti-human leadership of the Communist party and of the Castro regime. The time for change is NOW.
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I have a series of films made in Cuba in the 1990's that more aptly describe Cuba than this article. One is the famous one....Fresas y Chocolate...another 'Guantanamera", and "Miel para Oshun" and others. I particularly liked "Great Day in Havana". From the article it sounds like not so much has change. They are visually interesting films and give you a picture of life there....
1
Thank you for a great article. Having a few Cuban friends has given me some insight in to their travails, and those travails can be as different from one person to the next. When we generalize, we make a great error, for nothing in life is one way, except a street, perhaps. In this instance, though, we see a new beginnings and hopefully it will take hold for the betterment of all. The USA is no longer a real model of anything, capitalism or democracy, even. It has become a place stranger than old Cuba with all its cartoon like cars. If I was the Cubans, I would brace myself, and defend against a locust of investor,s who want to rip off the country. Go slow. Repair the people first with sound endeavors. In the USA, they are always clamoring for freedom and rights, and in the process it has turned itself from a civilization in to a jungle. Please, don't do that.
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I had to look up the lovely word "jonquil", so I was surprised to see written, "small vent windows" about the, well, "small vent windows" in that gorgeous old Ford. Those "small vent windows" are the greatly missed "wind wings" of yore. I greatly miss wind wings every time I get in my 1991 Toyota pickup, as I do their sweet, poetic name, which has disappeared from our lives.
Thank you for this piece. I hope to visit Cuba some day. (I would love to do a bicycle tour there.) I hope too that the people of Cuba will soon benefit from this change in our relations.
Lastly, who does not yearn somewhere deep inside for a world not overrun by automobiles? It may sound silly, but riding a horse to town sometimes sounds like a beautiful thing to me. Gotta say too though, riding across Cuba in a '55 Ford Fairlane sounds like a pretty good adventure!
Thank you for this piece. I hope to visit Cuba some day. (I would love to do a bicycle tour there.) I hope too that the people of Cuba will soon benefit from this change in our relations.
Lastly, who does not yearn somewhere deep inside for a world not overrun by automobiles? It may sound silly, but riding a horse to town sometimes sounds like a beautiful thing to me. Gotta say too though, riding across Cuba in a '55 Ford Fairlane sounds like a pretty good adventure!
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God forbid Cuba falls for our commodified brand of consumer capitalism with KFC's. Micky-D's, Arby's and every other opportunistic chain of GMO'd food-like substances on every street corner. If you can't travel there yet but want an unvarnished version of Cuba and how they have managed to survive despite decades of embargo-driven austerity, check out Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations' visit to the island. It's an eye-opener to say the least - and, more importantly, makes you want to give the US State Department the big finger and travel there by way of some other country to which we ARE permitted to travel.
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One would hope that the author of such an article be a traveler who speaks spanish. Any guesses on this author?
Beautiful island, wonderful swimming, free rent, food subsidized, free health care, free education all the way thru college. No cardboard cities along the railroad tracks (see Mexico), no drug lords, no killer gangs... For a formerly poor people who suffered under Bastista and US colonial like dominance, this is great progress.
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And I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I can sell you... Cheap!
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Correction: paladares vhave been operating in Cuba since the 1990's and were consistently the best dining when I visited in 2002.
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With an infrastucture like this, where is that frequently tauted wonderful medical system? A nonexistent old wive's tale I expect.
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Quite a few of the doctors and nurses have been farmed out to Venezuela in return for oil, to Brazil in return for food, and to other countries in return for one commodity or another, or to "show solidarity".
As another commenter mentioned, it's very much a bring-your-own-medications sort of system. What it does deliver is decent quality basic care to everyone. As North Americans, it isn't anything we'd put up with for a moment.
As another commenter mentioned, it's very much a bring-your-own-medications sort of system. What it does deliver is decent quality basic care to everyone. As North Americans, it isn't anything we'd put up with for a moment.
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Don't they send medical personnel all over the hemisphere?
I would like to see a comparision of Cuba with other countries of Central America. Not that I have any agenda but I just would like to know how different are living standards in e.g. Honduras, Guatemala from Cuba. We are paying about $20-30 per month per child in these countries to an organization which claims to provide all the needs to the child for this money (food, health care, education, ...).
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I would also love to see a compare and contrast of Cuba and other small countries in Central America. I had the luxury of traveling to Cuba in the summer of 2002 on a people to people exchange program and one thing that noticed was how safe Havana felt even in the late hours of night. Even though I travel to Mexico often as I live in a Texas border town, I would not dare travel to a Central American country due to the violence present, yet greatly ignored in the American media. Honduras' Tegucigalpa , which like Havana has a population of about 1 million, is a place I personally would not ever consider visiting due to its high crime rate comparable to war-torn countries in Africa. Cuba at least is a safe place for tourists but Cubans do live in deplorable conditions.
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How about the almost universal literacy, & superb, free medical care? Did the author ever stop to appreciate a country with no advertisements blaring, no corporate data mining, etc? I was in Cuba in 2001, and saw only one revolutionary billboard -- it was in a cane field, 4 hours from Havana, and said (in Spanish) "Art is a weapon of the revolution." Everything the author says in this article is no doubt true, and people are clearly suffering from shortages and lack of income. And yes, there are human rights abuses. But why not, before the Capitalist feeding frenzy begins tryng to turn Cuba into just another Caribbean resort island, appreciate some of what this island has to teach us, by its having stayed outside our homogenizing, consumer-based culture with its ever widening gap between rich and poor, that the author seems to imply is the paradigm from which to judge everything he sees. I doubt there's any more poverty there than in parts of our own country, urban and rural.
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If liberty means nothing to you, then why do you live here. So no liberty, shortages, lack on income. Sounds like a people's paradise.
2
Is this article to make us feel good about Cuba? To have romantic thoughts about the countryside and the people? Or is this another of the building articles to come out of the NYTimes at the desire of Obama so that when we give them billions a year we feel good. Even though none of those American tax dollars will ever be seen by the common man. What a bunch of nonsense.
Those that lost their property and belongings years ago deserve to have their possessions returned. And those American citizens that pay taxes deserve to have their taxes spent on US needs, not placed in the pocket of a corrupt regime. Although, recent WW history tells me it will go to the latter, with no accountability required.
Those that lost their property and belongings years ago deserve to have their possessions returned. And those American citizens that pay taxes deserve to have their taxes spent on US needs, not placed in the pocket of a corrupt regime. Although, recent WW history tells me it will go to the latter, with no accountability required.
2
When you talk about the problems in Cuba, remember that they have suffered an economic strangle-hold from the of U.S. (one of the largest consumer economies in the world) and most of our trading partners. That was our plan, wasn't it: to cause their failure through economic isolation? So, does the writer really see the old cars as "a quaint symbol of revolutionary Cuba?" I see them as a symbol of suffering caused by our policy of economic isolation. The photos are quite extraordinary!
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One country does not make for economic isolation. Cuba's problem are due to Communism. It is a failed system that has caused millions upon millions of deaths. It is a failed system that has pauperized those living under it. Blame it in us though. Everybody else does.
3
All this talk about evil communism, evil Castros ruining Cuba! Let us not forget history: Cuba was not pristine before the Castros. The U.S. helped install the dictator Batista before the Castros. U.S. corporations such as United Fruit Co. exploited Cuban land and citizens. The U.S. wealthy made prostitution and corruption rampant. Cuba and its people have always been beautiful and the only change is that instead of the U.S. taking advantage of them, now it is the Castros. Are we ugly Americans any better than they?
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The Cuba represented in the article is one Cuba, however there is a burgeoning economy starting. The vintage cars now make up less than 40 % of the cars on the road in Havana and Veradero, the rest are European and Asian and increasingly Chinese. The American embargo no longer serves a purpose as it just means that new investment comes from China rather than the US. As a Canadian i have visited Cuba a number of times for resort style vacations. It is clean, friendly and beautiful. Politics still unduly colours American perceptions of Cuba. Neither party is as good as it claims or as vile as the other claims. Its time for a change, hopefully the US can be a positive part of the change.
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Exactly. The first surprise upon landing in Havana and riding into the city in a Chinese-made van was that the majority of cars WERE modern, although not American. The 1950s American cars exist, and many function as taxis for tourists, which is one reason why everyone notices them, but they are not the majority of cars by any means.
Yes, Cuba is neither as bad as the Miami Cubans and their right-wing allies claim nor as good as starry-eyed Marxists claim.
Yes, Cuba is neither as bad as the Miami Cubans and their right-wing allies claim nor as good as starry-eyed Marxists claim.
I was in Cuba for most of October. I spent much of the time in Sancti Spiritus. Too bad the author avoided old Ladas. I rented one on the gray market and it took me faithfully around the island. Unlike the author, I saw many trucks on the roads. Because of personal contacts I ate in people's homes, went to clubs and restaurants with friends of friends, and generally had access to places and things that tourists do not. Yes, the homes seem like hovels to Americans. I ate with a professor and his wife who live in an apartment most of us would have avoided in our own undergraduate student ghetto days. But there is resilience in Cuba. Of necessity people have learned how to fashion meaningful lives out of meager material resources. We in America seem to specialize in avoiding the mention of "meaning" in the midst of our abundant material resources. Cubans have indeed paid a price under communism. But let's not forget they paid a price under Batista et al. too. We have much to learn from them.
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Scanning certain comments here, it's clear some have not learned from Vietnam? Why, like Cuba, could we not defeat them either? Revolutions in both countries were about self determination, about the rejection of servile colonization, about human dignity before they were about anything else. When one understands this, or perhaps if, if one hasn't by now, one will grasp how and why these repressive one party states came into being. The embargo was seen as more bullying by the colonial overlords, it made Castro's job so much easier. Castro is as much our creation as Cuba's.
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We failed to win in Vietnam due to a lack of political will. No one explained this as well as did Võ Nguyên Giáp, architect of the wins against both the French and the United States. He summed up our military problem as an unwillingness to close down the Ho Chi Minh trail, something easily within our military capabilities.
I would argue that Cuba was defeated, if you wish to couch our differences in military terms. Until they recently gained meaningful control over Venezuela, they've been pretty tightly locked up in Castro's island-wide jail.
It's an old thing to hear the suggestion that we had any meaningful input into what Fidel Castro turned out to be. In 1965, I had a high school history teacher claiming that, and the problem with those claims then and now is that totalitarians are generally immune to the polite input offered by regimes like our own. Daniel Ortega was the exception demonstrating the rule.
I would argue that Cuba was defeated, if you wish to couch our differences in military terms. Until they recently gained meaningful control over Venezuela, they've been pretty tightly locked up in Castro's island-wide jail.
It's an old thing to hear the suggestion that we had any meaningful input into what Fidel Castro turned out to be. In 1965, I had a high school history teacher claiming that, and the problem with those claims then and now is that totalitarians are generally immune to the polite input offered by regimes like our own. Daniel Ortega was the exception demonstrating the rule.
I took a trip like this across the island with a number of other musicians about 14 years ago. I think our driver got us to Camaguey and back to Havana. We had quite an experience of "highs and lows" and it sounds like much has not changed in practical daily life. But it also seems that the amazing Cuban people continue to "find a way." So many mixed emotions arise in a discussion of Cuba. Whatever the political outcome, we must wish for the best outcome for these people who have struggled so much.
11
Gee Cuba is a poor country run in a poor way. Why would you expect cell service, lots of traffic, or other aspects of an industrialized country which it is not. It is an agriculture based economy and if they can feed themselves and have housing that is sufficient. Somehow we think everyone should live as we do with cars, trucks, stuff, etc. Generally they can't and we should not expect others to live like we do here.
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I have been to many Caribbean islands and most look just as impoverished as Cuba. I think that for 80% of the population in these islands economic conditions are not going to improve with Capitalism or Socialism. In Cuba they appear to have an edge on education and health care.
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Aside from Haiti (which is another story), name one other island where people still ride around in horse carts? Cuba was the wealthiest country in the Caribbean (where did all those 1950's cars come from?) and Socialism has reduced them to bitter poverty. If Castro hadn't destroyed it, Havana would look just like Miami today.
I would love to see Cuba develop a unique system, combining elements of socialism and free enterprise in an innovative manner. This might be done via an innovative democratically directed economy. The resources of the system would be directed through a rational and organized process that would amount to a form of expanded Participatory Democracy. If PD is not a familiar concept I recommend an online search. The idea would be to expand the PD concept to include both political and economic decision-making.
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The Yugoslav tried it, as did the Swedes, in another way, if you take democracy seriously. It never worked. The only solution that would come close to your dream of preserving some sham of socialism, is the Chinese one, which is neither participatory, nor democratic. However, the Cubans are less materialistic and more free spirited than the average Chinese... They will shake this shameful socialist parody and will take their place among the people of the world free to live a human life.
1
Sorry, there is no Third Way. That's a pipe dream. Complete socialism is a complete failure and partial socialism will be a partial failure in proportion to how close it is to complete socialism.
This is all good. But is anyone surprised by any of it? Isn't it exactly as you imagined?
More importantly, what is happening with the 52 or so political prisoners?
Who are they? How can we ensure they are not just thugs?
More importantly, what is happening with the 52 or so political prisoners?
Who are they? How can we ensure they are not just thugs?
2
The photos are exquisite...the best part, really...no comment on the article...it is likely what it was meant to be...a glimpse...probably not the reporter's fault...I look forward to some real reporting...be sure to look at the photos!!
1
the communist hunters may well be advised that Cuba's "communist" society will die along with the Castro brothers. Don't hold your breath but don't bet on the next generation to follow the narrow path - think China, Russia and Vietnam and you are more likely to get a better picture of the situation. The icing on the cake is that American capitalism and forces are extremely close to the new emerging Cuba - grass-roots entrepreneurs and physically short distance from American VC and other investment - don't let the global revolution fool you. Venture capitalists prefer to be close to their investments - that is partly what made Silicon Valley a booming nation within a nation. This talk about Communism boogeyman is so 1950-60-ish that it has become a counter-productive punch to sustainable well-being and peace in our hemisphere.
1
So people are trying to sell real estate? What happens when the owners return from Miami?
3
The picture of Cuba is the story of many of the countries that were held captive by Communism -- example: Albania where even in the 1990's the ox cart was the major means of transportation. We notice Cuba more because it's on our "doorstep" and because prior to the takeover by Castro, Americans traveled and did business there. Batista was brutal and his brand of brutality was replaced by Castro's brand of suppression. The Cuban people have never been truly "free" particularly the average worker who was tied to the soil working in the cane or tobacco industries. It will take time to bring the country into the realm of the other Caribbean nations but it will happen and in the process the Cubans need not lose what is beautiful about their nation -- their art, music, the natural beauty of the island etc. However it will take men of vision and courage to do the "right" things for their country and not just the things that are beneficial to them. What Cuba needs most is a strong home grown leader who will throw off the vestiges of the Castro regime and then move the nation into the economic mainstream.
24
A wonderful article. I was in Cuba just 3 years ago and would love to go back. While I agree with many of the comments that Cuba and its people have been repressed under Castro and communism, change is needed and, I'm afraid that change is coming. I hope the wonderful spirit of the Cubans that I met will be preserved and the island will not be over-commercialized.
2
Cuba is a totalitarian dictatorship where freedoms that we take for granted are non-existent. The people's quality of life is dependent upon ... what? A silly vision of communism? The situation for Cubans has zero to do with the US and everything to do with the Castro Brothers and their odd take on what the benefits of their political system are.
8
Hopefully this will be also the end of the US Gulag there and a better Cuba. But the author is mistake in their judgment. I echo Norman Pollock but not his pessiman.
1
We visited Cuba a few years ago. It was a tour and contact with the Cuban public was limited. Reading this article makes me think that what we saw was more representative than I had believed.
There were For Sale signs in Havana even then. We ate at some nice private restaurants, not on the tour itinerary. Two nights were spent at an all-inclusive resort where most of the other guests were from the UK, hardly shappy.
The dual currency is not mentioned here. People are paid in pesos, but there is a parallel economy in CUCs. Artists in the touristy areas sold their work and people involved with tourism did well. We visited a store that sold goods in CUC and it was well-stocked.
I think people in the US fail to recognize the romance of the Revolution with its themes of equality. Decrying communism as evil ignores the evils that preceded it. There were reasons for the revolution and popular support for it.
I recognized the problems with agriculture mentioned here. The equipment we saw was antique. I've read that it's hard to get produce to market.
I've been to other places in the Caribbean and the pockets of poverty outside the tourist hotels are even more dramatic than what I saw in Cuba. After visiting a national park in the Dominican Republic, our bus drove through miles of total darkness although we had seen settlements during the day. There are pockets of poverty in Puerto Rico. Let's try to view Cuba in context. without the distraction of ideology.
There were For Sale signs in Havana even then. We ate at some nice private restaurants, not on the tour itinerary. Two nights were spent at an all-inclusive resort where most of the other guests were from the UK, hardly shappy.
The dual currency is not mentioned here. People are paid in pesos, but there is a parallel economy in CUCs. Artists in the touristy areas sold their work and people involved with tourism did well. We visited a store that sold goods in CUC and it was well-stocked.
I think people in the US fail to recognize the romance of the Revolution with its themes of equality. Decrying communism as evil ignores the evils that preceded it. There were reasons for the revolution and popular support for it.
I recognized the problems with agriculture mentioned here. The equipment we saw was antique. I've read that it's hard to get produce to market.
I've been to other places in the Caribbean and the pockets of poverty outside the tourist hotels are even more dramatic than what I saw in Cuba. After visiting a national park in the Dominican Republic, our bus drove through miles of total darkness although we had seen settlements during the day. There are pockets of poverty in Puerto Rico. Let's try to view Cuba in context. without the distraction of ideology.
20
Yes in general income redistribution means that almost everyone is poor (except for the leaders), and of course it only works where there is a dictator or a homogeneous culture that supports it. We have neither and should be thankful that we don't have a dictator and understand our massive variation in culture compared to any other country, or even region of the world.
5
I'm amazed by the comments. The article is a commentary of an open road trip from a photographer who is a poet of the picture frame. Why are you confusing this with political commentary.
5
Because I'm not sure that politics doesn't seep into every aspect of Cuba life. Isn't that what revolutionary communism is based on: The Revolution Above All ?
3
The article is written by the NYT reporter based in Venezuela, so he has a basis for comparing Cuba with another Latin American country that has attempted social change, though he does not give the impression of being familiar with Cuba's history. As a road trip it is as glancing a glimpse as any outside viewer could provide. It also rests on the tired image of Cuba being frozen in time, even compared to a worn out car. Having been to Cuba many times, I've seen the uneven ways that great creativity and innovation has occurred within Cuba, not measurable by the models of the cars on the streets, and have seen as well the mounting frustration and melancholy of many people once dedicated to a project that has stifled possibilities and maintained them with little control over their lives or their country.
8
Aside from the obvious beauty of the land and its people, what struck me was the total absence of litter or trash along any of the highways and bi-ways pictured. Partly due to the almost total lack of consumerism, I'm sure, but all those horses and pigs?
32
No, there is no trash because there is no paper. The "worker" hotel was broken down because average workers never see the inside of them.
You have no idea what it is like to live in a really poor place. Not a place like an American slum, which is rich by world standards, but a really poor place like rural Cuba where people have nothing to spare. Even animal waste is too valuable (as fertilizer) to be left lying in the street.
Just think about what market access for Advance Auto, AutoZone, or Oreilly Auto Parts could mean to the Cuban people - not to mention those American corporations' shareholders.
Assuming of course, that we grant them a bit of our so-called "foreign aid". But alas the island remains just another doomed society when good ole American diplomacy knocks at their door.
Assuming of course, that we grant them a bit of our so-called "foreign aid". But alas the island remains just another doomed society when good ole American diplomacy knocks at their door.
2
Well they are poor so they don't have money for such, unless we somehow supply them some. If we have travel there some other place will have reduced travel. Help our friends or our opponents? You choose.
1
"I asked him what the car symbolized for him. “Money,” he said." To think that this is the end result of 57 years of repression and deprivation from imposed socialist central planning in the quest of a New Man!
Suggestion: To witness gut-wretching misery, the author should pop in and visit some of the hospitals and clinics for real people around the country (not the showcase facilities for the ruling elite and dollar paying health tourists). I dare the NYT to post the photos.
Suggestion: To witness gut-wretching misery, the author should pop in and visit some of the hospitals and clinics for real people around the country (not the showcase facilities for the ruling elite and dollar paying health tourists). I dare the NYT to post the photos.
8
On November 8, I returned from an educational tour of Cuba with Johns Hopkins University. We spent much of our time meeting professors from the University of Havana and ordinary people and traveled from Havana to Cienfuegos to Trinidad de Cuba, meeting local citizens as well as officials. The Cuban people are wonderful but the government is Stalinist. We saw the incredible mansions where the elite live and saw that Havana is crumbling. A leading local architect told us that each and every day, 1.7 building in Havana suffer a structural failure. Food and medical care are rationed and restricted. Your ration card is only good for your local market which has little or nothing on the shelves. Healthcare is free but not what you consider acceptable. The Cubans look forward to the "dual biological event," meaning the death of the Castro brothers. Even in the Jose Martin airport in Havana, there are no toilet seats and you bring your own toilet paper. Cuba is not working because of the government, not US policy. Most Cubans we met hoped that the US would not ease restrictions until Cuba agreed to liberalize its government. Repression will remain the rule until the government changes.
2
Despite all the talk about poverty, the people appear well fed and the streets are quite clean.
5
And if they have trains I bet they run on time.
Being a Canadian and having visited Varadero Cuba a number of times, I have this to say. The numerous hotels along the beautiful beach in this resort town are good to excellent and the food offered is about the same. I go there because it's a cheap holiday, the weather is great and it's safe. In the resorts, the countryside or Havana, you feel safe. Outside the resorts things take a drastic turn for the worst. The resilient people own very little, free health care, bring your own medicine, blanket and pillow. Transportation, rundown buses , housing, Americans would call them shanties. Havana is crumbling and in need of a drastic overhaul. The American embargo is part of the reason but more likely, mismanagement by the communist regime. The Castros are the winner in this recent development with Obama. Cuba has everything to gain, USA, not much. Cuba is not close to ready for the mass of curious American tourist, this will have to be a gradual process. The Cuban people can't wait.
34
You are taking the short term view. Do you remember when Gorbachev opened the Berlin Wall "a little bit"? After a few days, a tsunamai of change occurred, the Wall fell and the rest is history.
Yes I do. Cuba is busting at the seams with Europeans and Canadian tourist. Even though you would be welcome, they do not have the means to handle the numbers from the US. On a selfish note, goodbye cheap holidays.
1
Being of Canadian heritage, I often follow CanuckComments on many things. It's really unfortunate Cubans had to go through all this. Not just old cars- but lots of things have changed in these past unconnected years. JG-
Surely, far more was seen than was written here!
The report on the cross-Cuba trek ended suddenly with the driver's wish for a modern car.
Hope there can be some follow-ups; some profiles of individuals; descriptions of the eateries and the food; contrasts between Havana, the countryside, and Guantanamo.
(How would we feel if Russia had a military outpost at the end of Long Island? Where it held purported anti-communist terrorists without charges?)
How do the people feel about the transition; about the thaw?
The report on the cross-Cuba trek ended suddenly with the driver's wish for a modern car.
Hope there can be some follow-ups; some profiles of individuals; descriptions of the eateries and the food; contrasts between Havana, the countryside, and Guantanamo.
(How would we feel if Russia had a military outpost at the end of Long Island? Where it held purported anti-communist terrorists without charges?)
How do the people feel about the transition; about the thaw?
3
I'm amazed by the comments. The article is a commentary of an open road trip from a photographer who is a poet of the picture frame. Why are you confusing this with political commentary.
4
Let's just hope Cuba doesn't rush too fast to replace "godless Communism" with "soulless Capitalism."
It would be such a shame of this island of such unspoiled beauty and rich culture turned into Florida South.
It would be such a shame of this island of such unspoiled beauty and rich culture turned into Florida South.
27
US foreign policy will not be satisfied until the Cuban revolution is defeated and Cuba is once again a US client state.
5
Writer did not mention that many economic reforms by Raul have been canceled. Unfortunately this writer did not provide a complete view. But what does one expect from the NYT, an ally of Obama?
6
Neuman's article reeks of condescension. Older Times readers will recall Ruby Phillips sitting in her Nacional hotel room 1959-60 spewing propaganda. Why this hostility, demonization (Fidel), denunciation (socialism), while discounting a half-century of USG embargo, blockade, CIA paramilitary operations, international financial squeeze? Cuba's capitalist signs might well have organically developed--yet NGOs interference, constant pressures, make this distorted, contrived, imposed from without. Is capitalism that shaky that it requires assistance to be acceptable?
Yes, I've been to Cuba (2002) and Cubans indeed lived close, but they had DIGNITY, befitting a beautiful people and land, art and music in the air, a vibrant education system, medical care, medical research. Your contempt reveals the shallowness of corporatism-militarism defining US society and political culture. I visited a synagogue--the shamas saying, no discrimination; a oneroom schoolhouse in the Mountains, students in blue-and-white eagerly responding, a curtain behind, one-on-one instruction in computers.
Obamian rapprochement is intended as a kiss of death. It will not work. Nor will simultaneous upgrading of sanctions on Venezuela, part of the same policy. If Cuba grows more capitalistic, while NOT sacrificing its achievements in health and education, its spirit of caring for one another, that must be their decision. Ridicule, further subversion, turning loose Miami-Cuban hatemongers won't work.
Yes, I've been to Cuba (2002) and Cubans indeed lived close, but they had DIGNITY, befitting a beautiful people and land, art and music in the air, a vibrant education system, medical care, medical research. Your contempt reveals the shallowness of corporatism-militarism defining US society and political culture. I visited a synagogue--the shamas saying, no discrimination; a oneroom schoolhouse in the Mountains, students in blue-and-white eagerly responding, a curtain behind, one-on-one instruction in computers.
Obamian rapprochement is intended as a kiss of death. It will not work. Nor will simultaneous upgrading of sanctions on Venezuela, part of the same policy. If Cuba grows more capitalistic, while NOT sacrificing its achievements in health and education, its spirit of caring for one another, that must be their decision. Ridicule, further subversion, turning loose Miami-Cuban hatemongers won't work.
42
I think the respondent is way off track. I had traveled to Cuba on vacation for several yers since the mid-1990s and find the article had done justice to the country and its people. I didn't read any condescension in the piece. It is what it is and the writer fairly presented the positive vibes and the 'need improvement' of present-day Cuba. One thin that Cuba has in in its favor is a disproportionately young population with sufficient cynicism of the older revolutionary dogma; and it has loads of sunshine just waiting for solar renewable energy investment that can generate power fr the coastal tourist resort industries and also neighboring Islands like Haiti, DR and south Florida - which lies 90 miles due north from the edge of Varadero.
Obama did well by reaching out to Cubans. Time will tell how the new era works out for American-Cuban relations. I am optimistic that Pax Americana will work out very well for the Americas and by sticking closer to home and providing relief to those in central and south America as needed, we will leave behind the legacy of "Muddle East" backwardness and anti-Infidel hard-liners who do not think twice about murdering western aide workers and journalists with one hand and hold out their collective hands to steal from (mainly) American taxpayers with the other. Better a communist that an IS zealot. Better stick closer to home than venturing into unknowable unknowns that kept Rummy and the Bush wrecking crew sleepless in DC.
Obama did well by reaching out to Cubans. Time will tell how the new era works out for American-Cuban relations. I am optimistic that Pax Americana will work out very well for the Americas and by sticking closer to home and providing relief to those in central and south America as needed, we will leave behind the legacy of "Muddle East" backwardness and anti-Infidel hard-liners who do not think twice about murdering western aide workers and journalists with one hand and hold out their collective hands to steal from (mainly) American taxpayers with the other. Better a communist that an IS zealot. Better stick closer to home than venturing into unknowable unknowns that kept Rummy and the Bush wrecking crew sleepless in DC.
"...turning loose Miami-Cuban hatemongers..."
Yeah, like the ones sending over two billion dollars in remittances every year to their hated relatives. Your post is full of the same derision and distortion you accuse the author of.
Yeah, like the ones sending over two billion dollars in remittances every year to their hated relatives. Your post is full of the same derision and distortion you accuse the author of.
7
Interesting that someone that visited Cuba (once) but never LIVED under Castro's regime is so opt to speak of the DIGNITY of the Cuban people. My grandfather had his DIGNITY taken away from him the day Castro's henchmen arrived at his doorstep to confiscate his thriving business, a local general store. He was led away, in front of his family, including my mother, to a concentration camp with to work in the sugar fields. The atrocities of the Castro regime are too numerous to mention here but you should look them up my friend or simply move to Cuba and try opening your mouth with this uninformed talk of Castro's achievements.
Cuba today has been reduced to a barter system and the people are starving (I still have family there). Cuba alone, with its vast resources and farmable land should be able to sustain itself were it not for the incompetence of the Cuban government and inability to change its ways.
And as for the hate-mongers in Miami. Have a bit of sympathy and recognize the struggles of coming to a new country not because you wanted to but because you were run out or unwilling to live under a ideology that supported the torte of political prisoners, subverted free speech and turned countrymen against countrymen.
Cuba today has been reduced to a barter system and the people are starving (I still have family there). Cuba alone, with its vast resources and farmable land should be able to sustain itself were it not for the incompetence of the Cuban government and inability to change its ways.
And as for the hate-mongers in Miami. Have a bit of sympathy and recognize the struggles of coming to a new country not because you wanted to but because you were run out or unwilling to live under a ideology that supported the torte of political prisoners, subverted free speech and turned countrymen against countrymen.
7
A nice follow up article would be on the sex tourism business from Europe. A major source of foreign currency for a segment of the population. Another could focus on the oppression of the average citizen. To get a better view of life in Cuba, please move your offices there. You'll get a better idea of life in paradise. I've been there and it is no enchanted revolutionary wonderland.
27
Then we should immediately send in our Secret Service as an instant economic stimulus?
2
Since the car is such a central part of the story, it should be noted that it is a 1955 Ford.
20
Maybe it had a '56 motor?
Cuba is a place where a woman with an anxious face surrounded by children presents a symbol of human aspirations gone wrong for many decades. What hope do these children have of a productive life in which basic necessities are affordable? Through this photographer's alert and sensitive eye, we confirm a reality that reflects a revolutionary ideal without productive social outcomes. Cuba has been a place where people's quality of life runs a distant second to the state's failed socialistic aspirations. Yet doesn't this also symbolize some of Cuba's history as a former slave colony important for rum production? There can be no viable economic improvement for Cuba without considering the moral and ethical climate of allowing people to share in the productive output of their efforts.
15
Don't trade the evils of one economic / political doctrine for another. Over time, if not watched, private institutions (franchise restaurants, food production behemoths, huge discount stores) will reduce the country to a ruin.
124
Thank you for your comment. I will be traveling to Cuba soon and fortuitously made these arrangements months ago. I am grateful that I will have opportunity to visit this amazingly beautiful island before McDs and Burger, along with others, Americanize and destroy the beauty of Cuba. And then we will see one of the healthiest populations become unhealthy following in out foot steps.
I hope I am wrong.....but doubtful.
I hope I am wrong.....but doubtful.
4
These economic forces may not fit with your aesthetic - and I too would say that unchecked development with franchised restaurants and big box retail is unattractive - but that blight doesn't mean economic ruin. Large private sector firms take advantage of scale effects to deliver goods that consumers want where and when they want them at advantageous prices. For example, well designed and valid studies have shown that WalMart saves the average shopper thousands of dollars compared with shopping elsewhere (one study in 2007 pegged that figure at >$2,500 per year) - no state-controlled system ever achieved that sort of contribution to the welfare of its people. With Walmart now a reality in so many American markets it would be harder to parse out the impact on the family shopping cart today but we can be safe in assuming that all prices in any market where WalMart exists are lower than they would have been without WalMart and that the impact on families and their food and clothing budgets is dramatic. All of these entities also create jobs. I know that "jobs creation" has become the mantra for people who are much more concerned about wealth creation for the few, but jobs do matter and even if we would not choose to see a strip of road dominated by fast food and big box retail, all those brightly lit signs do bring jobs. So we should not be too cavalier about criticizing large-scale operators or their impact on an economy or on the welfare of the people.
5
"will reduce the country to a ruin."?
What do you call its present condition?
What do you call its present condition?
6
Interesting! I couldn't help noticing how clean everything is. interior scenes of people's homes, exterior shots, everything worn down and shabby -- but spotlessly tidy and clean, shiny floors, sidewalks swept... Compares well with any random littered landscape in this country.
67
It could be a cultural feature. In Cuba BC, before Castro, it was typical for residents even of rural "bohios" with dirt floors, to maintain immaculate surroundings and personal cleanliness. Separately, general austerity means nobody can afford to throw things away.
Articles like this one look at Cuba through rose-colored glasses, presenting a touchy-feely view of Cuba, now that the President has announced the US will restore diplomatic relations with the Communist island nation. Human rights are ignored in Cuba, especially for those who don't tow the Communist line. That however is unimportant to the Liberal, whose political leaning brush up to Communism. As far as I am concerned Communism and Liberalism are one in the same. Long time Cuban expatriates know that too. They came to America for freedom, now they have been betrayed by Liberalism. When will it end?
10
Capitalism is a beautiful thing. Socialism and communism are doomed for failure. Why do we need to keep doing this experiment over and over again?
Only through captitalism can true freedom be had. Now, Castro, about those free elections you promised over 50 years ago....
Only through captitalism can true freedom be had. Now, Castro, about those free elections you promised over 50 years ago....
22
Really....what is capitalism doing for you right now, where the one percent own it all?
6
Capitalism is a beautiful thing - in theory. Practiced the way the Americans of today practice it, capitalism is a train wreck. How's life at the top treatin' you, Jerry? Down here in the capitalistic netherlands things aren't so great for a large percentage of us these days. Maybe if our capitalists were to decide to follow the rules ... nah; that's asking too much of today's Americans, isn't it?
4
Say what? Are you talking about Chinese communism, Vietnam communism or Russian communism? Cuban communism produced a highly literate population that has free education and medical care. It's workers with connections get to make cash tips at the best resort hotels in the Americas - and when food imports from American framers are opened-up the food will exceed harmonize with Amercan tastes - i.e.) McDonalds, Wendy, Burger King, etc...
"So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late"
All Along the Watchtower, Bob Dylan.
"So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late"
All Along the Watchtower, Bob Dylan.
1
$20 a month means no extras, most likely going without quite a few necessities. But the exquisite photograph of the father on horseback with his little beauties can make you weep. But that's my American romanticism. I'd bet he would love to have a new SUV instead of a horse.
Or would he?
Or would he?
11
I bet he would not and neither would I under the circumstances. The horse eats things that grow well in Cuba, the SUV needs fuel and good roads to be effective and of course is not that valuable even here.
It was disappointing that the author quoted only two people from a drive across almost the entire country of Cuba. One was his driver. The description of the country was well written but it would have been nice to hear from some of the Cubans he encountered about what they think of the changes in Cuba. Getting out of Havana was a great idea, but It's too bad the article doesn't take advantage of a chance to explore the opinions of a few of the people the author must have spoken to.
38
Perhaps he did not talk to many and also they might not talk freely to foreign people as well. It is still a country controlled by the apparatus not free and not likely to be so any time soon.
1
No mention of the recent imprisonment of any Cuban who protests the Castro brother's dictatorship. Where is the freedom Obama promised in exchange for America's bailout of their bankrupt county?
9
Cuba is already "free" and has been since Jan. 1, 1959. Free of US imperial occupation. No longer a US client state. All states imprison its opponents. The USA has one of the highest rates, if not the highest, of citizens in prison in the world. Most of these prisoners are "political" i.e. crimes against property which in a capitalist democracy are "political" crimes..
5
Give it time. Neither Rome of Havana were built in a day, and I do not think the president promised to bail Cuba our of anything.
Your negativity will not serve any good purpose.
Your negativity will not serve any good purpose.
5
I heard a BBC report that President Obama wants Mexican President Pena Nieto to "press Cuba on human rights." That's right, the guy whose federal police have been directly implicated in the disappearance of 43 students should make human rights in Cuba his concern. Where Cuba is concerned there's no such thing as a straight face test.
I went on a similar trip across Cuba ten years ago. Many of Cuba's problems are ongoing, and a big part of the reason -- not the excuse -- for the problems described is the embargo. But when you're sent there to describe the lack of cellphone bars and the natural beauty it's no surprise that that truth is never mentioned.
I went on a similar trip across Cuba ten years ago. Many of Cuba's problems are ongoing, and a big part of the reason -- not the excuse -- for the problems described is the embargo. But when you're sent there to describe the lack of cellphone bars and the natural beauty it's no surprise that that truth is never mentioned.
25
What a keen eye the photographer has!
17
I am not Cuban but remember in grade school in beginning of the 60s all the new kids from Cuba joining my Catholic grade schools. My parents spoke about how all of these kid's parents left their property, possessions and their relatives behind to escape Castro and his ideology. These folks quickly learned English in a hurry and most reestablished themselves in business or went back to school. These same people have a right to their property that was confiscated in Cuba and this and so many other issues are addressed by President Obama. I hope the President is not going to pour billions in Cuba what the Castro brothers hope to receive, rather that the President will look to the issues that US Cubans need to be addressed instead. Having relations with Cuba is very positive development but we must proceed carefully and consider the grievances and rights of Cubans who are US citizens first.
15
Hopefully, the Cuban people will be better off trading with America. Communism is such a heart break for those living under its tyrants. It is such a shame that it is touted in American progressive Universities as a cure all.
14
Exactly. You did not need tyrannical Stalinism to improve health care and increase literacy rates.
When Fidel dies, watch the mourning among the American left (and the world's left). It will be sickening.
When Fidel dies, watch the mourning among the American left (and the world's left). It will be sickening.
5
name one university where "communism is touted as a cure all." just one.
21
I'd like to know precisely which are the "American progressive Universities" that you think are touting Communism as a cure-all. Sorry to tell you but it appears that the you've been brainwashed by the rightwing babble you listen to from a four time college dropout in Palm Beach and assorted other spewers of a false narrative of what is and isn't taught in American universities.
7
Obama's decision to normalize diplomatic relations with Havana was the most powerful coup ever delivered by Washington against the Castro Brothers.
The question from now on is whether the transition post Castros will be peaceful or violent. The US government will have the last word on that.
The question from now on is whether the transition post Castros will be peaceful or violent. The US government will have the last word on that.
13
I would like to know what Cubans on the island would say to your comments. As Anais Nin said: We see the world as we are not as it is.
6
Gee it might be but I bet it will be ineffective, and when they are gone others will replace them. Almost never do humans give up such power without violence. The previous individuals did not and the current ones won't either.
My beautiful country is in ruins but worst is the moral decade of my people because communism is the dead of the soul, the organization of poverty and conformism. Fifty six years of military ruling is more than enough. The military junta must go so my people can be free.
29
We must give credit to Cuban people for having weathered decades of sustained US hostility.
From Bay Pig foiled invasion to economic blockade Cuba made through those dark days!
Now it is to the vision of President Obama who wants to normalise this situation.
Of course those Cubans sunning in Florida or Texas are not very happy at this.
It shows their utter indifference to the sufferings of their fellow Cubans they left behind .It will be in fitness of things that once Presiden Obana can pull it through the US-Cubans can help folks back home by sending them money which is a crime now.
Is this such a tragic thing to happen? I wonder! Is this what Capitalism does to one??
From Bay Pig foiled invasion to economic blockade Cuba made through those dark days!
Now it is to the vision of President Obama who wants to normalise this situation.
Of course those Cubans sunning in Florida or Texas are not very happy at this.
It shows their utter indifference to the sufferings of their fellow Cubans they left behind .It will be in fitness of things that once Presiden Obana can pull it through the US-Cubans can help folks back home by sending them money which is a crime now.
Is this such a tragic thing to happen? I wonder! Is this what Capitalism does to one??
50
No, what capitalism does to one is provide them a means to earn a living and send money to relatives stuck in an anachronistic fantasyland of failed economic theory.
As for the "blockade", since Cuba trades with every country in the world except the USA, one might almost be tempted to call it an "embargo". Or perhaps we do indeed have it surrounded by hundreds of navy ships and a no-fly zone, indeed creating what you called it...a "blockade"? Would make a great news story. Wonder why nobody has reported on such a situation.
As for the "blockade", since Cuba trades with every country in the world except the USA, one might almost be tempted to call it an "embargo". Or perhaps we do indeed have it surrounded by hundreds of navy ships and a no-fly zone, indeed creating what you called it...a "blockade"? Would make a great news story. Wonder why nobody has reported on such a situation.
19
It was not a blockade, it was an embargo. The rest of the world is and was free to trade with Cuba. The "sufferings" of their fellow Cubans was caused by Fidel Castro, not the US embargo. Had Castro never existed, Cuba today would easily be the most prosperous Caribbean country.
42
Your view is too simplistic. Too many ifs. These are the truths: It takes a great humility and brilliant mind like President Obama to undo what his predecessors were afraid to do. The truth is that many in Cuba love their Fidel even though we know how controlling he is and was. Those who did corrupt dealings with Batista, should not get their land back unless they buy it. Others who worked honestly for theirs, I hope they will get it back eventually.. . Start to read from the beginning the true history of Cuba. Then come back and tell us all about it.......
6