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The whole world is in the midst of a HUGE change right now and change is not always comfortable, more often than not, pain is part of the process.
But greater freedom has to be a good thing and I am going to trust, because I suppose I have a basic belief system that everything is unfolding perfectly, even the imperfect things.
I was all over the former USSR in 1988,( even in Baku, Azerbaijan and rural Georgia etc) when tremendous change was about to rock their world forever.East Germany and all of the USSR looked & felt like a black and white photo from the 30's or 40's.
Things got very bad before they got better. In fact, by a strange set of circumstances my family ended up saving one family in Czechnia during that ethnic cleansing time and got her & family out of the country.
She is a professor and now we are trying to get back to Russia to meet in person ( after being an expat for many years, she returned to Russia).
Long story short, we do not know where life will lead us, but things have a way of working out. Hopefully, this will be a positive for both the US and Cuba.
You will always have your special memories of how it was before the change!
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And never apologize about exploring these politically centered travel issues! This was so easy to read and well thought out. If anything, you should write more about this sort of thing.
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I would really like to get there before the cruise crowd makes port, 1 million people is better than 4 million! While I am excited at the prospect of being able to legally go, I was kinda hoping to travel there before the ban was lifted even if that meant to do it not so legally.
" Daniel Erikson, author of "The Cuba Wars," said one problem with lifting the travel ban is the trade embargo, which stops U.S. companies from doing business in Cuba.
"So you would have American tourists traveling to Cuba driving around on Chinese buses, staying at Spanish hotels, eating Canadian food," Erikson said, adding, "The only McDonald's I've ever seen in Cuba is at the military base at Guantanamo Bay.""
Although the guide sounds like he's being flip-- do we actually want a McD's in Cuba? but it will be interesting...
President Obama did not ask congress to look into the travel restrictions for tourists to go to America. During the campaign he promised to loosen restrictions on family travel to Cuba for Cuban-Americans but to maintain the greater embargo. He did not need congressional approval to do since those tightened restrictions were an executive order from 2004. They could be undone with an executive order.
Secondly, Cuba can only handle about 2.5 million tourists per year with its current infrastructure. They are currently running at about 90% of capacity. The new demand for accommodations in Cuba (if the 3 million estimate is correct) with the limited inventory of Hotel rooms means only one thing. The price of each hotel night will rise. In the long run Cuba will try to build additional infrastructure to handle more tourists but imagine how long it takes to build a hotel in a capitalist country and then think about doing it in a communist one.
Nothing is going to be "created overnight".
In terms of feeding and transporting tourists, there are plenty of foreign companies that are already doing business with the regime that provide those services. You can't pretend that the United States is the only source of technology, cars, buses, and capital.
If you can't check your US email in Cuba it's because the regime is blocking US servers, not because of the embargo.
Your question about the regime wanting to move Cubans out of tourist destinations like the big cities is an interesting one. That may be the preferred situation for the regime but history shows the opposite will happen. People from the interior of the country will be drawn to the cities to try to get some dollars however they can. Cuba is one of the few countries that restricts movements of its own people within its borders. The result is that Havana is home to hundreds of thousands of "illegal immigrants".
Most of those vendors you see in Cuba are either licensed (and heavily taxed) or working without licenses and risk arrest. The regime is not interested in allowing people to make money based on their own merit. It's a communist dictatorship.
All of those thousands of jobs that will be eventually created (not overnight) will be jobs that pay what typical Cuban jobs pay (About $20 a month). Some people might get tips and hustle to make more money but they are violating the Cuban law and are at risk of arrest.
U.S. tourism will no more liberate Cubans than European or Canadian tourism has. The regime has implemented mechanisms to mitigate the "corrupting" influence of tourism.
I think your worries are in the wrong place. You should worry about the hundreds of political prisoners that are rotting away in Cuba like Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet. American tourists will go down and frolic in the ocean and leave with their dumb Che Guevara t-shirts and those people and the rest of the Cuban populace will continue to suffer.
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When you were in Cuba, did you talk to any of the residents about how they would feel about opening up the country to the US? Did they provide you with any insights about how that might be received by Cubans?
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But on the other hand, I don't think they can even imagine what it will be like. As a tourist, visiting, and who has been to other places in the world, you know what a crowded, poorly managed tourist destination looks like.
The articol describes an amazing extra 1 billion dollar touristic potential. But it ignores the fact that, presently, Cuba is making ~ 5 billion $ out of tourism. The luxury hotels in Varadero are at the same level as Mexico or Bahamas and ...are packed with tourists already. French, Spanish and Italian companies have heavily invested in Cuba in touristic industry and got the best hotel spots.
The goods required by tourists are already present there. European and Canadian tourists are floodind the island and have start buying property through Cuban friends. I found all possible brands from drinking to foods in shops. Sounds funny to be able to eat Haagen Dazs and Oreo's in Havana, but, the products are available.
After the travel ban lift, I doubt it there will be too many US citizens travelling there. Reason ? Because the cubans are hearing for 50 years that the reason of their poverty is coming from US. As a European, the reaction I got from hotel workers just by showing my American Express credit card will pt off any American citizen to ever want to travel in Cuba. From billboards on road to daily TV propoganda, US is public enemy no.1 to Cuban citizens. Would understand why US citizens would like to spend their holiday in a place where locals have hostile attitude over them.
Don't think this political change will bring much difference in Cuba. The island has a rythm of itself and outside inputs simply don't have the force to change their mind set. The communism is something that suits them and probably, if it would have not been for the lack of goods, they will love continuing their life like this. This is a society that doesn't value material things as much as others.
Your comment about American companies and the Cuban environment is naive. First of all what do you think all of the Spanish resorts are like? They are walled off compound just like the ones you supposedly fear. European hoteliers don't have any eco-friendly technology that American hoteliers don't have. Time to stop with the anti-American rhetoric, it's innacurate and weak.
Secondly Cuba is an environment disaster right now, especially in the cities. Canadian companies are exploiting Cuba's mineral wealth. Other foreign companies are drilling for oil on Cuba's coasts. Do you think they are being environmentally friendly? Don't buy into the propaganda.
Christine,
Yes the Cubans believe their troubles are because of the embargo, or so they told you. But the REAL EMBARGO is the one the regime has on Cuba's people. The U.S. isn't the entity that has forbidden the right to private property or private commerce in Cuba. That's the regime. I could go down the list. It's all on the regime.
Removing the embargo DOES NOTHING to change the underlying structure of the Cuban political/economic system. What it does do is funnel cash into a dying regime so that they can repress the Cuban people for a few years more, all while millions of Americans enjoy their fruity cocktails in a secluded all-inclusive resort manned by slave labor. Yeah fantastic idea. Why didn't I think of it.
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Just visited your site. I can see you like to fight with people, and that's cool, but here I'm not so into that. Especially when you turn people's words around-- for instance:
Gray asked me: "When you were in Cuba, did you talk to any of the residents about how they would feel about opening up the country to the US? Did they provide you with any insights about how that might be received by Cubans?"
I responded: "Yes, I talked to some folks and I think everyone wants the embargo lifted. It means more money for their country and a better standard of living for everyone. I mean that’s what Fidel always says… All of our problems are because of the embargo. There are even billboards–”The US Embargo costs us in one hour, what it would cost to do all of the xrays for the year for the whole country”. So there is a very strong feeling that they want this lifted.
But on the other hand, I don’t think they can even imagine what it will be like. As a tourist, visiting, and who has been to other places in the world, you know what a crowded, poorly managed tourist destination looks like."
You obviously know a lot about Cuba. Is any of what I said untrue?
1. People in Cuba wants the embargo lifted. (And I clarified based on those I personally talked to).
2. Fidel blames everything on the embargo.
3. There are billboards there saying as much.
4. There is a strong feeling of wanting it lifted.
5. They probably can't imagine what it will be like when that happens.
But your recent comment, in response, is clearly looking to pick a fight with me.
You wrote:
"Yes the Cubans believe their troubles are because of the embargo, or so they told you. But the REAL EMBARGO is the one the regime has on Cuba’s people. The U.S. isn’t the entity that has forbidden the right to private property or private commerce in Cuba. That’s the regime. I could go down the list. It’s all on the regime.
Removing the embargo DOES NOTHING to change the underlying structure of the Cuban political/economic system. What it does do is funnel cash into a dying regime so that they can repress the Cuban people for a few years more, all while millions of Americans enjoy their fruity cocktails in a secluded all-inclusive resort manned by slave labor. Yeah fantastic idea. Why didn’t I think of it."
So in response you are telling me that the Embargo isn't the real issue. I didn't say that it was. I was responding to a question about what I was told when I was there. Then you talk about how American's will "enjoy their fruity cocktails in a secluded all-inclusive resort manned by slave labor. Yeah fantastic idea. Why didn’t I think of it." Well I'm actually opposed to that outcome. But it doesn't matter, it has nothing to do with what I said. You're not really responding to me anyway, you're just looking for a forum to state your point of view. You have one. Your blog.
If you wanted a response you got one, but if you're going to continue picking fights with people over things they didn't say, then I have no problem deleting your comments.
Anyone who wants to disagree with me, is welcome. But don't waste everyone's time by putting words into other people's mouths.
Lifting the embargo, and American corporations moving in to fill the needs of increasing numbers of tourists, would be a death knell for the current regime. Whether they were ousted or bought off, change would result.
The embargo has allowed the government to continue its status quo. Cuba could continue another 50 years under a renewed embargo. Lifting it, and the massive changes that would result, would certainly destabilize the government. I don't think Fidel et al have the power to deal with Ronald McDonald and his gang.
I wish I could visit Cuba right now. It most likely won't be the same much longer.
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If the US Federal Govt. decides to do this, it's in Cuba's best interest to cooperate. More tourists means a more vibrant economy, even if it means destabilizing the existing regime. It's coming sooner or later anyway. ;)
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The embargo has not done anything else than giving Fidel Castro a reason to blame the U.S. for everything that’s wrong in Cuba, and in the meantime giving a way of living to a bunch of politician pretending to care about the Cuban people. I’m sure Fidel Castro would find another reason to criticize the U.S. after the embargo is lifted, but it will be too late for him. That’s the only thing he is good at, to find what’s wrong with everybody but himself. What a disgusting little man!
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I won't enter the fray (instead, visit my blog!), but I would like to clarify on one comment:
Simi said:
US is public enemy no.1 to Cuban citizens. Would understand why US citizens would like to spend their holiday in a place where locals have hostile attitude over them.
I have lived here for 7 years and one very interesting facet of all this is that Cubans have always differentiated between the US GOV and the US PEOPLE. Cubans are in no way hostile to people from the US. It's actually the reverse: they love North Americans and not just becasue they're the best tippers!
Anyway, all this debate makes a great point: come see for yourself and "saca tus propias conclusiones!"
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