Who has been to Cuba recently?

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Ludd Zarko

I am Cuban. What is your next question ?

Oh, the ranting. Right, right. We Cubans are the ones with a comunist dictatorship for 50 years and it looks like some people here want us to keep our mouth closed, bow our heads and smile, just like the comunists force us to do in Cuba.

Fantastic ! And we are the ones ranting.

In Cuba we say: "It hurts to whom it hurts" Since nobody else here cares for what happens to our country they criticize us, instead of criticizing the dictators that torture, shoot, and kill our people

If you want to know, we ask people not to go to Cuba now to visit because their money helps the brothers to stay in power. Is that so difficult to understand ?

Apparently, for some people it is

But nobody else cares

Justice ?

nadie

You don't specify what for, but I am Cuban. What is your question ?

Perhaps I can answer it.

Interesting, somebody saying that they don't see fat people in Cuba. Curiouser and curiouser.

I am a physician, and I can tell that I had absolutely no idea of the anorexia nervosa or any other eating disorder until I arrived to the USA

In Cuba we are very busy looking for the next meal to be worried about that. With the food we can find and the exercise we do ( walking to go everywhere because the buses are a disaster. Some people ride bicycles ), nobody thinks about that

The only hate rhetoric, as somebody said here, is the Coma Andante badmouthing the USA, bush, and the exiles ( and anybody who supports them )

It seems a good idea to carry toys, food, and similar things to our people in Cuba, but not money because that would help the evil brothers to keep oppressing our people

physician

I am Cuban. What it your question ?

I see that you are a fan of fidel y el Che. Well, I know that it is useless to try to convince someone of being mistaken, even if we have very good reasons to say what we say

If you decide to go to Cuba, you might go with one of two positions:
Either see only what you want to see and reinforce your previous beliefs ( which is what most sympathizers of comunism do here ) in a total denial

Or keep an open mind and try to see the unpleasant reality

I have seen many foreigners going to Cuba and after a while still try to justify what happens there. Very irritating having a foreigner giving you a lecture about why things in your country are the way they are ( particularly considering that they have a privileged position, with access to many things that "the little guy" cannot have. )

I remember once, I was in vacations in a hotel and I asked for a drink of Cinzano. Very humiliating was to hear that it was only for foreigners with dollars

el loco

I returned to Cuba some years ago. What other question do you have ?

Oh, fat people in Cuba. You must go to see the Coma Andante and his goons for that
What do you mean by ski ?

The only hate rhetoric that I have seen and heard is that from big bad old fidel, ranting against the USA government and the exiles. Regarding the embargo that is only a cosmetic measure. It will not bring down the regime.
That is politics of a very bad quality. The USA government do it only to get the votes of the exiles. Period
Since Kennedy, they have been promising to liberate our country but they have not fulfilled their promises

I know somebody who has a master in international business administration, and he made his thesis on the idea that the yanks don't really want fidel to leave, because then all the business in south Florida would move to Cuba.
Nothing personal, only business

the big

I am Cuban. What do you wish to ask ?

I can tell you that our country is in the Caribbean sea. We have been ruled by a comunist tyranny that for 50 years has shot, torture, deported or put in the tank most of the population.

If you don't believe me, just look how many people try to escape in primitive rafts, risking their lives

Some people here try to present Cuba under a nice, pink light, without the dark side. But that is presenting only one side of the story

citizenabovesuspicion

I have, how can i be of assistance?

Peace on earth

Thank you Travelinangel for that beautiful answer. I too have visited Cuba (I am Canadian), I do not agree with the communist system, but I love the country and the people. What is wrong with that? Do the embargo and the hate rhetoric help the people or the regime it is supposed to undermine? I will keep on going there, bringing medecine, toys, clothing and receiving so much from that wonderful courageous people. We are brothers after all.

I have copied your answer travelinangel so I can read it again. Gracias!

cubalishus

I have, its a fantastic place, the Cubans are wonderful people who will do anything to make your holiday even better, the beaches and ocean are to die for, its a very chilled and laid back country, I love Cuba.

Beardo

I am in Cuba at this moment.

I have been here since June.

TravelinAngel

Hello Dear
Some trips are made because you want to make them; some because you have to make them. My early 2008 week-long trip to Havana was some of both. After so many years living in South Florida, I had to see Cuba for myself. I exercised my constitutional right to travel, bypassing the outrageous travel restrictions imposed by a failed Cuba policy of 46 years. Along with my grown daughter, I went through a third country. I emphasize that what's presented here is simply our own observations during a one-week stay in the capital and two beach excursions.
We spent a week in a "casa particular" in old Havana. "Casa particulars" are accommodations in private homes -- an apartment in our case. It's legal and they are taxed. We were not interested in a hotel, a resort or tourist areas, but rather in absorbing the experience, speaking with as many people as possible, and getting a "feel" for life in Havana, circa 2006. Because our funds were limited, thanks to an unexpectedly difficult exchange rate for convertible pesos, and because it was impossible for us, as Americans, to access our own funds, we lived frugally, as so many Habaneros do. There was little money for tourist attractions, museums and excursions, and so we spent most of our time on the streets, along the Prado and the Malecon, in taverns and markets, in parks, and at two beaches -- Santa Maria and Guanabo -- meeting and talking with people. Unfortunately, I do not speak Spanish, but my daughter does. And, although most of the people we met spoke no English, many did.

Our location was incredible. We were in a building right where the Prado meets the Malecon. The Prado is a mile-long pedestrian promenade, wide and lined with concrete benches and seats, made of a multi-colored pavement, with no obstructions, and a street running on either side, with various establishments along those streets. The Malecon is a long sea-front area with a thick sea wall -- people sit and even lie on it -- mostly locals, and often young couples. Teenagers play on the rocks below and swim in the sea. At its end, where we were, it widens and goes out into the sea. People fish there, and the famous Morro Castle is close by, just across a stretch of water. Next to it is a working lighthouse -- I can close my eyes and still see that beam going round and round. We quickly established our two hangouts -- the Oasis bar a few blocks up the Prado, and "12 Prado," a beer and food place just down the block.

We came in through a third country, as most Americans without "licenses" do. The Cuban officials know not to stamp U.S. passports. I prefer not to disclose details of the measure I took to avoid leaving a paper or electronic trail. I will say that most of those who get caught -- reportedly between 10 and 15 percent -- do so because they (1) get off the plane from Cuba in an airport from which they fly to the U.S. and which has a U.S. preclearance station. Staffers from those preclearance stations watch the arrivals from Cuba and nail them when they check in with them. (2) They post about their trip online -- it takes the Feds about two minutes to find out who they really are from an online address. (3) They do things that are just plain stupid, like checking into a U.S. preclearance station at a Canadian airport in the middle of winter with a deep fresh tan, and telling the U.S. officials that they were just on a Canadian ski trip. Also, it's a good idea to pay for your ticket(s) with cash or a money order, not a personal check or wire transfer.

Be smart -- spend a few days in your "third country" so that you'll be able to talk about it in case you're asked about it when you re-enter the U.S. Remember, the time you spend in Cuba was supposedly spent in the third country.

We met working people, housewives, children, elderly people, cab drivers, fishermen, musicians, students, bartenders, and of course our host family and their relatives and friends. We saw young couples in love and one sweet 30-ish couple on the Prado, the husband lovingly patting his wife's pregnant tummy and then turning to help bathe their baby. A bartender we became friends with joined two itinerant musicians along the waterfront, joyously singing traditional Cuban songs. Four couples practiced the tango along the Prado. A young Cuban with dreadlocks chatted with my daughter, and then he and his friends invited us to go to his place with him and smoke some pot. We politely declined, but did ask where their pot came from. He said it came from Jamaica. We met very few non-Cubans -- two European students, another American who, like us, had "snuck in," and several American students who, much to our surprise, were there "legally" through their college. We saw hundreds of children, going to and from school, playing along the Prado and the Malecon, and on the beaches. They all seemed very happy, full of "piss and vinegar" as the old phrase goes. We didn't see any fat people, nor did we see any ski

Ana P

I have, and i have so much fun

Tropicales

I have not been able to go back since about a year yet but have been in contact with Cuban friends recently (especially during and after the hurricanes).

What would you like to know?

*edit: thumbs down for what? *sigh*

**added: William A, if you want to email to avoid the ranting going on, feel free to. It's truly an amazing experience to travel to Cuba especially because the Cubans are wonderful people. That is what will make a Cuba trip wonderful. And that is also why people choose to keep going back over other places.

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