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Uhh, maybe you are too young to remember, but we HAD an immense amount of investment in the Cuban economy back in the 1950's and before, and the US owned businesses were forcibly nationalized by the Castro government.
Oh, and they kind of were allied with a problematic nation state called the Soviet Union, who was not exactly our best friend back then.
Only then did we embargo Cuba.
Fun fact: The Cuban refugees living in the USA were the biggest proponents of the embargo, having first hand knowledge of the damage being done to their homeland by the Castro Regime.
Maybe you don't remember that the Cuban revolution was against the US-backed authoritarian (and extremely corrupt) Batista and that most of the Cubans that fled to the US already had US business ties, of course they wanted to embargo Cuba, they were mad that their corruption caused them to lose their homes.
Maybe you don't remember that the Cuban revolution was against the US-backed authoritarian (and extremely corrupt) Batista and that most of the Cubans that fled to the US already had US business ties, of course they wanted to embargo Cuba, they were mad that their corruption caused them to lose their homes.
Wrong, the US cut support to Batista. Corruption is now 1000 higher, and yes, somewhat authoritarian and corrupt, but not totalitarian and Communist. Canada should be a marxist and totalitarian country, most of them are die-hard saloon communists and progressives, I hope they become marxist any time soon.
I wonder what reason I could come up with to visit Cuba? How about a beach occupied with pretty women as opposed to a field covered with snow?
C'mon...you are self-delusional. Listen, I have never seen any Canadian in the streets, squares and boulevards of eastern Cuban cities. No Canadians in local beaches packed with jineteras. No Canadians in Havana, except Plaza de la Catedral a few hours.
Canadians arrive and are siphoned to cheap resorts closed to jineteras and even though Cubans now frequent those places, they are just middle-aged new bourgeoisie types, some wealthier than those Canadians.
Now, you find always Italians -that are the people that closest to Cubans, Germans, Scandinavians, a few stray Spanish and some Russians and Easteners that know Cuba very well and that lived in Cuba before the fall of the USSR. No Canadians.
Varadero sure looks like a successful major beach destination. It seems they are building a giant marina and a large new resort. It's funny to see a golf course in egalitarian Cuba.
I was in Varadero 3 months ago. There were one or two golf resorts inherited from capitalists and most resorts were there 20 years ago, the marina was there 60 years ago and many of the hotels are pre-revolutionary and refurbished. What is surprising is that sand disappeared in many places, as they used it for construction.
Varadero was one of the wealthiests resorts in the world 50 years ago, and many things are outstanding. Varadero is not a fun place unless you are 80 years old, because "social workers" are restrained and not allowed in resorts, so resorts are just like Benidorm with good weather and beaches.
Varadero had a local thriving economy outside resorts when Cubans were not allowed into hotels (theoretically), so there were many casas particulares for Cubans, restaurants for local tourists....but as Cubans now favour all inclusive resorts, local economy suffered a blow.
C'mon...you are self-delusional. Listen, I have never seen any Canadian in the streets, squares and boulevards of eastern Cuban cities. No Canadians in local beaches packed with jineteras. No Canadians in Havana, except Plaza de la Catedral a few hours.
Canadians arrive and are siphoned to cheap resorts closed to jineteras and even though Cubans now frequent those places, they are just middle-aged new bourgeoisie types, some wealthier than those Canadians.
Now, you find always Italians -that are the people that closest to Cubans, Germans, Scandinavians, a few stray Spanish and some Russians and Easteners that know Cuba very well and that lived in Cuba before the fall of the USSR. No Canadians.
edit: Also the person you were responding to does not have Canada in his location but a northern State hence he might very well be an American
I spent all but one day on the streets of Havana, I am a Canadian and I think we were in the Plaza for an hour one day so just because you did not see us does not mean that we were there. No we did not go to the local beach as it became cold and stormy with waves washing over the sea wall and the Malecon. We could watch the waves from our hotel which was did not have any English speaking guest that I heard. But how can you tell a Canadian from someone else? One person who has been to Cuba for 19 trips said that I was dressed more like a Cuban than a tourists but I just wore my normal clothes. He had been to eastern Cuba, not sure if I would want to because I understand it is hot and humid.
So with all your anger and bitterness you are making assumptions that may cover most but certainly not all Canadians. Other than the one day tour we were on our own and mostly surrounded by Cubans. We stayed at the Hotel Vedado. Quite a bit of Spanish spoken there, never heard English except for the staff speaking to us. Very nice people as were almost everyone we came across except for the one drunk who wanted me to pay him for having his picture taken beside a very rough Edsel and I only wanted the car in my shot.
I think a lot of Canadians are only interested in getting away from the cold. That is not how we travel. I am puzzled by your animosity towards just about everything. Are you a Cuban who does not want tourist or do you think that tourists should be doing something different?
Last edited by badlander; 03-16-2017 at 03:40 PM..
Reason: added the last
As you can see at the pics, facilities are at least 70 tears old and refurbished. The three models are just that, models, you don't find that in resorts. The other pic is more realist.
I was in Varadero 3 months ago. There were one or two golf resorts inherited from capitalists and most resorts were there 20 years ago, the marina was there 60 years ago and many of the hotels are pre-revolutionary and refurbished. What is surprising is that sand disappeared in many places, as they used it for construction.
Varadero was one of the wealthiests resorts in the world 50 years ago, and many things are outstanding. Varadero is not a fun place unless you are 80 years old, because "social workers" are restrained and not allowed in resorts, so resorts are just like Benidorm with good weather and beaches.
Varadero had a local thriving economy outside resorts when Cubans were not allowed into hotels (theoretically), so there were many casas particulares for Cubans, restaurants for local tourists....but as Cubans now favour all inclusive resorts, local economy suffered a blow.
Funny you mention that the marina was there 60 years ago. I compared a 2003 satelite photo of Varadero in the area where the marina is now and back then there was nothing there!
Varadero 2003
Varadero 2013
It's a shame I can't find even older satelite images of Varadero to see in what else you are exaggerating.
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