Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's incredible...and it's better than Mexican food. The flavors are subtle...it's healthier, and you have to savor it in order to appreciate it. Cubans are West Indians, not Mexicans. Their food origins are very different.
As to prostitution, that's thriving everywhere...including where you live.
It's incredible...and it's better than Mexican food. The flavors are subtle...it's healthier, and you have to savor it in order to appreciate it. Cubans are West Indians, not Mexicans. Their food origins are very different.
As to prostitution, that's thriving everywhere...including where you live.
Well...not quite DD.
The prostitution situation in Cuba is like no other- pretty much every female and more than a few males is for hire. However, there does not seem to be the stigma that is evident in other societies.
As for food, you are correct. Good chow to be had there- for hard currency.
It's incredible...and it's better than Mexican food. The flavors are subtle...it's healthier, and you have to savor it in order to appreciate it. Cubans are West Indians, not Mexicans. Their food origins are very different.
We can definitely agree on that. Mexican food is about as related to Cuban food as Mexican music is related to Cuban music.
I like Cuba's unique and noncommercial character as well.
However, it is not the result of any rejection of commercialism or embrace of enlightened aesthetics. It is the result of a heavy handed thugocracy that restricts if not bans free enterprise.
Communism does that. It freezes the landscape in time. Wonderful for those of us looking for something different. Maddening for the residents who must live in it.
Granted they have been living under a dictatorship. But there are a couple of other factors involved. Like the US embargo and the fall of the USSR. The Castros, unlike the Korean Kims, would have been willing to establish trade with the US. There's no lack of entrepreneurial spirit there.
The Castros, unlike the Korean Kims, would have been willing to establish trade with the US. There's no lack of entrepreneurial spirit there.
Maybe they would have, but only on their own terms -- as long as the exchange did not threaten their leadership. That requires keeping a tight rein on the flow of information and consumer products to the Cuban people.
As to entrepreneurial spirit, the Castros were forced to allow mom and pop businesses to function because of the collapse of the USSR. However, the types of private enterprise "allowed," like running restaurants out of one's home, are self-limiting and do not result in any meaningful increase of wealth to the owner.
It wouldn't surprise me if a number of those tourists are medical tourists. They've got some great Doctors in Cuba, and probably some cheap prescription drugs as well.
Granted they have been living under a dictatorship. But there are a couple of other factors involved. Like the US embargo and the fall of the USSR. The Castros, unlike the Korean Kims, would have been willing to establish trade with the US. There's no lack of entrepreneurial spirit there.
That is not true.
In reality, Cuba began the embargo by nationalizing foreign holdings without compensation- illegal under international law. Not saying America was a great neighbor before that, but theft is theft.
Both Carter and Clinton made overtures to Cuba which Castro scuttled.
The Embargo does not prevent Cuba from trading with Canada, Europe, Mexico, Japan and pretty much everyone else. Ask some of them about doing business in Cuba- archaic and unpredictable would be frequent words.
If you go to Cuba, you will find plenty of Western products including American ones for sale for dollars- something most Cubans do not have.
The Embargo is a great propaganda tool that has served interests in Havana and Miami/Union City. Now that Fidel is more or less out, little brother might be thinking differently.
Communist aka Command "Economics" did not work in East Germany, the USSR, Mao's China and elsewhere.
They do not work in Venezuela, North Korea, or Cuba.
It has been almost 100 years since the 1917 Revolution. Can we finally accept the obvious?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
