Cuba - Intoxicating

I ran into this article on Cuba from Rosemary McClure of the Los Angeles Times, published in the Sun-Sentinel a few days ago.

As one can suspect from the insititution McClure writes for, it's a mostly breezy look at life in Cuba. The obligatory mentions of free healthcare and education are there (although one has to wait until the 18th paragraph for the reference), as well as the intoxicating nightlife, quaint old cars and stunning colonial architecture.

Of course, the article also covers the travel restrictions, and interviewed several American tourists who insisted that it's their Constitutional right to travel wherever they want. There was one tourist who blamed the Miami mafia for the restrictions. Pretty standard MSM fare.

Here's an interesting excerpt from the article:

Neglected for more than four decades, Havana is rife with imperfections: Sewage runs in the streets; water pipes won't work; abandoned structures, some converted into slum housing, collapse overnight. Thomas Paul, a Tucson fireman/paramedic visiting with the Global Exchange group, said much of the city would be condemned if it were in the U.S.

When Fidel Castro's rebel army won victory in 1959, life changed irreversibly for the Cuban people; it changed again in 1990 when the Soviet Union departed, taking its financial subsidies with it.

Cubans have little cash — incomes range from about $10 to $18 a month — and supplies are hard to come by. A ration system allows each person eight eggs, 6 pounds of rice, 3 pounds of beans and 2 pounds of sugar monthly. But Cubans also have universal healthcare and an effective education system.

OK, I had to include the part about the healthcare and education just so everyone can believe me.

McClure did manage to get a quote from a U.S. government official:

"Castro uses travel-related dollars to bankroll his regime on the backs of the Cuban people," said Molly Millerwise, a Treasury Department spokeswoman. "The Bush administration is steadfast in its commitment to hasten the day when the Cuban people can enjoy the same free lives we enjoy in America."

That's it. No further explanation or elaboration on what Millerwise said. It would have ruined the overall theme of the piece.

What's the theme, you might be asking? Well, I'll leave you with this quote from Miguel Figueras, a Cuban tourism official:

"The highest spenders are Americans," said Figueras, the tourism official. "We want them to come. We think they want to come."

"The first million American tourists will be no problem. But give us notice for the second million."

Read the entire thing here, if you dare.