Have you ever been to Cuba?

[AmericanZionist2004]

Out of curiosity, has anybody here ever been to Cuba? Although I am an American Zionist capitalist, I'd love to go to Cuba. Although I oppose Castro's dictatorship, Cuba's culture is amazing and I have some Cuban relatives. I have to see that place.

[Comrade Ceausescu]

Its not a dictatorship.I know many people on here have been there.My friend has.Here is his article about it:


I just got back from Cuba in the middle of January, 1999. If you remember anything from these few words this is my lesson: Don't believe a word written about Cuba in the US mainstream media. Don't even believe the commas. Especially, don't believe liberal journals like The Nation.
The Nation recently published an article by the editor of the business section of the Los Angeles Times interviewing some old veterans of the revolution. Purportedly, the old comrades told the LAT guy that Fidel has betrayed the revolution by increasing inequality into Cuban society, that is, by allowing the US dollar to be owned by Cuban citizens. By the way, my Cuban guide told me that she had been on the podium during Fidel's speech announcing the new policy. She said he actually wept when he told the people about the necessity of permitting the circulation of dollars and the suffering he knew it would cause the Cuban people. I can almost hear the LAT editor crying along with Fidel. It really takes gall for an editor of a mainstream U.S. newspaper to pretend to defend the integrity of the Cuban revolution when all he wants is to see that revolution destroyed.
Cuba is physically breathtaking, and the people are just as beautiful as the mountains. The Cubans are a sweet and gentle people; they touch and hug each other when they greet each other, even at work; and they did the same to me during many brief conversations. A touch on the side of the shoulder serves as a substitute abrazo. I must have spoken to at least 3 or 4 hundred people in many places: on the street, in people's homes, in the hotels, in the museums and on the beaches, and I speak Spanish reasonably well so there was no communication roadblock.
I talked to many Cubans about the US blockade and its impact on Cuban society. The people I spoke to were extremely knowledgeable about current events in the world from Clinton's problems to international affairs. All of them knew full well what the US did to Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. None of them wanted a taste of that kind of 'democracy.
Many also remembered or were taught in school what it was like before the revolution. Batista killed 20,000 anti-government demonstrators in the mid-fifties just prior to his fleeing the country on the first of January 1959.
They also remember that no person of color could work for any US corporation as anything but a janitor. Jim Crow was an integral part of society in those days when there was so-called democracy in the time before socialism. In those days no person of color could even go on the beach or visit a hotel or a fancy restaurant. This is rather startling when you see only relatively few people who look white.
Most of the population is at least partially of African heritage. There might be some kind of racism, but I found it hard to detect. Men and women establish romantic relationships quite independent of skin color.
The blockade has made life difficult and aggravating for nearly all Cubans. This is what Fidel referred to in his announcement speech. To buy a bar of soap costs a US dollar, and getting a dollar can be hard at times. But most people understand that they have to get tourist dollars in order for the country to survive. The dollars buy pharmaceuticals and oil and all the other things needed to keep a modern society operating.
But not even the U.S. media accuses the government of mass murder, as occurred in Central America--as well as many other countries that underwent 'difficult transitions to democracy' under CIA tutelage. Indonesia springs to mind as a country that underwent a CIA organized coup during which 1.5 million people were killed. The right wing Cuban migrants who were perfectly happy with Batista are the ones who peddle that malarkey about contemporary Cuba.
All this seems hard to believe even to me. But this is what I saw and heard.

[kingbee]

yeah i went in... 2000- i think.

but it mos def was not a tourist, lying on beach holiday.

(ok, it was a tourist holiday. what kind of holiday isnt?) :D

[Red Guard]

Nope, never been to Cuba, but i'm going in a couple of month's to visit family.

[Y2A]

I'd love to go to, it's really quite a beautiful country. And how is Cuba "not a dictatorship"? Castro has been in power since the revolution and the Cuban Communist Party is the only party that is recongnized.

[mia wallace]

unfortunately i've never been to cuba.

but i really hope i shall :P

[Fidel Castro]

WOOHOO! I'm going in June for three weeks with the CSC Brigade to work on a government farm (maybe sugar or oranges, don't know yet). We'll get tours of Cuban schools and hospitals too as well as talks from trade unions, lecturers and perhaps some government officials which will be interesting.

We also get a tour of Havana, and Santa Clara. I can't wait, it will no doubt make me far more aware of what's really going on in Cuba.

[Don't Change Your Name]

I want to go

I'll go some day if I have money and I would like to visit U$A to see if it is the paradise they claim it is

[Fidel Castro]

I would like to visit U$A to see if it is the paradise they claim it is

I really have no urge at all to visit the U$. It's not so much my dispising of the American government, or the repulsiveness of the excesses of capitalism, or the corruption, or social abyss.

No apart from all that there is just nothing that attracts me the the US. To me, the USA is really rather boring, as I would imagine it to be very similar to the UK.

[Lardlad95]

Originally posted by [email protected] 29 2004, 01:50 AM

I would like to visit U$A to see if it is the paradise they claim it is

I really have no urge at all to visit the U$. It's not so much my dispising of the American government, or the repulsiveness of the excesses of capitalism, or the corruption, or social abyss.

No apart from all that there is just nothing that attracts me the the US. To me, the USA is really rather boring, as I would imagine it to be very similar to the UK.
....That depends on where you go. Don't go to any monuments cuz ours suck tremendously. Find a bunch of Ghettos and Projects, and see how great this nation is..ooh and visit some traler parks.

[Fidel Castro]

....That depends on where you go. Don't go to any monuments cuz ours suck tremendously. Find a bunch of Ghettos and Projects, and see how great this nation is..ooh and visit some traler parks.

Hmm, I would like to go on a Hillbillie safari :lol:

I wouldn't be interested in the big cities, and definately not shitty Di$ney World.

I would like to see the ghettos, slums and poverty areas in the U$. I wouldn't mind visiting the exile communities in Miami, just out of curiosity.

[Domino]

I'll be going probably this year, if not, the coming one (I might go to Chiapas instead, I want to visit both though, I live in Mexico and never been to Chiapas! :unsure: ) My cousin, however, he lived in Cuba last year for 6 months. He went being a capitalist tourist and returned being a leftist, he just came back for the rest of his stuff to go back to Cuba and stay for good.

[Postteen]

NO&#33;Unfortunately I&#39;ve never to Cuba&#33; :angry: But I&#39;m sure someday I will&#33; <_< grr...

[Lardlad95]

Hmm, I would like to go on a Hillbillie safari :lol:


Hey people in trailer parks are poor people too my friend.


I wouldn&#39;t be interested in the big cities, and definately not shitty Di&#036;ney World.

Gotta go to teh big cities to see impverished areas. Visit Washington DC, or nation&#39;s capital. Right across the river from capital hill are some of the worst projects you&#39;ll ever see.

BNut if you want to visit rural poor areas try Talahachee, Mississippi

[Fidel Castro]

Hey people in trailer parks are poor people too my friend.

Don&#39;t worry, I wasn&#39;t referring to the people in Trailer Parks, but those funny guys with Banjo&#39;s and cheque shirts who marry their sisters and ask guys to "squeel like a pig&#33;" lol (it was only a joke)


Gotta go to teh big cities to see impverished areas

Hmm, never thought of that one.

I&#39;d basically only be interested in seeing some of the really impoverished areas, and perhaps the exile communities in Miami.

[AmericanZionist2004]

Why is my thread turned into an America-bashing hijacking? I asked about a country, I&#39;ll be damned if you use that to insult my country.

[antieverything]

My sister has been to Cuba. She said that after Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Cuba was a paradise. She got the feeling that the majority of the people had hope for reform and while they did support the revolution, didn&#39;t support Castro without reservation. It is commonly understood, however, that US imperialism makes a democratic and socialist Cuba impossible.

[Danton]

Yes Iv&#39;e been twice, it&#39;s great so what?

[DarkAngel]

Originally posted by El Infiltr(A)[email protected] 28 2004, 08:20 PM
I want to go

I&#39;ll go some day if I have money and I would like to visit U&#036;A to see if it is the paradise they claim it is
It depend which part. I moved here a few yrs ago. Its a simple life. There are lots of things to do if you have money. But most people don&#39;t :( I live in Brooklyn, New York, btw.

[cubist]

i will fit cuba in on my international travelling agenda i am yet to complete europe, need to see former czech republic bulgaria and romania and former yugoslavia.

anyone know if it is safe to vists south american countries and which ones to avoid i am planning a world culture vacation for summer 2005, i am aware of activity in some of them but not all and would like to know which ones are a must and which ones are a dangerous trip

[Y2A]

Originally posted by [email protected] 2 2004, 09:26 PM
anyone know if it is safe to vists south american countries and which ones to avoid i am planning a world culture vacation for summer 2005, i am aware of activity in some of them but not all and would like to know which ones are a must and which ones are a dangerous trip
Just don&#39;t be stupid and dress flashy, and you will most likely be fine. I&#39;ve been to peru(seeing as I am peruvian). Well, the last time I went there was last year at around this time of the year. It&#39;s was great because unlike the other times I was alone. Man, everyday I was there I got drunk as hell with some of my cousins, best time ever. The country is beautiful aswell. The mountians are there if you like that outdoors kind of stuff. The museums are also good because they have alot of stuff about Incan culture. I won&#39;t speak about other countries though, until I have actual experiences in them. As for me, I&#39;d love to visit the Netherlands and Argentina(Argentinian women are the best).

[cubist]

peru is on my hit list, i wish to climb the mountain to see the temples the found at the top you will know the name of it,

yeah i gathered i should be ok, i just wantyed to know if there were any ones to avoid other than columbia, no offense intended

[Y2A]

peru is on my hit list, i wish to climb the mountain to see the temples the found at the top you will know the name of it,

Your probably mean Machu Picchu.


yeah i gathered i should be ok, i just wantyed to know if there were any ones to avoid other than columbia, no offense intended

Yep, Columbia is pretty dangerous for whites(not being racist just the truth), and it&#39;s not just the FARC controlled territory because Bogata is sometimes hit by the FARC. I remember hearing a while back about a club being hit there.

[Winston Smith]

I myself havn&#39;t, yet that is. I do know people who have gone however and they have enjoyed it.

[antieverything]

Actually, Washington D.C. is much more dangerous than Bogota. Of course, this isn&#39;t saying much.

[LuZhiming]

Originally posted by [email protected] 2 2004, 10:35 PM
Yep, Columbia is pretty dangerous for whites(not being racist just the truth), and it&#39;s not just the FARC controlled territory because Bogata is sometimes hit by the FARC. I remember hearing a while back about a club being hit there.
Heh, and the actions of FARC aren&#39;t even compared to those of the Colombian government. That&#39;s a very unstable place.

[Autarky]

I would love to go to Cuba, among many other places.

[MiDnIgHtMaRaUdEr]

I happen to be planning a group trip for this summer if anyone is interested. I&#39;m also looking into going with the Young Communist League. (Part of the CPUSA)