We had a great holiday there twenty years or so ago. Loved the place and people, so I find this sad:
Cuba is suffering an unprecedented economic crisis. In the last month, the government has said more than one million people - around 10% of its population - are without running water. The majority of the population endures several hours of blackouts each day. Food, fuel and medicine shortages are nearly universal.
For whatever reason it wonât let me see the article. When did Cubaâs economy get bad? What caused it to go bad? When, previously, was it really so great? I mean being commie and all. How did a million people who I can only presume had running water, simply lose that resource and why was nothing done along the way to preempt its happening or attenuate its effects?
It never was great, but when we were there people had food, shelter, power and a wonderful health service. It has been going down bank since the fall of the USSR.
It had always been subsidized by the USSR who used to send it oil for free or next to nothing. It built oil power stations that it cannot afford the fuel for now. We did a tour and stay, so we saw a lot of the island. We had lovely female guide who was always talking of âthe glorious revolutionâ - not so glorious now though.
Yes. I sponsored a young gay Mariel Boatlift refugee, an economist (!) in 1981. He predicted the whole damn tragedy,
A richly endowed beautiful island with magnificent people who, from Columbus on, have been miserably misruled. Fingers crossed that will soon change.
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Isnât the Cuban economy still based on sugar? Sugar is the reason most Caribbean islands are populated. Sugar was hard to grow in Europe (until sugar beets were developed). That made it a luxury for the wealthy.
I recall exchange students from Poland complaining the Soviet Union forced them to import Cuban sugar even though they had their own.
Tourism is the future. But the US needs to allow it.
Arenât the problems in Puerto Rico similar?
That and, of course, rum.
DB2
Yes, of which sugar is the precursor.
Pete
The US are not the only tourists in the world and probably have a low percentage that actually leave the US. I donât think most other countries are blocked from going to Cuba
âŚand slavery as the economic enabler, either as chattel or structured locked in poverty, from Columbus until recent times.
Russia was buying the sugar as only one part of its subsidizing Castro, as Cubaâs value was far higher to Moscow as a political âup-yoursâ and a military âdown your throatsâ than as a source of sweetener for tea.
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