History as noted on the Cuban Crisis.

[Lewis McColl]

The last time I was in the Caribbean the whole place was a shi-hole, lovely once you got into your fenced in tourist village.
The USA have currently 5 nations they are imposing sanctions on , Iran, North Korea, Syria, Sudan & Cuba(googled)

[j.sabourn]

#20 . Keith the wife and myself were friendly with a couple of Americans He was air crew and was stationed at their air base in Norfolk we were invited to stay with them a few days. It was like living in America on the base had their own civilian sheriff and deputy’s as well as military police.All their stores were flown in from the states . Some of the families living on this base had never been outside the gates and had no wish to go. It was from this base that the raid on Gaddafi was conducted. Our friends used to leave the base as they used to stay with us at times. Cheers JS

[Keith Tindell]

Reference to my last post and the lease on Guantanamo Bay, that info was what we were told out there, that the lease was due to end, however on looking in Google, the info there is that there is no end date to the lease, if that is true, its virtually a small Yankee colony, kt

[Ivan Cloherty]

[QUOTE=Louis the fly;371185]The reason so many want to leave Cuba is the crippling sanctions imposed by the US. QUOTE]

Easy to blame the USA Louis, like the UK its a scapegoat for all the ills in the world. I can assure you that not many Cubans I met, and I speak decent Spanish (when required), were enamoured with Castro's regime, but you had to be pretty isolated from others to get their views, as neighbours are not always what they seem to be. All accommodation is in a total state of disrepair, the best ones being Russian built apartment blocks, more like prison blocks. Police and government employees not paid for years, corruption is rife amongst themselves (tourists are safe, too big a jail sentence!)

Anyway you didn't answer my question, when were you last in Cuba to see the results of this idealistic revolution, and don't keep blaming the yanks, if Castro had had any common sense he could have negotiated with his closest neighbours instead of nearly causing WWIII by sucking up to the Soviets and their warped ideology at that time.

[cappy]

well i wouldnt call barbados a shithole ....or many other islands ....no time for jamaica which is more in line with your thoughts....but holidaying in barbados any where in the island is safer than most of the uk .....and no tourist village ...nevis st lucia ...more troubles in the french rivierai suggested barbados to my secretary on her honeymoon.....she loved it and has been since

[Lewis McColl]

The USA has an economic strangle hold on Cuba since the 60's they also advised other Caribbean nations that if they traded with Cuba they would enjoy the same fate. It was also suggested to other nations that trade with Cuba would be frowned upon. They still threaten European nations with trade sanctions if they trade with Iran.

Back to Cuba. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-c...-idUSKBN1WO2LP

https://news.yahoo.com/cuba-us-embar...182211331.html

[Tony Taylor]

#3 I wonder when you were last in Cuba Louis and saw the great results of the revolution. I was there a couple of years ago and the results don't seem to be ideal, no public transport, rail journeys once a day, if they are not cancelled, internal flights require booking 2-3 weeks ahead and are probably cancelled anyway. Two currencies local and tourist, locals can go to prison if they have tourist currency. long queues for food and clothing, children's clothing virtually unobtainable. We had friends who returned before we set off and told us tipping was no good as nothing to buy, take childrens things, We filled a suitcase with kids clothes from Primark, together with excercise books and crayons/pens, toothpaste and brushes (virtually unobtainable in Cuba) and believe me the ladies in our cabin and restaurants cried with thanks when we gave items to them.

Some ideals are great on paper, but in the real world are less so, and as always the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

I holidayed in Cuba a few years back, in a more remote area than the usual tourist centres.
Paracetomol was woth more than giving dollar tips.

[Keith Tindell]

Thats what i found Tony, One guy i met while out for a stroll, was begging me for any blood pressure tablets, which i could not do as i only had my quota with me. The hotel we were in would have been built in Batistas days, and had in its time been beautiful, but was certainly showing when we were there, complete lack of maintenance and materials, we could have had a better shower by what was leaking through the ceiling light fitting when it rained, kt

[Ivan Cloherty]

#27 The solution was in Castro's own hands, but he'd rather his people starved to suit his ideology, dress it up as much as you want with cnp, but pride was the downfall of many a man, regardless of who suffered in 'The Cause' Bet the hero didn't suffer in his gilt cage

[Captain Kong]

I have a Cuban friend who now lives in Miami.
He escaped in a boat to Florida after his mother and father were killed by Castro`s men.
He had 7$ in his pocket when he landed, enough for $1 a night in a doss house,

He started work as a waiter in a Restaraunt and later invented a roller system for rotating doors in Hotels and restaurants etc.
He is now a Multi Millionaire and lives in a Very Large Mansion near Miami.
So he has done well
Could not have done that in Cuba
Brian