Cuba Democracia y Vida

La voz en Suecia de los cubanos cívicos de intramuros y del exílio

Editor y Redactor: Guillermo Milán Reyes, Miembro del Instituto Nacional de Periodismo Latinoamericano (INPL)

For more publications in English
or Swedish click on respective
flag above

Cantidad de Visitantes: 64 102 088

Google


Enlaces :
DIARIO DE CUBA
INFOBAE
CUBANET

14 Y MEDIO. DIARIO HECHO EN CUBA.



MEDICINA CUBANA
BUENAVISTA V CUBA WEBLOG
RELIGION EN REVOLUCION.

PATRIA DE MARTÍ EN ESPAÑOL. DEL POLITÓLOGO Dr. Julio M. Shiling.

NOTICIAS MENTIROSAS. Contra la propaganda de Rusia: nuevo portal de verificación.

CIBER CUBA.
WEB DE YOUTUBE DE LA UNIÓN PATRIÓTICA DE CUBA LAS GLORIOSAS FUERZAS PACÍFICAS UNPACU.

DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS.COM



Observatorio Cubano de Derechos Humanos.
FOROFILO: Blog de Filosofía del Dr. Alberto Roteta Dorado.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW8puy8WjMABrA7e7FUvG-A
CANAL EVTV
LA PATILLA. WEB VENEZOLANA DE NOTICIAS.






CUBITA NAO.
EL PITAZO
PANAM POST: NOTICIAS Y ANALISIS DE LAS AMERICAS.
DOLAR TODAY
EL NACIONAL. CARACAS VENEZUELA.
ABC.ES INTERNACIONAL
EL NUEVO HERALD
EL PAÍS
FORO ANTITOTALITARIO FANTU


 

Buena Vista V Cuba

Blog de Medic Cubana

Blog de Montaner

Blog Religión en Revolución

Blog Omni Zona Franca

Patria de Martí

Cuba Ind. y Democrática

Cubanet.org

Cuba 1952- 1959



The Truth About Tourist Apartheid in Cuba. By Kim-Marie Evans.
  
16-02-2015

web/folder.asp?folderID=215


The Truth About 'Tourist Apartheid' in Cuba
By Kim-Marie Evans
Yahoo.com
February 16, 2015

Contrary to recent headlines, Cuba is not flinging open its doors for tourist travel. Although there have been recent changes in U.S. regulations, it is still technically illegal for an American to be a tourist in Cuba. In fact, during a recent art-buying trip I took to Cuba, I learned there is a term used to describe the visitor situation in the country: “tourist apartheid.” In other words, travelers still remain separate from the general population.

The purpose of my trip was to buy art, but the visit also allowed me to learn more about the lives of “real” Cubans — which is very different from what tourists see and experience. The people I interviewed whispered their answers while glancing over their shoulders. “Who could possibly be listening?” I asked.

The truth is that anyone can be listening.

I took a similar trip to Cuba last year. That was when I learned that freedom is still scarce in the country. During that trip, I was followed by a spy who somehow knew that I was carrying a book by a well-known dissident Cuban blogger — even though I hadn’t shown the book to anyone and had not left it in my hotel room. The ministry of tourism contacted my group leader, who made me surrender the “anti-government propaganda.”

The Truth About 'Tourist Apartheid' in Cuba

We aren’t imagining that Cuba is an oppressive socialist regime — it is.

To get a job there, Cubans still need to be able to provide documentation that they are good socialists. Telling an American journalist the story of your life could jeopardize that. So for that reason, most names in this story have been changed. I spent my time on the ground trying to answer my own questions about the current situation in Cuba. Here is what I learned:

There is a huge financial divide

During a lunch at a popular tourist restaurant in Havana, a doorman pulled me aside. Under the guise of a “restaurant tour,” he told me his story. After completing six years of medical school and obtaining a prominent position in the hospital, he earns $52 per month — roughly the same amount it costs to eat lunch in the restaurant where he works. He stays in Cuba because he loves what he does. He continues to practice medicine because he loves what he does. When he met his wife’s family, they were disappointed that she was marrying a doctor; her last boyfriend had been a waiter. Right now, waiters and taxi drivers earn more than doctors and engineers, because they cater to tourists, whereas doctors and engineers cater to the general population.

There are two currencies: one for Cubans and one for tourists. The tourist dollar, the CUC, is worth 25 Cuban pesos and is roughly equivalent to one U.S. dollar. It would be reasonable to think that in a country where the average income is 20 CUCs per month, food and shelter would be inexpensive. Not true, according to my tour guide, Julia, who said “it costs $250 to $300 per month to live.” Those who don’t work full-time in the tourist industry moonlight in it or become creative at making money on the side. One artist told me, “All Cubans are capitalists.”

There is a huge information gap

When I needed help carrying a case of water to my hotel room (the same five-star hotel where Jay Z and Beyoncé stayed), my driver was not allowed to help me take it up in the elevator. Until recently, Cubans were not even allowed in hotel lobbies. The rationale? A hotel lobby offers forbidden access to international information. In lobbies, Wi-Fi is free, and U.S. television shows blare in hotel bars.

Julia whispered to me that if she were caught watching American television, she would go to jail. She is not a subversive; she just really likes HGTV. And while Internet is not restricted in Cuba, as it is in China, access costs $4 per hour.

There is a scarcity of food

The Cuban government wants tourists to believe that food is plentiful, and for tourists, it is. At hotels, tourists are offered eggs cooked a dozen ways every morning.

The story is very different for Cuban nationals. One woman I met (we’ll call her Maria) told me that getting eggs for her children is challenging. Eggs are often not available — not in a bodega (aka, a ration market) or even on the more expensive black market. She explained: “Sometimes the trucks transporting the eggs don’t work or have petrol; sometimes the drivers are not working. Everything has to go right for eggs to make it to market.”

My visit to a local bodega confirmed that what is offered by the government is far more scarce than the authorities would have Americans believe.

There is actually a fear of freedom

While Americans muse that the Cubans’ biggest fear is that we will overrun their little island country with McDonald’s outlets, their biggest fear is actually that their families will leave for the U.S. at the first opportunity. Miguel told me that “every Cuban family has an empty closet from someone who left.” When I asked him why people stay when they could leave if they chose, he told me it’s usually to take care of relatives. His lamented that his son will most likely leave as soon as he has the chance. “Everyone wants to leave,” he said.

Shortly after President Obama announced the easing of restrictions on travel, masses of Cubans took to rafts in a desperate bid to reach the U.S. “They are worried that the U.S. will change the wet-foot/dry-foot rule,” Miguel explained. He is referring to the policy stating that Cubans who are caught at sea are returned to the island, but the lucky ones who make it to shore are given preferential immigration status.

The old guard still exists

At a late-night, wine-infused dinner in an art studio outside Havana, I had a chance to debate politics and the coming “avalanche of Americans” with a group of artists. The conversation started out boisterous, and the coming changes were hotly debated. While it stopped short of being anti-American, there was a definite sentiment that U.S relations aren’t all they are cracked up to be. As I began furiously scribbling notes, the room quieted down. When I asked if I had gone too far with my questions, one of the artists answered: “I think the silence speaks for itself.”

While most Cubans will freely tell you that they hope for change, some in the artist community enjoy a certain sense of Cuban pride. Cuban artists are allowed to travel abroad to promote and sell their art. And as one artist described it: “When you are at an art show with others from, say, Spain or Guatemala, collectors are only interested in talking to you, because you are Cuban. Fidel gave us that.”

This type of pro-revolution discourse is described by Cubans as “dressing one’s self in the flag.”

I later learned that this particular artist is the granddaughter of one of the most famous revolutionaries in Cuban history. She also admonished my guide to “warn her the next time you bring a reporter around.”

The only way to truly know what is going to happen in Cuba is to spend time on the ground. Unfortunately that is still a difficult prospect for most Americans. The iron curtain will lift gradually, but the future remains uncertain.

 

___________________

 

Comentarios al artículo






 Get a new challenge


 
04-11-2023Robert Malley, key figure once behind U.S-Cuba policy and the most senior official focused on the Middle East both in the Biden and Obama administrations, is under FBI investigation, reportedly due to serious security concerns.By Maria Werlau.+videos
10-01-202263 YEARS OF OPPRESSION AND MISRULE IN CUBA. By Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet. Presidente de la Fundación Lawton de Derechos Humanos. Presidente del Proyecto Emilia. Medalla Presidencial de la Libertad.
12-02-2021The Left Confesses Its Election Sins.The executioners of this horrifically organized and plotted aberration of America’s democracy, are now in phase three: criminalizing the opposition. By Julio M. Shiling. El American.
10-01-2021The Crisis of American Democracy. By Julio M. Shiling. El American.
10-11-2020Cuba: Governmental Distortion of the Poverty Index. According to indirect estimates, 40-51% of the Cuban people live in poverty. By Marlene Azor Hernández. Diario de Cuba.
21-05-2020Cuba: The Tenaciousness of the Obsolete. By Fernando Dámaso. Translating Cuba.  
21-05-2020Cuba: Hoarding Versus Scarcity. Hoarding happens when there is scarcity. When the latter is eliminated, the former disappears. It cannot be eliminated by persecution, repression, or confiscation. By Fernando Dámaso. Translating Cuba.
30-12-2019The Voting Age in Latin America. By Carlos Alberto Montaner. LAHT.
09-11-2019A jailed Cuban activist is in grave danger. He must be released. The Washington Post Editorial Board.
01-11-2019The Destruction in Chile. By Carlos Alberto Montaner. LAHT.
29-09-2019Arbitrary Arrests in Cuba: Fact or Fiction? By Eloy Viera Canive. Havana Times/El Toque.  
25-09-2019The Case of the Cuban Diplomats Expelled from the US. By Juan Antonio Blanco. Diario de Cuba.
16-09-2019Mogherini's Visit and the EU's Deal with Cuba. By Osmel Ramirez Alvarez. Havana Times.
28-08-2019After Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. By Miguel Henrique Otero. 14ymedio.
28-08-2019Summary of a report by Cuban economist Emilio Morales. By Vicente Morin Aguado. Havana Times.
22-08-2019Cuba fails to compensate for civil aviation victims as required by law. Cuba Archive.
17-08-2019The 5 Reasons for the Success of the Embargo Against Venezuela's Maduro Regime. By Carlos Alberto Montaner. LAHT.
17-08-2019Cuba: Reform or Violence? By Juan Antonio Blanco. Diario de Cuba.
20-07-2019Cubazuelas Diplomatic Debacle. By Juan Antonio Blanco. Diario de Cuba.
14-07-2019The Day Innocence Drowned. By Yoani Sanchez. 14ymedio.
14-07-2019Venezuela Today: The Left's Eyes are Bleeding. By Caridad. Havana Times.
25-06-2019Economic Minister Gil on Accommodating Cuba's Import Mentality. By Elías Amor Bravo. Translating Cuba/14ymedio.
23-06-2019Will the Cuban Revolution Survive a New Special Period Crisis? By Osmel Ramirez Alvarez. Havana Times.
17-06-2019Venezuela, Cuba and How Political Power is Never Surrendered by Peaceful Means. By Carlos Alberto Montaner. LAHT.
01-06-2019Caracas, Between Oslo and Havana. By Juan Antonio Blanco. Diario de Cuba.
01-06-2019Cuba: The Third Time's the End. By Roberto Álvarez Quiñones. Diario de Cuba.
19-05-2019 Venezuela or How to Postpone the Crisis Using the Nicaraguan Model. By Carlos Alberto Montaner. LAHT.
10-05-2019Loyalty in Venezuela in Times of Crisis. By Carlos Alberto Montaner. LAHT.
07-04-2019Here in Venezuela We've Become Zombies. By Caridad. Havana Times.
17-03-2019Almost Two and a Half Million Cubans Didn't Vote Yes. By Ivan García. Translating Cuba.  
03-03-2019What We Gained and Lost with Cuba's Constitutional Referendum. By Osmel Ramirez Alvarez. Havana Times.
19-02-2019The Castroist Military Junta Is Above the New Constitution. By Roberto Alvarez Quiñones. Diario de Cuba.
17-02-2019Cuba: Constitutional Referendum, Food Shortage And Social Unrest. By Iván García. Translating Cuba.
13-02-2019Understanding China's Interests in Venezuela and Latin America. By Beatrice E. Rangel. LAHT.
04-02-2019The Venezuelan regime of Nicolas Maduro is sinking. What will Cuba do? By Carlos Alberto Montaner. 14ymedio.
04-02-2019Shortages of Essential Products Worsens in Cuba. By Osmel Ramirez Alvarez. Havana Times.
26-01-2019Cuba healthcare crisis deepens 8 years after mass manslaughter at Mazorra. Cuba Archive.
20-01-2019The Multiple Ways the Maduro Regime Kills. By Miguel Henrique Otero. 14ymedio.
11-01-2019It's Going to Be a Tough Year in Cuba. By Irina Echarry. Havana Times.
11-01-2019In Bolivia, the Emperor Truly is Nude. by Beatrice E. Rangel. LAHT.
11-01-2019Venezuela: A cautionary tale. By Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarters.
08-01-2019Wealth Doesn't Only Come From Work, There's More. By Elías Amor Bravo. 14ymedio.
05-01-2019Cuba 2018: Neo-Castroism and an Economy in Hibernation. By Iván García. Translating Cuba.  
04-01-20192018 ends with Latin America trapped between hope and despair. By Beatrice Rangel. LAHT.
02-01-201960 Years of Permanent War. By Ariel Hidalgo. 14ymedio.
27-12-2018Sixty Years After the Drunkenness. By Carlos Alberto Montaner.
10-12-2018Recovering Cuba's Pre-Castro human rights legacy. By John Suarez. Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter.
20-11-2018A Very Interesting Account of Events, at a Hospital in Holguin, Cuba. By Osmel Ramirez Álvarez. Havana Times.
08-11-2018Cuba and the Power of a Just Principle. By Veronica Vega. Havana Times. 
30-10-2018Why We Must Defend Nicaraguas Bishops. By Carlos F. Chamorro. Havana Times/Confidencial.




                                       
    Eitores y Redactores  

Guillermo Milán Reyes. Artículos, Entrevistas y Documentos.

Entrevistas realizadas a Guillermo Milán Reyes, editor y redactor de esta página Web "Cuba Democracia Y Vida.org", por varios periodistas de importantes periódicos en Maputo-Mozambique, a mediados del 2004. CUBA DEMOCRACIA Y VIDA.ORG

Colaboradores:

Dr. Alberto Roteta Dorado: ARTÍCULOS Y OPINIONES SOBRE CUBA Y LA SITUACIÓN MUNDIAL.

Dr. Eloy A. González: ARTÍCULOS SOBRE LA SITUACIÓN CUBANA Y ASUNTOS RELIGIOSOS DE CUBA.

Imgemiero Químico Roberto L. Capote Castillo:

Profesor José Vilasuso Rivero. Artículos y Documentos sobre el Che Guevara.

Julio M. Shiling

Lcdo. Sergio Ramos

Domingo Lezcano, colaborador de nuestra Web CubaDemocracia yVida.ORG: ARTÍCULOS Y OPINIONES.

Referencia en línea
Diccionario, enciclopedia y más
Palabra:
Buscar en:
Diccionario de español
Diccionario de inglés
Diccionario de alemán
Diccionario de francés
Diccionario de italiano
Diccionario de árabe
Diccionario de chino (S)
Diccionario de polaco
Diccionario de portugués
Diccionario de holandés
Diccionario de noruego
Diccionario de griego
Diccionario de ruso
Diccionario de turco
Sólo en inglés:


  
 
  
 Canal YouTube
de CDV.ORG
CANAL YOU TUBE DE CubaDemocracia y Vida.org
 
 
PRESOS POLITICOS 
 
 REPRESORES CUBANOS
 REPRESORES CUBANOS 
 
 
 
 Cuba: Derechos Humanos.
DERECHOS HUMANOS : HUMAN RIGHTS

CUBA:
REPRESORES CUBANOS.
ESBIRROS CASTRISTAS
Cuba: PÁGINA PARA REGISTRAR A LOS REPRESORES O ESBIRROS DE LA TIRANÍA DE LOS CASTRO.

 Cuba: Represión.
REPRESIÓN EN CUBA

Videos de UNPACU
CUBANOS DE A PIE OPINAN. VIDEOS REALIZADOS POR LA GLORIOSA UNPACU:

Noticias sobre Venezuela:
TODO SOBRE VENEZUELA.

 Sobre el Mártir Oswaldo Payá:
OSWALDO PAYA SARDIÑAS: NOTAS DE PRENSA, DOCUMENTOS, VIDEOS, NOTICIAS.

Sobre Orlando Zapata.
ORLANDO ZAPATA TAMAYO. MÁRTIR DE CUBA. VIDEOS, ARTÍCULOS, OPINIONES, DOCUMENTOS Y NOTICIAS.

Cuba: Damas de Blanco.
DAMAS DE BLANCO

Canal VIMEO de CDV.ORG
 Canal VIMEO de CubaDemocraciayVida.org

Dr. Médico  Oncólogo
Eloy A. González
     NUEVO LIBRO:       
 “Una Patria atesorada para  
muchos y perdida para otros”

MÉDICO Y ESCRITOR ELOY A. GONZÁLEZ: EXCELENTE NUEVO LIBRO:  “Una Patria atesorada para muchos  y perdida para otros”
MÉDICO Y ESCRITOR ELOY A. GONZÁLEZ: EXCELENTE NUEVO LIBRO:  “Una Patria atesorada para muchos  y perdida para otros”

 

Haga Click en la imagen abajo para
comprar este excelente libro del
Escritor, e
Ingeniero Químico
Roberto L. Capote Castillo.

 Nuevo Libro N° 48: "Desde las orillas del Sena". Tomo XXVII. Serie “Cartas a Ofelia”. Por Félix José Hernández.

BIBLIOCUBA:  Crónicas coleccionables. Libros “Cartas a Ofelia” . Félix José Hernández

NUEVO LIBRO DEL ABOGADO Faisel Iglesias: "DOLOR Y PERDON" LA HISTORIA DE LA MUSICA CUBANA A TRAVÉS DE BENNY MORE (En español)

 Libro: "ASÍ  SE VOTA EN CUBA": Cuba es una pequeña Corea del Norte. Dijo el autor del libro Leandro Querido.

Haga CLIC AQUÍ
para comprar el libro
en la editorial de origen
.
 

ESCRITOR ELOY A. GONZÁLEZ:
NUEVO LIBRO:
Notas sobre
la religiosidad del
cubano bajo una
dictadura  prolongada.
CLICK LA IMAGEN DEBAJO

NUEVO LIBRO DE ELOY A. GONZÁLEZ: Notas sobre la religiosidad del cubano bajo una dictadura prolongada.

La Habana bien
vale unos Títulos
Por el Dr. Eloy A González.
CLICK  LA IMAGEN DEBAJO
“La Habana bien vale unos Títulos”. Una selección de artículos sobre Salud, Medicina y Educación Médica en Cuba. Por el Dr. Eloy A. González.

  Click debajo y Compre
este
hermoso libro
de Manolo Pozo.
"Aurora-Poesía": Nuevo libro de Manolo Pozo. Escritor, Periodista Independiente, fue durante 14 años columnista del periódico "20 de Mayo", Ex-Prisionero Político cubano y Miembro del Nuevo Presidio Político Plantado.

 MOVIMIENTO CRISTIANO LIBERACION
EL BLOG DE DANILO MALDONADO, "EL SEXTO".
RADIO REPÚBLICA CUBA
ATeVe
ICLEP: INSTITUTO CUBANO POR LA LIBERTAD DE EXPRESIÓN Y PRENSA.
YUSNABY POST.
CUBANOS DE ADENTRO Y DE ABAJO
PUENTE DEMOCRATICO
VIDEOS DESDE CUBA: CRIOLLO "LBERAL".
PRO CUBA LIBRE
NEO CLUB
ARCHIVO CUBA
LIBERTAD DIGITAL
TELEVISIÓN ESPAÑOLA EN VIVO. TRES CANALES EN DIRECTO: CANAL 24H, CANAL 1 DE LA TVE Y CANAL DE DEPORTE.
BLOG DEL DR. MICHAEL LARRONDO: Médicos Disidentes sin Censura.
 



Content Management System SimpleCMS

©2005-2024 Cuba Democracia y Vida.
E-mail: info@cubademocraciayvida.org