Posted on 02/03/2003 11:36:29 AM PST by Dqban22
My Chilean father+mother-in-laws went to Varadero, quite beautiful and very 'well run'.
They enjoyed it a lot but wondered why the food portions were so big -- the answer ruined the rest of the vacation.
Of course, the answer as to why the food portions at the hotel were so big is that the waiters and cooks would take the leftover food off the plate and this was a crucial part of their livelyhood, along with the dollar tips -- being a waiter in Varadero is considered a much better job than a teacher or even a doctor...
If Curtis LeMay's plan for dealing with the Soviet missles was implemented in 1962 instead of Kennedy's, these people would have a much better life today.
Fidel's regime should be changed NEXT, after Saddam's.
As result of homebrew vodka the death rate by alcohol poisoning in the USSR soared.
What makes it particularly sad is that Cuba--had it stayed a true representative republic--could have been one of THE richest countries in the Americas. Between many miles and miles of sandy beaches for tourism, huge amounts of arable land, and lots of mineral resources, Cuban exports of agricultural goods and minerals and people all over the world flocking to the beaches all over the island could have made Cuba MANY billions of US dollars in revenue per year.
But with the Castro regime in place, the result is a destitute population living not much above subsistance levels, and now without aid from the Soviet Union, the country is rapidly falling into ruin. :(
Say anything to a liberal about Cuba, and their knee-jerk response is "but they have free medical care!".
We should annex Cuba and move the Montreal Expos to Havana.
I lived on 30th St in Miramar, four miles from the U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Vedado, Havana. Two blocks down the street from me, on 5th Avenue, was the Iranian Embassy. There weren't many Iranians stationed there, but those that were were scandalized. The "jinateras," the streetwalking girls, clustered out in front of their mission every evening, trying to flag down tourists or anyone with dollars.
At the Jamaican-run Superclubs at Varadero (two hours east of Havana), the foreigners lived like royalty. We as diplomatic personnel paid $65 a day per person, all you can eat, drink and scuba dive. No Cubans who didn't work there were allowed on the property, and it's like that in every tourist area. Those Cubans who DO work on the properties live pretty well; at least they get to eat what the paying guests to eat.
At the Melia Cohiba Hotel on the Malecon, there are security people all over the lobby. It's a beautiful hotel, but once inside, one could be in Denver or Bangkok; apart from the Cuban cigars being sold there, there was none of Havana's soul. I walked in there on morning accompanied by a colleague of Puerto Rican heritage. We were dressed similiarly in T-shirts, shorts, ball caps and Tevas. The goons let me pass, but they were on Felix like Holy on the Pope. He had to produce his diplomatic passport to gain entry. And he was a signed-in guest there.
And the left-wing politicians from the U.S. along with the prettier-than-usual script memorizers go there and get led around by the nose by their communist handlers.
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