It has been suggested many times that President Obama may lift the ban on travel to Cuba during his administration. All politics aside, things could get interesting. Cuba is the United States’ next nearest neighbor after Canada and Mexico. Just a mere 90 miles off the coast of Florida open travel to Cuba would not have to be expensive or time consuming. It is quite possible that day cruises out of Miami will become a popular excursion. Cuban cigars will no longer be a rare delicacy.
It is possible that many Americans who travel to Cuba will see their first true glimpse of Russian culture. The Russian influence in Cuba is not to be underestimated. American products have not been sold there for many decades. While cars from the 1950’s are still occasionally seen, it is more common to see a Russian made vehicle.
The history of the island will attract many. Cuban history has not been widely told to American students. The opportunity to learn so much more about the bloody battles that took place so close to American soil will fascinate many. True (or as true as one can make up) stories about pirates of the Carribbean are likely to entertain many visitors to Cuba. It is likely not known to many students that such famed stories as Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenseon and Peter Pan by James Matthew Barrie have roots in the Cuban island Isla de la Juventad (the largest island off the coast of the main island). But the tales of its native and pirate inhabitants, as well as long canoes (which were often used by pirates as well as indigenous peoples) and the hunt for the great crocodile on the island will be more than just a little familiar to some.
It will most likely be the history, the thrill of the unknown, the chance to be one of the first Americans to freely venture there, and the draw of the enticing white sand beaches that will bring many tourists to Cuba, if and when its borders should open. The music, the flair, the tropical fruits, and Carribbean night life will likely not scare anyone away.
Now we just wait and see if the embargo will be lifted.
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Comments: 6
Yet ----China, a bad communist/socialist/dictatorship, is one of our "Most Favored Nation Trading Partners"
Idiocy!
Strictly Republican idiocy, Republicans catering to the exiled Cuban voters in Florida.
because they were part and parcel of the ruling dictatorship/oligarchy of Bautista’s Cuba.
If Obama allows tourism and trade with Cuba, he will simply be labeled Socialist/Communist.
Nixon/Regan/Bush/Bush who negotiated the movement of jobs and our money to China are heros of Capitalism.
Cuba: The embargo was enacted after the Castro government expropriated (stole) the properties of United States citizens and corporations (notably those that belonged to the United Fruit Company and the ITT).
the United States reduced the Cuban import quota of brown sugar by 7,000,000 tons which the USA needed to break up the sugar cartels as they were stronger than any drug cartel we have today. Cuba has even refused US food aid and loans in the past, and continues to do so.
The street is a 2 way 99% of the time.
~M
The embargo has been a massive failure.
The bass fishing, largely pristine, is supposed to be incredible.
~M