Let's go to Havana!
 

http://www.opencuba.org/

The travel industry is trying to get Obama to open the door to Cuba and end the 50 year old travel ban.

I am all for this...

Meet me in Havana for Mojitos on the Malecón

Hell no. Not until the locals are allowed to do the same things as tourists.

Kuan's right, but I still look forward to the day when there is a Major League Baseball team in Havana.

The embargo has not worked in 50 years. Maybe we need to do something else like encourage investment and travel down there. Give the Cubans McDonalds, Disney, Chevy, and dollars and they will forget the revolution pretty quickly.

I agree that the Castro brothers have to go, but NOTHING we have done has done anything but strengthen their grip on Cuba.

OK, I said Kuan was right, but you're also right. I guess I'm flip flopping here.

It hasn't worked that way in China.

It's really, really unfortunate that McDonalds, Disney, and Chevy are what have come to symbolize the US and are the things we have to offer the world. :(

Do you "YAHOO" ? :)

Well, they nationalize healthcare, banks and car companies too, doesn't that count?

I went to cuba as part of "government research team":Da decade ago..my wife works for the Govt.as do some friends of hers,easy enough if you word the visa right.
Had to go thru Honduras.
Now,for any old car buffs,the plain truth is many of the vintage cars being driven are essentially the shells of cars with sometimes Russian and european drivetrains,occasionally just different trannies,rear ends,n*gg*r rigged suspension units,Et,AL.
Saw a nice "20 foot" '39 Packard but the motor was a 6 cyl Bedford truck flathead.
Did manage to snag some really rare trumpets and saxes for cheap and found a fellow sails to Miami and back who would smuggle the stuff out of Havana and mail them to me from a Miami post office,for U.S dollars nonetheless,they're king down there!that's how Rum and Cigars get to these shores.
Going back in 3 months.

We actually have an office in Havana to process visas. I have been trying for a year to wrangle a way down there. The list of techs that want to go there to 'fix issues' is 10 pages long... Obviously there is a pent up demand for us to visit Cuba. I think we could really engage the people there and maybe bring about a 'velvet revolution' like they had in Czechoslovakia by going there in droves, spending $$ investing in their country, and by showing the people we are not United Fruit by treating them with respect (while drinking mojitos and seeing the cabaret shows -- hey we are NOT all saints right?)

We should have swept down there as soon as the USSR fell apart and stopped sponsoring them.

There's nothing that will corrupt communism like money and free enterprise!

Do you think the Chinese government has been weakened?

We cannot confuse the Chinese with Communism. They TALK Communism but act like robber baron Capitalists of the kind that had Marx and Engels in a twist. Low wages, harsh conditions, no vacations... sounds like a Worker's paradise to me...

What China has become is a one party POLICE STATE

I don't think for all their faults the Cubans are anywhere as restrictive or as brutal as the Chinese. I don't think the Cuban people would put up with what the Chinese do.

I also think that ignoring the island is not getting us anywhere. Heck we deal with VIETNAM and they beat us in a war!

I would love to see a Free Cuba (no Castros and no Batistas either) a government run along the lines of what their Constitution actually says.

Cutting through the red tape, an easier way
 

I have read for years that all you need to do is to fly to Toronto or Cancun Mexico, and contact a travel agency there that will buy you RT tickets to Havana and back.


There is an unwritten, informal, agreement that the Cuban Aduanas (customs) officials will agree to *NOT* stamp your US passport either "entrada" or "salida" so upon return to the USA ultimately, nobody will EVER know, in US customs, that you wen to Cuba and had a nice time.

Through the internet, it is easy to arrange lodgings in Havana, anywhere you wish.


I thought about going there, with my wife about 8 years ago, and looked into all of it pretty thoroughly.

Finally settled on a cruise that hit San Juan, PR, instead.:)

Also, if you are in one of the accepted and legally "exempted" professions, like accredited teachers or journalists or others, you can legally go directly there to Cuba from the USA.


What Carleton Hughes said about the cars is mostly true, but not always. Gifts like small parts such as spark plugs and filters for the old cars are much adored in Cuba....