Cuba: Why tourism is no longer promoted

Cuba: Why tourism is no longer promoted:

CUBA
Why tourism is no longer promoted
Posted on Thu, Jan. 10, 2008
By BILL PERRY
drbillperry@comcast.net

I decided after my last trip two years ago that I wouldn't be going to
Cuba again in the near future. It was just too depressing -- nothing
works, everything is falling apart, and the agony of the Cuban people
and their day-to-day living are hard to tolerate on a constant basis.
That and Fidel Castro's new anti-tourism efforts, such as charging
people 20 percent of the money they bring into Cuba, made that decision
easy.

So why did I go back in December? I have some very dear friends in
Havana whom I missed. That and the fact that once Cuba gets under your
skin, there is always a pull to go back. This time, unfortunately,
despite things rather than because of them.

The situation has deteriorated and continues to do so. People are more
angry, depressed and desperate than ever. During the ''Special Period,''
when the Soviet Union left Castro high and dry, people had money but
there was nothing to buy with it. Nada. Not even food. One day, or so it
seemed, all the cats in Havana disappeared. Now, it's the inverse: There
are lots of things, but no money with which to buy them.