Havana - Rollei & Pentax 6x7

[Colin Corneau]

I wonder if it is possible to go to Cuba with cameras and not photograph the old cars.

Why don't you try? There's no substitute for first-hand experience.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Totally right, Dave. A paradise for us capitalists to enjoy -- with hard currency, imported beer and fancy resorts. The average people there have a really difficult time. Such a ridiculous system, but somehow it keeps creaking along.

They are doing some things right.

The WWF's Living Planet Report 2006 assesses sustainable development using the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Human Development Index (HDI) and the ecological footprint. The index is calculated using life expectancy, literacy and education, and per capita GDP.

The UNDP considers an HDI value of more than 0.8 to be high human development. According to the ecological footprint, a measure of human demand on the biosphere, 1.8 global hectares per person or less denotes sustainability. The only country in the world that meets both of the above criteria is Cuba.

 

[Tom A]

yes, you might only make $25-30/month - but you have some of the best healthcare in the world (free). You also have an education system that works - all the way up to a Ph.D level, again free! You have subsidized or free housing.
Most of the Cuban's I have talked to would like some more freedom, but they are also aware that this comes with a price - taxes, increased cost-of-living etc.
The US embargo is a bit of a joke too. Countries like Canada, Chine, Venezuela are investing heavily in the infrastructure - including tourism and agriculture.
Just like any other dictatorship - the population is suffering - but in Cuba the do it with a certain panache'. The Castro's dictate and the population nods and does very much what it wants!
As for persecution - I don't think the US track record is particulary good here either - the post 9/11 dismantling of judicial rights for the "local" is not pretty - by any standard!

 

[jsrockit]

A few really nice ones here... 🙂

 

[ishpop]

Love that Rollei...

 

[mph]

I love drinking Bucanero beer, watching the sunset in Malekon!

Great pics mate!

 

[Bob Michaels]

yes, you might only make $25-30/month - but you have some of the best healthcare in the world (free). You also have an education system that works - all the way up to a Ph.D level, again free! You have subsidized or free housing.
<snip>

Having spent 6 weeks out of the last 9 months in Cuba, I will say that I have come to love the Cuban people and appreciate their culture.

But I certainly would not call their health care some of the best in the world. I have been inside too many Cuban hospitals and know too many Cuban doctors and medical personnel. I tell my wife that if I have a serious medical emergency while in Cuba, come get my *ss out of there and back to a US hospital with US doctors.

Tony, a pediatric neurosurgeon in Sancti Spiritus, no longer has to walk to the hospital for emergency surgery. He can now get there quicker on the 2nd hand bicycle I bought him. He is a great guy but if one of my grandchildren needed brain surgery, he would be about my last choice.

Yes, their education is free. But what good is it when you have a PhD selling home grown vegetables in the black market to make enough money to buy food because he cannot live on what he makes as a university professor.

Yes, housing if almost free. But your family lives in a 400 square foot uninsulated apartment with no A/C, no heat, possibly / possibly not running water, no washing machine. I have been in some of the worst welfare housing here and it is much better than the way most Cubans live. And the really bad thing is that there is no legal way to work harder and improve your accommodations.

So while I love the Cuban people, I have to say their medical care, education, housing, and even meeting basic caloric intake needs lag behind most of the developed world. The Cuban government is fortunate they have the US embargo to blame their economic problems on so they do not have to acknowledge they are real problem.