La Habana in 20 Minutes

[Marksman_91]

Looks like a city stuck in the 60s, only that even the buildings don't even seem well-maintained

But of course, the US economic embargo is the sole reason why the city is like this, and not at all due to the policies of the government that has been running the country for over 50 years.

[Warpy]

1. It actually looks a bit more prosperous

than it did in the last batch a of pictures a buddy sent me from a trip there about 16 years ago. More buildings have been painted (none had back then), some of the cars are new, most of the trucks are newer, and it looks like a lot of those old colonial buildings are being gutted for rebuilding. People are actually dressed a little better now. They always looked healthier than we do.

People picking through construction rubble for useful items happens here, too.

I'm just wondering why that guayabera shop was shut by order of the board of health.

In any case, they're still poor for a lot of complex reasons. A government that has failed to move them to a more mixed economy is certainly part of it, but not all of it.

[Marksman_91]

5. This prosperity is likely due to the government loosening its grip in the economy

This BBC documentary explains it well

Basically, in the last few years, the Cuban government has implemented reforms which has allowed more Cubans to effectively make profit for themselves and build up their own businesses without government intervention. People can see it everywhere now, everyone can buy and sell houses, open up a restaurant, etc. This basically means that the strictly socialist regime that the Castros set up is effectively coming to an end, where privatized industry starts to become the norm. The Cuban people are actually getting a taste of capitalism now, and they are enjoying it, and it's very likely they won't go back to the old system again because of this.

[Warpy]

7. Agreed, and I hope it's setting the stage

for liberalization into a mixed economy when the Castro brothers are gone. In any case, Raul seems to have a looser fist than Fidel did.

Messy, mixed economies are the only ones that can be both competitive and compassionate, the only ones that have a chance to work for the greatest number of people.

[joshcryer]

9. That documentary is repulsive! Holy shit! $800k houses for sale!

Fucking bullshit! It's direct proof that the fucking "communist Cuba" is no more "communist" than the dirt on my feet (I just came in from outside there's a lot of dirt on my feet, forgot my shoes but had to get something from the car). How could anyone attain such a valuable home in a communist country? It's impossible! Fucking lies, fucking evil, fucking propaganda.

Then there's the part where the rich guy has a farm and hires black only workers. Yeah, blacks in Cuba don't get Miami exile money (this is established fact) so the Latino population can exploit them to fuck and back as wage slaves.

I am an unabashed socialist and I find this documentary to be very eye opening on Cuba.

The most fucked up part about it is that it shows that Cuba went from "communist" to capitalist so fucking quickly. It is utterly shameful.

Don't get me started on the woman who sold a $50k house and got a $300 pittance. She was so proud of that, too! How sad, how easily she got taken by those with the Miami exile money. (The minimum a real estate agent gets is 5% or in her case she should've got $2,500!) And let's not kid ourselves, there's no way an average Cuban accumulates $50,000 without black market money or money from exiles. No way.

[Marksman_91]

12. My sarcasm meter is off the charts! N/t

[joshcryer]

11. My God! La Pachanga!

It's going to be the McDonalds of Cuba, I guarantee it.

What a failure of the Cuban "communist" system.

edit: Damn I love the interviewer, he actually asked that question, and the guy laughed, and paused, and you could see it in his damn eyes! Holy shit!

Cuba is capitalist! There's no debating it!

The rise of the new Cuban oligarchs!

[ocpagu]

2. Impressive.

20 minutes in the streets of the old La Habana and we didn't see a single homeless person, any abandoned child, anyone desperate asking for alms in the sidewalks. In fact, everyone seemed well dressed and healthy. So different from what we see in any other big city in Latin America.

Meanwhile, in the sidewalks of the capitalist São Paulo...



Oh, but we got newer cars...



And lovely brand new apartments...

[Judi Lynn]

3. Oh, wow. How thoughtful. The developer built a nice wall for a better view

for the apartment dwellers on the ground floor. How sweet.

Seeing a poor person in the morning as soon as you awaken could ruin your whole day if you're not poor, too.

Had no idea this problem exists in Sao Paulo to this degree, ocpagu.

You are right concerning homeless in Cuba. Not a problem there.

I've heard from people who do travel a lot in the Americas who also have said that there is absolutely no comparison between Cubans and the attitude in Latin American countries where the poor are degraded and despised and deliberately shunned. People have said that as soon as you go into those countries you recognize the difference immediately, that the common people truly do act downtrodden, depressed, unhappy, clearly suffering in their lives.

I can't imagine how anyone would attempt to pretend Cuba is simply far worse off than these countries dominated by a tiny, racist, greedy, vicious oligarchy.

Thanks for the vivid images.

[Marksman_91]

6. ^ See my post responding to Warpy n/t

[Socialistlemur]

4. They are privatizing real estate to solve the housing mess Castro created

The Cuban regime is shifting right in a hurry. So they privatized housing. Interestingly the "communist party" big wigs have all the nice houses. It's the same crap all over again, with a different dictator.

[joshcryer]

8. Varadero is evidence of the class system.

Just look at a Google Maps satellite view. I know it's mostly tourists but it's obviously sequestered from the rest of the island, you can even see living quarters for the workers there... and the conditions of those quarters isn't anything one would want to wish for.

[joshcryer]

10. Except some people apparently have $800,500 houses.