Havana, Cuba: a Spirited City in Transition
May 17, 2016
Havana, Cuba: a Spirited City in Transition
by Bill Hughes
Try forty-three minutes! This is the time it took, on May 9, 2016, for our chartered jet plane to fly 228 miles from Miami, Florida, to Havana, Cuba. As it approached the island, I saw so much green, I thought we were landing in the West of Ireland.
The airport is located just southwest of the bustling capital city of 2.2 million. Havana is steeped in the history of colonial Spain.
The five day tour, entitled “Discover Havana,” was put together with an educational and cultural focus, in order meet the current strict U.S. standards for obtaining a visa to visit. Our experienced tour guides, I am pleased to say, were all first-rate in every respect.
Just about every Cuban I met on my brief trip saluted President Barack Obama for his March, 2016, visit to the island/nation. It was a first in nearly a century by an American president. Hopefully, it will lead the U.S. Congress to lift the draconian U.S. trade sanctions on Cuba – a relic of the “Cold War,”(1960) – and restore full diplomatic relations between the two countries. (1)
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/05/17/havana-cuba-a-spirited-city-in-transition/
Good Reads:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016156955
