Re: Cuba: siempre con combate
Chris wrote: Does Russia still export cars to Cuba? Putin has been trying to reestablish strong ties between the two countries. The newer cars seem to be imports from countries other than either Russia or the US -- most were Japanese cars. I didnt find much interest among Cubans from many different sectors to want to even talk about Russia let alone have improved relations. I spent a day with a Cuban professor of economics, and every time I tried to bring up the subject of Russia or Soviet economic models and such, she would just roll her eyes in utter disgust. In general, it seems to me Cubans do not feel they benefited from their relationship with the Soviet Union and then after whatever it was they did have, they were dropped like a hot potato. I think the Soviet Union did provide a very extensive mechanism to distribute Cuban goods and services within Cuba and beyond, and the low point in Cubas economic history in 1994 was the absence of a system to distribute goods. Production was not the problem in 1994. Cuba has since solved this distribution problem with the blues! :) These are actually blue uniformed workers who are involved in the Cuban goods distribution process...and trade of all kind. Diane
Re: Cuba: siempre con combate
There are relatively few automobiles in Havana, but when you do see them, they are either American cars from the 1950s or Russian cars from the 1970s or thereabouts. Public transportation includes regular buses, camel buses, a few taxi cabs, bicycle cabs...and walking. I'm sure that's a good reason why they're so fit. --- Does Russia still export cars to Cuba? Putin has been trying to reestablish strong ties between the two countries. __ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
Re: Cuba: siempre con combate
Jim wrote: did you see any cats or dogs? when I was in Cuba in the late 1970s, I didn't see any of them. I was wondering if someone had decided that they were luxuries. (I asked about it and our guide accused me of thinking that people had eaten them!) Come to think of it I didnt see any cats at all, but I did see a few dogs. I guess I dont think it was related to the luxury thing, as many people would also consider musical instruments luxury items and there were plenty of those around Cuba. I spent some time at a campesino farm cooperative and there I saw some dogs. Btw, these cooperatives actual produce around 70% of the vegetables, fruits, beans, corn, and tobacco in Cuba now, and this shift away from the Soviet models to the cooperatives has been growing since 1994. I had the best malanga with mojo sauce EVER at the campesino -- been experimenting to try to reproduce that very recipe. Was it lime or sour orange? :) the motivational billboards (one man may die, but the party lives forever) were everywhere out in the countryside, especially near the Havana airport, when I was there. The messages are much more related to the successes of the revolution now...and how they're still in struggle... siempre con combate ...as most of us are. The buses were stuffed to the gills when I was there. Is that situation better? Well, the camel buses are still pretty stuffed, but there are more cars now and other modes. It's interesting that I never saw any pictures of Fidel Castro, except in some homes. That's still true and noticeable...but is sincere to the spirit and nature of the revolution in Cuba. One can, however, see the Granma ship that ushered Fidel and 81 others from Tuxpan Mexico to Cuba in 1956, at the Museo de la Revolucion in Havana. Speaking of ships... Way, way back, Cuba and the US signed a treaty giving the US a perpetual lease to Guantanamo Bay. Guantanamera is a girl from Guantanamo Bay. Pete Seeger writes that in 1961 a young Cuban was working at a childrens summer camp in the Catskill Mountains when he read some simple verses by Jose Marti. He found that the verses could be fitted to an old popular song of Havana that was used to sing any verse one wished. He combined Martis patriotic verses with a chorus addressed to a country girl (Guajira). GUANTANAMERA Original music by Jose Fernandez Diaz Music adaptation by Pete Seeger Julian Orbon Lyric adaptation by Julian Orbon, based on a poem by Jose Marti I am a truthful man from this land of palm trees Before dying I want to share these poems of my soul My verses are light green But they are also flaming red Chorus: Guantanamera Guajira Guantanamera Guantanamera Guajira Guantanamera I cultivate a rose in June and in January For the sincere friend who gives me his hand And for the cruel one who would tear out this heart with which I live I do not cultivate thistles nor nettles I cultivate a white rose Chorus: Guantanamera Guajira Guantanamera Guantanamera Guajira Guantanamera [Add a new verse as you wish]
Re: Cuba: siempre con combate
Ulhas wrote: Diane Monaco wrote: Cuba IS a remarkable country Hi Diane ! Mexico is not far behind Cuba in HDI, AFAIK. Btw, 75% Singaporeans, 50% Malaysians 33% of Thais have cell phones. How many cell phones Cuba has? Hola! Hola! I really don't know the answer to that question and I don't recall seeing a cell phone while I was there. I never missed mine actually and I couldn't use an American credit card either -- another embargo thing. But all that was kind of nice. I also drank tap water to conserve my cash -- but that's something I always do anyway wherever I travel to. :) Speaking of Cuba and Mexico... Mexico, Cuba will reinstate envoys Monday Associated Press Jul. 23, 2004 12:00 AM HAVANA - Mexico and Cuba have said they will reinstate ambassadors in each other's countries next week, ending a diplomatic rift between Fidel Castro's government and its former strongest ally. Both countries withdrew their ambassadors in May after Mexico accused Cuba of meddling in its internal affairs. Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and his Mexican counterpart Luis Ernesto Derbez said the ambassadors would be reinstated Monday. We've made progress and agreed on the importance of working in favor of bilateral relations, Perez Roque said. Derbez, who arrived Sunday in Havana, said, There can be differences among friends on certain issues, but these differences can be talked out. Mexico, the only Latin American country to maintain ties with Havana after the 1959 Cuban revolution, has been the communist island's strongest ally in the region. For decades, Mexico used that connection to mollify leftists upset by their country's close relationship with the United States. Relations between the two nations have been rocky since President Vicente Fox took office in 2000 and criticized Cuba's human rights record. In 2002, Mexico supported a resolution of the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva condemning Cuba. Mexico was later angered by Cuban allegations that a Mexican official arrested in Havana on fraud charges was part of a larger political conspiracy. Mexican officials also said members of Cuba's Communist Party were holding unauthorized political meetings in Mexico and took offense at comments by Castro that Fox was a U.S. lackey.
Re: Cuba: siempre con combate
Diane writes:
I mean, even the pigs are
in good shape, and there are plenty of pigs around -- on leashes no less -- as
pork is a major meat source in Cuba.
did you see
any cats or dogs? when I was in Cuba in the late 1970s, I didn't see any of
them. I was wondering if someone had decided that they were luxuries. (I asked
about it and our guide accused me of thinking that people had eaten them!)
...There are no
billboards contaminating the Royal and coconut palm laden landscape, other than
a motivational or proactive quote or two (siempre con combate)..
the
motivational billboards ("one man may die, but the party lives forever") were
everywhere out in the countryside, especially near the Havana airport, when I
was there.
...Public transportation includes
regular buses, "camel" buses, a few taxi cabs, bicycle cabs...and walking
The buses
were stuffed to the gills when I was there. Is that situation better?
...lots of
posters of Ernesto "Che" Guevara everywhere...
It's
interesting that I never saw any pictures of Fidel Castro, except in some
homes.
jim
Re: Cuba: siempre con combate
Diane Monaco wrote: Cuba IS a remarkable country Hi Diane ! Mexico is not far behind Cuba in HDI, AFAIK. Btw, 75% Singaporeans, 50% Malaysians 33% of Thais have cell phones. How many cell phones Cuba has? Ulhas Yahoo! India Careers: Over 65,000 jobs online Go to: http://yahoo.naukri.com/
