A Cuba "fan" - U.S. tourists rush to Cuba as White House tightens travel -

Orlando Sentinel ^ | July 14, 2003 | Vanessa Bauzá

[Cincinatus' Wife]

HAVANA -- Sure, she knew the tour was a bit skewed, perhaps too rah-rah. Nevertheless, Margo McAuliffe came away from her 10-day trip through Cuba "a fan."

"I'm the reason they want the travel ban kept," said the California retiree, referring to the Bush administration.

"I came here somewhat under the influence that Castro is a bad guy," said McAuliffe, sitting in a Havana hotel lobby. "I felt this was one place [about which] I wasn't hearing the truth. I feel our government has an ax to grind."

With a packed itinerary focused on sustainable development, McAuliffe's group, organized by San Francisco-based Global Exchange, learned about Cuba's organic gardens and herbal healing. They visited a rehabilitation center for disabled children and talked with a family physician. In total they logged more than 1,000 miles from Havana to the eastern port city of Santiago and back.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

With a packed itinerary focused on sustainable development, McAuliffe's group, organized by San Francisco-based Global Exchange, learned about Cuba's organic gardens and herbal healing. They visited a rehabilitation center for disabled children and talked with a family physician. In total they logged more than 1,000 miles from Havana to the eastern port city of Santiago and back.

Free societies have these things and free societies don't jail journalists and libraians.

Castro shuffles posts as Cuban economy sags***The government changes began in March with the dismissal of four of six deputy ministers at the Economy and Planning Ministry. Their replacements have not been made public. Last month, Castro also replaced the minister of finance and pricing. The changes come amid one of the harshest waves of repression since Castro rose to power in 1959. Beyond the recent arrests of 75 dissidents sentenced to as many as 28 years in jail and the executions of three hijackers who tried to commandeer a passenger ferry to Florida, the government also has cracked down on black marketeers and conducted raids allegedly in search of drugs, according to various independent reports out of Havana. ***

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[Recovering_Democrat]

Somehow, people named McAuliffe are just somehow instinctively supportive of totalitarian regimes, aren't they?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!

[backhoe]

Not to mention your magnum opus:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/665733/posts
Fidel Castro - Cuba
various LINKS to articles | April 14, 2002

[texas booster]

http://www.masterpeaceconference.org/aboutus.htm

Gee, the treasurer for a San Fran based "world peace" organization sets off for Cuba.

"I came here somewhat under the influence that Castro is a bad guy," said McAuliffe, sitting in a Havana hotel lobby. "I felt this was one place [about which] I wasn't hearing the truth. I feel our government has an ax to grind."

Uh, sure she went to Cuba "somewhat under the influence that Castro was a bad guy". Yeah, and you are normally a staunch Republican when you call into Rush.

A simple Googling found that she is teaching pre-algebra at Menlo-Atherton HS, and that her husband passed in 1999. Another leftie filling kids with mush.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Thanks backhoe.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Thanks for the info!

[Cindy]

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT - Consular Information Sheet: "CUBA"
http://travel.state.gov/cuba.html

[Cincinatus' Wife]

From your link.

MEDICAL FACILITIES: Medical care does not meet U.S. standards. While medical professionals are generally competent, many health facilities face shortages of medical supplies and bed space. Many medications are unavailable so travelers to Cuba should bring with them any prescribed medicine in its original container and in amounts commensurate with personal use. A copy of the prescription and a letter from the prescribing physician explaining the need for prescription drugs facilitates their entry into the country.

[Texas_Dawg]

I was in Cuba earlier this year and ran into several people down there with Global Exchange. They are a mixture of devout Communists and naive old ladies with strong leftist leanings of their own. Basically, they were just a bunch of morons. Most of them had "No War!" buttons on to mark themselves as "good" Americans.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Thank you for your comments. All this trip did for this dame was to reinforce her love for communism.

I found Cuba most interesting. It was quite a learning experience about a country under communism. Also, I can no longer be BSd by CCN, et al. because like them, I’ve been there too and can think for myself.

I take issue where the article states that most of their money was spent in state-owned stores. I wandered into one of these stores by mistake in the middle of one afternoon, and there was nothing to buy unless one was interested in detergent products. The meat area was empty of meat. This store was tiny, but I had not been in others with which to compare it. There is also practically nothing to buy in general in Cuba because Cuba has practically nothing to sell other than some handicrafts, paintings, and t-shirts. My entire purchase was one inexpensive t-shirt and a small paperback travel book.

[Former Proud Canadian]

This woman is a useful idiot for the commies. The unvarnished truth is that Cuba is a police state. Step out of line and the man really does come and take you away.

[dufekin]

If McAuliffe traveled to the genocidical terrorist military dictatorship that calls itself the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, then he would sing gleefully the national anthem of that country, "Ten Million Human Bombs for Kim Il Sung." Kim Il Sung passed from this world nine years ago into Hell, and was reelected to an eternal term as president in 1998. Kim Jong Il, a brinksman and megalomaniac who McAuliffe would salute, chairs the reclusive, despotic, starving, genocidical country's national defense commission

[Vigilantcitizen]

"-- Sure, she knew the tour was a bit skewed, perhaps too rah-rah. Nevertheless, Margo McAuliffe came away from her 10-day trip through Cuba "a fan."

Wonder if she is the one posting all the pro-castro crap on FR this morning.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Basically, they were just a bunch of morons. Most of them had "No War!" buttons on to mark themselves as "good" Americans.

Gulf widens between Cuba's haves and have-nots ***My travel companion's mugging in a desolate Havana neighborhood summed up Cuba's plight. A boy, perhaps 13, had tried to snatch her money belt. He failed, but she was badly bruised and scraped. At a hospital, she received immediate attention. The visit was free, of course. But it took stops at two pharmacies to fill prescriptions for an antibiotic and ibuprofen. Even with its own biotechnology industry, Cuba still suffers from shortfalls of basic drugs.

The next day, as we waited for a cab, a man idling on a corner befriended us and asked my friend about her injuries. His concern seemed genuine. But when we got into a cab, he hopped in, too. He insisted on staying with us to make sure there would be no more trouble. It wouldn't cost much, he said. When we declined his offer, he shrugged and exited the cab. It was worth a try. Such constant asking must take a toll on the collective soul of Cubans. As neighbors of the United States, they are also reminded ad nauseam of Americans' voracious consumption of the luxuries they are denied by the embargo.***

It's the communism!

[AppyPappy]

Note: Cuba trades with Europe and Canada. But for some reason, their inability to trade with the US keeps them down.

Or perhaps it IS the communism

[Cultural Jihad]

We won't be holding our breaths for the Global Exchange to say a word about wage-slavery in Cuba.

[Texas_Dawg]

The Communist government in Cuba spends all the money it has on putting on a nice facade for tourists, especially in Havana. But when you get out into the Eastern part of Cuba, away from the towns, people live like this (via an article on DallasNews.com from yesterday's Dallas Morning News):

Most parts of Cuba I've seen make Mexico's worst parts look like Heaven. And I've seen a lot of both countries.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Cuba gets around the U.S. embargo in the following way, and I’m only speaking from my part of the world: U.S. products are shipped into Panama and are taken to the Free Zone in Colon (Atlantic side). From there, the products are shipped to Cuba. I don’t know how payment is made. Anyway, when I was in one of Cuba’s state stores, I saw very few (one?) U.S. product (can goods). It was something like a can of peaches. The major part of their can goods (the little they had) was from Europe.

This made me think that Castro and his cronies must be keeping the U.S. products for themselves. They certainly aren’t getting on the shelves; and unless the Free Zone has a lot of sales to Cuba, it wouldn’t be doing business with them.