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April 16, 2003

Cuba Trip Report

My friend Paul English is back from 10 days in Cuba as an inquisitive tourist. He reports:

I came away from my trip very anti-Castro. I did not expect the degree of this. When I planned the trip, I knew about the good things in Cuba today (music, health, education, lack of crime etc) but had been perhaps naive about the level of bad things to discover. This was jarring to experience in person.

For those of us who consider Castro to be villified in the US — the bad exaggerated and the good ignored — this is an uncomfortable piece to read. But, hell, that's why we have an Internet, isn't it?

Lots of photos, too.

Posted by D. Weinberger at April 16, 2003 08:02 AM

Comments

Surely he can be vilified and a villain at the same time?
Reminds me of my school trip to the Soviet Union in 1981. It is a disturbing feeling to be an honorary member of the apparat for the duration.

Posted by: Kevin Marks | April 16, 2003 06:56 PM

Sure. That's why I said that he was villified in having the bad exaggerated: there's plenty of bad there. But, in Castro's case, he's also done some dramatically good things for the country, as Paul English's report acknowledges.

Posted by: dweinberger | April 17, 2003 12:03 AM

Curious request at the page you link to:

"All photos and text on this web page are © 2003 by Paul English, and can not be used for any purpose without his written permission in advance. Also, please do not link to any of these web pages. Thanks."

Makes me want to link to it. Perhaps that's the trick...

Posted by: Mr. Nosuch | April 17, 2003 03:31 PM

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