Would it be too simplistic to suggest that the problems of Cuba are that the average person wants less poverty, more money? The other problems mentioned may all be related.

Also, if the US is going to run out of cheap and abundant oil, will Cuba with all its current privations be better off in the long run?

Like the writer, I recently went to La Havana, Cuba. Basically, I went to see socialism in action. I was not at all disappointed with what I saw and I would reccommend Cuba to anyone who wanted to see (and enjoy) a socialist state.

My first good impressions were at the international airport where I saw ordinary Cubans voluntarily putting bags the correct way round on the public caracells(?)Something that one does not usually see elsewhere.

I enjoyed two weeks in La Havana, staying and eating at private houses and would recommend the place and its people to all...

Oh Gawd, another commie from some mullah, priest, or commissar infested society who wants to blame the yanks for everything. Please note that the author is residing in Sydney.

Its funny how these people despise white anglos yet they do everything they can to come and live with us, regardless of whether we want them to or not.

Look Pedro, almost the entire island of Cuba woulfd head for the hated USA tommorow except that Cuba's latest five year plan only suceeded in manufacturing two rowboats. Meanwhile, is Fidel still sailing around the place in his game boat catching marlin? If he is, I'll bet he is using US Penn Senator gamefishing reels.

The price to be paid in order to survive as a pariah state is ongoing poverty and paranoia (external and internal). This makes it all too easy for hostile outsiders to interpret this as being endemic to socialism or any non-capitalist system.

How Cuba has managed to maintain its sanity as a nation after 50 years of enduring such cruel international treatment - treatment that has destroyed many other countries that tried to follow a similar path - is anyone's guess. By anyone's standards, a remarkable country.

Thanks for your impressions of Havana and Cuba, Rodrigo- on a visit 2 years ago I too, found mixed feelings of impatience with improvement of living standards, food avaiability etc but also a pride in the revolutionary history and the nations ability to survive under the sanctions and embargo's.
What I dont understand is how the Cubans have allowed Guantanamo Bay to still be in the hands of the USA. Any explanation?