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Description
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Few countries reveal the cultural and landscape diversity of Cuba. At any given moment, the average tourist can catch glimpses of Africa, Miami, the former Soviet Union, or a faded Las Vegas. It promises the allure of an unspoiled tropical paradise yet copes with serious urban and industrial pollution in its large cities. It is an alligator-shaped island: long and narrow, there are several prominent lookouts where both the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea can be seen. From end to end, it could stretch from New York City to Chicago, but in square miles, it is only the size of Pennsylvania.
Life is difficult for the 11 million residents on this island. Since the demise of the former USSR and its trading bloc in 1991, Cuba has lost significant subsidies, favorable terms of trade, and low-cost loans. President Castro has called this crisis the "Special Period in a Time of Peace," or the "Special Period" for short. The socialist leadership of the island is no novice to adverse conditions. Headed by Fidel Castro and his brother Raul Castro, the Cuban government has endured ten hostile American presidents (from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush). Since 1961, the U.S. has imposed a trade embargo premised on the 1917 Trading with the Enemy Act. Sanctions have cast Cuba as the underdog in this classic David and Goliath standoff. However, for the past few years, the... |
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