A Toast to Larceny at Sloppy Joes Havana

capitolhillcubans

Looking to further cash-in from foreign tourists and the Obama Administration's "people-to-people" travelers, the Castro regime is re-opening the famed "Sloppy Joe's" bar, which it had illegally confiscated from small business owners in 1965. 

"Sloppy Joe's" was founded in Havana nearly a century ago by a Galician immigrant. It was a favorite hangout of American tourists and demonized for this by the Castro regime.

But now, the Castro regime wants to profit from this illegally confiscated enterprise, which will be run by the state company, Habaguanex.

cruiselinehistory.com

Surely, this location will become a staple for "people-to-people" travelers, whose stated purpose is to help promote the Cuban people's independence from the authorities -- yet, they stay at the Castro regime's hotels, dine at its restaurants and get drunk at its watering wholes (many of which were illegally confiscated).

Thus, the "people-to-people" travel policy also allows Castro to profit from stolen property.

Call it a toast to larceny.

Louis Cruises to sail Cuba charters

travelweekly

By Tom Stieghorst

Louis Cruises said it has chartered the 960-passenger Louis Cristal for a series of 15 cruises from Cuba in the winter of 2013-14.

The cruises will be offered through Toronto-based Cuba Cruise from Dec. 16, 2013, to March 31, 2014, with prices on seven-night voyages starting at about $600.

Cruises will depart Havana or Montego Bay, Jamaica, and include six Cuban ports of call.

Entertainment is to include local Cuban musicians and dancers, as well as North American hockey and football programming delivered via satellite.

Last year, Star Clippers said it would bring a tall ship to Cuba for a series of six- and seven-night Cuba cruises in February and March 2014.

The cruises cannot be sold to U.S. citizens because of a longstanding embargo against trade with Cuba.
-----------------------
Also:
A Canadian company is launching cruises that circumnavigate Cuba starting Dec. 4 with prices from $586 a person, double occupancy, for a seven-night voyage.
Cuba Cruise’s 480-stateroom ship Louis Cristal will sail out of Havana with the ship calling at a new port every day. Ports of call include Bahia de Nipe, Cayo Guillermo, Santiago de Cuba, Cayo Caguamas, Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Punta Frances, and feature six UNESCO World Heritage Sites and four national parks and preserves.
Air-inclusive packages are available from various Canadian gateways with tour operators such as Transat Holidays, Hola Sun Holidays, Exclusive Tours and Tours Mont-Royal, including pre- and post-cruise land stays. For more information on the ship and itinerary, visit yourcubacruise.com.

Canadian tourists in Cuba enthralled with their detention by Castro State Security

babalublog

By Alberto de la Cruz

Here is an interesting story of two Canadian tourists in Cuba who were terrorized when the they were picked up by agents of Cuban State Security and held for hours for no apparent reason. The story is not interesting because foreign tourists were detained by Cuban State Security: Cuba is run by a totalitarian dictatorship and everyone (including tourists) is subject to detention any time, anywhere, for whatever reason or lack of reason.

What makes this story interesting is that these two Canadian tourists are so deeply entrenched in ignorance that they thought the entire horrific experience was just a hoot!

Via Canada's Sportsnet:

Do these people look like spies to you?

In retrospect, we were probably screwed from the moment we arrived in town.
My husband, Geoff, and I spent a week in Havana in early December and we really wanted a glimpse of the amazing Cuban baseball players not available to the rest of the world. Industriales, the team from the capital that dominates Serie Nacional, was on the road for the first week of the season, but the Cazadores were at home in Artemisa, a small town an hour’s drive from Havana. We hired a taxi, and our driver, Melquiades, turned out to be a friendly guy who knew a little English and a lot of beisbol. When we arrived in Artemisa, we walked a couple of blocks to buy bottles of water and quickly realized the town never sees tourists. People turned in the street or hung over their balconies to gawk, and kids lined a schoolyard fence to stare and holler.
[...]
Things wrapped up around 4 p.m., and just as our cab left the stadium gates, a cop on a motorcycle pulled us over. Melquiades spoke with him rapidly, then the cop motioned for me and Geoff to get out and demanded to see our passports, which were locked in the safe back at the B & B. I showed him a scan of the documents I’d stored on my phone, but he just shook his head, grim and sneering. Melquiades motioned for us to get back in the cab and I figured we were headed back to Havana. But it soon became clear we were following the cop back to the police station, and my stomach lurched.
When we arrived, another cab driver was there with two men, one of whom was obviously a tourist. Dozens of Cubans in military and police uniforms milled around. The building was an ancient, depressing little bunker—a portrait of Fidel on the wall, a few benches and two desks behind a fancy little turquoise-painted balustrade at odds with the harsh surroundings. Geoff and I stood there awkwardly while the motorcycle cop examined Melquiades’s permits and scribbled down some notes. It suddenly occurred to me that they might ask about our professions, and that I probably shouldn’t admit I’m a journalist, given that the Cuban government keeps close tabs on my kind. Geoff and I debated this quietly for a few frantic seconds, but then an older police officer with a sweet, pleading face motioned us toward the benches.
[...]
Finally, after two hours, a young woman in a military uniform motioned for us to follow her down a hallway. Just then, Melquiades appeared and said, “Let’s go.” Flummoxed, Geoff and I pointed to the woman, but our cab driver barked, “Let’s GO,” and marched out the door. We scurried after him and into the cab, which was idling at the curb.
We didn’t look back as we hit the road to Havana, and the first deep breaths in two hours felt damn good. After a couple of minutes, Melquiades said, “Remember I told you about Gourriel and how the major leagues want him?” We remembered. “They thought you were scouts,” he said, deadpan. He had to repeat it three times before we absorbed it: We’d just spent two hours detained by Cuban police because they thought we were there to poach their star player. All three of us laughed almost to the point of tears. The whole thing was insane and ridiculous and terrifying—and, really, kind of awesome. “At least now we know how seriously Cubans take baseball,” Geoff said when he composed himself.

Read the entire embarrassingly ignorant account HERE.

Canadian Couple gets sick in Cuba

windsorstar

windsorstar

Monica Wolfson

On Jan. 17, while returning to Amherstburg from the Caribbean country, he started throwing up, had stomach cramps and diarrhea. Renaud, a 66-year-old retiree,  spent much of the trip home on the airplane in the restroom.

“I refused the meal on the plane, I had to,” he said. “I was really out of it. I was lucky I got home considering the shape I was in.”

In talking with the passengers sitting around them,  one woman said four of her six travelling companions were sick. The man sitting in front of Renaud was ill during his stay in Cuba, bed-ridden for a day.

Renaud’s wife Maureen fell ill the next day on Jan. 18. She couldn’t swallow even a couple of sips of water without her stomach churning. Initially she was unable to take medication needed for a medical condition because she couldn’t keep water down. It took 12 hours before she could take her medicine.

The Public Health Agency of Canada has issued a low-key advisory about a cholera outbreak in Cuba, but says most travellers are at low risk of contracting the intestinal illness.
To date, tests have confirmed 51 cases of cholera.

“This is the best morning I’ve had,” Renaud said Tuesday, four days after he returned. He will see a doctor on Thursday.

The travellers visited the Varadero region of Cuba and stayed at the Melai Las Antillas, a four-star resort. No visitors to the resort said they were sick in reviews posted on tripadvisor.ca the past two weeks.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit  has no reports of Canadians returning ill from Cuba. Sunwing, the airline and travel tour company Renaud took,  has no reports of sick tourists, said Daryl McWilliams, vice- president of sales and marketing.

“We checked Veradaro first to see if we’ve received emails,” he said. “We haven’t. That doesn’t mean people won’t write.”

The health unit will only know of an illness if a sick person goes to a physician and gets a positive test for an illness like cholera, which doctors have to report, said Theresa Marentette, director of health protection.

“We’ve not received any reports or complaints about travel to Cuba,” she said Tuesday.

Three local travel agencies said they have heard no stories from customers who have returned from Cuba recently about being sick.

A year ago, dozens of Canadians returned ill from Cuba suffering from norovirus. The symptoms include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

While trying to recover, Renaud contacted Telehealth Ontario, which advised the couple to eat apple sauce, rice and pasta to get nourishment and drink Gatorade for hydration.

EEUU se consolida como segundo emisor de turistas a Cuba

Cafe Fuerte

Por Emilio Morales
Estados Unidos se consolidó en el 2012 como el segundo mercado emisor de turistas a Cuba con casi 600,000 viajeros, a pesar de las restricciones impuestas por el embargo.
El mercado estadounidense ha mostrado un ritmo de crecimiento en los últimos años superior al liderazgo de Canadá, mercado que sobrepasó el millón de turistas por segundo período consecutivo.

Lo sorprendente es que los turistas que salen del territorio estadounidense han tenido un aumento significativo, tanto por parte de los cubanoamericanos como de los turistas anglosajones.

Así ha sido el comportamiento de viajeros de EEUU a la isla desde el 2007:

Mercado de EEUU	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012E*
EEUU (Anglosajones)	40,521	41,904	52,455	63,046	73,566	103,112
EEUU (Cubanoamericanos)	204,178	265,042	334,999	409,562	440,284	475,936
EEUU (Total)	244,699	306,946	387,454	472,608	513,850	579,048

Este comportamiento del mercado está sin dudas condicionado por la política implementada por el gobierno de Barack Obama desde el 2008. La liberación absoluta de los viajes familiares de cubanoamericanos -antes limitados a una vez cada tres años- y las excursiones autorizadas para el contacto pueblo a pueblo ha impactado fuertemente el volumen de residentes en Estados Unidos que arriba a la isla.

Aun cuando los viajes no son con fines “turísticos”, estos dejan jugosos ingresos para las agencias involucradas en Estados Unidos y Cuba. Los paquetes más caros del mercado son los que se venden a los viajeros anglosajones; en estos casos, una estancia de 12 días oscila entre $6,000 y $8,000 dólares por viajero.
Curiosamente, el incremento creciente del mercado norteamericano ha compensado la caída del turismo europeo en los últimos seis años. Los cinco principales mercados emisores desde Europa a Cuba muestran una notable disminución, al alcanzar una cifra de 181,237 turistas menos en el 2011 en comparación con el 2006.

España -el mayor inversionista en la red turística cubana- es el mercado de mayor decrecimiento, con una caída de 83,900 turistas desde el 2006. Muestra de esta crisis fue el reciente anuncio de la suspensión a partir de abril de los vuelos de la aerolínea Iberia a Cuba, luego de haber sido una de las principales conexiones de la isla con Europa.
Este ha sido el balance de los principales mercados turísticos europeos hacia Cuba en la etapa 2066-2012:

Mercados	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2011/2006
Inglaterra	211,075	208,122	193,932	172,318	174,343	175,822	-35,253
Italia	144,249	134,289	126,042	118,347	112,298	110,432	-33,817
España	185,531	133,149	121,166	129,224	104,948	101,631	-83,900
Alemania	114,292	103,054	100,964	93,437	93,136	95,124	-19,168
Francia	103,469	92,304	90,731	83,478	80,470	94,370	-9,099
Total	758,616	670,918	632,835	596,804	565,195	577,379	-181,237

Los que más dinero dejan
Un estudio exploratorio de The Havana Consulting Group en una muestra de 246 cubanos residentes en los Estados Unidos, conducido en los meses de julio, agosto y dciembre del 2012 mostró que el 71.6 por ciento de los viajeros a la isla rentaban un auto, el 92.6 por ciento comía en algún restaurante allí junto a sus familiares, y el 46.3 por ciento se hospedaba en hoteles en compañía de sus parientes.
Los cubanos viajan con miles de dólares no solo para ayudar a sus familias a reparar sus casas y autos viejos, comprarles mercancías o invertir en un negocio, sino también para hacer vida turística con ellas.
Es habitual que en los días de visita al menos pasen un fin de semana junto a sus seres queridos en los hoteles de Varadero, Guardalavaca o los que se encuentran en los cayos al norte de Villa Clara y Ciego de Ávila, en el pasado exclusivos para turistas extranjeros.
También es usual encontrarse a familias disfrutando en los restaurantes dolarizados del Estado o en los competitivos paladares del emergente sector privado. Otra característica del comportamiento del consumo de los cubanoamericanos es que la mayoría renta autos para su estancia.
Los vendedores de las agencias han expresado que en época de vacaciones o fin de año escasean los autos para rentar, porque los cubanos son el grupo de mayor demanda, sin importarles el tipo o la marca del auto, o el precio del servicio.
El estudio corrobora además el cambio de la emigración cubana y su conducta respecto a los viajes y a la relación con la familia. La encuesta reveló que el 84.9 por ciento de los entrevistados emigró a EEUU después de 1990.
El arraigo a la familia y los fuertes lazos de dependencia son un factor de mucho peso en el comportamiento del cubano emigrado en los últimos 20 años, favorecido por condiciones que eran inimaginables en la etapa de las primeras oleadas del exilio. Este patrón de conducta es importante tenerlo en cuenta para una era postcastrista, pues será un factor imprescindible de cara a la reconstrucción y revitalización económica del país.
Perspectivas del 2013
Para el 2013 se espera que el incremento de viajeros procedentes de Estados Unidos siga en aumento. La nueva ley migratoria cubana, en vigor desde el pasado 14 de enero, permitirá que viajen a la isla más de 100,000 cubanos residentes en el exterior -principalmente desde territorio estadounidense- a quienes por diversas razones les era prohibido viajar a la isla.
El desenlace de la situación de Venezuela a partir de la suerte que corra su presidente Hugo Chávez y una salida negociada al caso del contratista estadounidense Alan Gross, condenado a 15 años de cárcel, pudiera generar cambios en la relación de Washington con La Habana, y posibilitar nuevas vías de apertura en el segundo mandato de Obama.
Para cualquier contingencia, hay 16 aeropuertos internacionales en Estados Unidos con autorización otorgada, esperando para conectar sus vuelos a ciudades cubanas.
Mientras, las agencias perfeccionan sus ofertas y paquetes turísticos bajo la modalidad de viajes para el contacto pueblo a pueblo, y se alistan para la tan esperada avalancha de turistas norteamericanos, que todavía siguen en el terreno de los sueños.
*Las cifras del 2012E son una proyección calculada a partir de los datos existentes hasta septiembre del 2012. Los cálculos fueron realizados por The Havana Consulting Group a partir de los datos publicados por la Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas e Información (ONEI).

Canada has issued a advisory about the Cholera outbreak in Cuba

Michelle McQuigge/

Hospital Salvador Allende/ La Habana

TORONTO - Authorities in Cuba are acknowledging a spate of new cholera cases in the capital, but the outbreak doesn't seem to be keeping Canadians away.

Travel agents say January is always a popular time for bookings to Cuba and they say business hasn't tailed off in the least.

Some agents say word of 51 new cholera cases in the Havana area has only sparked a handful inquiries from people who have no plans to cancel their trips.

The Public Health Agency of Canada has issued a low-key advisory about the outbreak, but says most travellers are at low risk of contracting the intestinal illness.

Cuba's health ministry says no one has died from the latest batch of cases, which began surfacing earlier this month.

It says the country has taken preventive measures to quash the disease for good.

© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2013.

Read it on Global News: Global Montreal | Cholera outbreak in Cuba not keeping Canadian travellers at home

New Cholera Outbreak in Cuba Calls Countries to Restrict Travel

Fifty-one new cholera cases reported in Cuba’s capital are drawing an increasing concern about the spread of the illness throughout the country.

Cuba's Public Health Ministry acknowledged the situation in Havana on Tuesday as disappointment rises in the diplomatic community over the government's lack of transparency.

While the outbreak, which began Jan.6, has not caused any deaths, the government has stressed the preventive measures already taken have put the disease "on the way to extinction."

The government has not responded to repeated requests for comment, nor has it made any experts available to talk about the cholera situation.

According to the World Health Organization, almost 80 percent of cholera cases can be treated with oral rehydration salts.

Today there are two variants of oral cholera vaccines available, although neither guarantees 100 percent immunity from the disease. While only offering “moderate protection,” the use of the vaccine can help develop “herd immunity,” said WHO officials.

Cholera is a water-borne disease caused by a bacteria found in tainted water or food. It can kill within weeks through dehydration, but is treatable if caught in time. Cholera is unusual in Cuba but recent outbreaks in nearby Haiti have killed more than 7,200 people.

It was unclear why a new outbreak was being seen in Havana. Rains, which can help spread the disease, are common in January, but the weather has been unusually dry this year.

As of Tuesday, the British Embassy in Havana had issued a travel advisory urging its citizens to take "sensible precautions" and seek immediate medical attention for diarrhea.

Several other European diplomats told AP they are also considering issuing similar advisories, and have been concerned that the government is not sharing information with them in a timely manner. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

As far as the U.S., American diplomats on the island issued a travel warning Monday urging American citizens to follow local health recommendations. About 400,000 Cuban-Americans visit the island every year, and about 100,000 others issued visas.

The nationalized health care system in Cuba is considered to be one of the most advanced in Latin America. Because of this, Cuba has become a population destination for health care tourism.

So far, no tourists have come down with the illness.

Tourism in general is the top sector in Cuba's flagging Communist economy with 2.8 million visitors a year and about $2.5 billion in annual revenue. A major cholera outbreak could hurt tourism. 

While Cuba's state-run media had been largely silent about cholera before Tuesday, there has been an intensified campaign against water-borne diarrhetic illnesses. Several health centers in the capital require visitors to sanitize their shoes by stepping in chlorine when they enter, and state schools have been stressing hand-washing and other hygiene measures.

"I know that they are taking the necessary measures," said Beatriz Guerra, a 26-year-old mother of two who lives in Miramarshe. "One just needs to be very cautious."

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/health/2013/01/16/new-cholera-outbreak-calls-countries-to-restrict-travel-to-cuba/#ixzz2IBsUwGyR

Matanzas para el turista y para el cubano de a pie

rafa

Cholera Hits Havana Tourism Zones

Capitolhillcubans

From Environment News Service:

capitolhillcubans.com

Cholera Spreads in Cuba After Hurricane Sandy

A rise in cholera cases in the Cuban capital Havana is being traced back to parts of the country hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy, the worst natural disaster to strike Cuba in half a century.

The Cuban government is saying little about reported cases of cholera. But doctors who have recorded new cases of the disease during recent house-to-house inspections say the health ministry has declared a state of alert in the Jesús María and Belén communities of Habana Vieja municipality.

“They’ve found 47 cases in Habana Vieja municipality,” said a doctor, who requested anonymity [...]

The authorities have taken steps to address the new cases in Havana by setting up specialized hospital wards, cleaning up streets and buildings in the Jesús María and Belén communities, and distributing medicines that prevent dehydration.

Health staff have been driving around Old Havana issuing notifications by loudspeaker, telling people what precautions to take, urging them not to try to cure themselves, and announcing training sessions where medical staff will be taught how to contain the “epidemic.”

The authorities are also taking action to stop sales of food that fall short of health and hygiene standards, according to a health worker involved in the cholera identification and public information campaign in Habana Vieja municipality.

All the same, the health worker said, he feared “rising numbers of cases.”

A local doctor said he suspects the government is holding off on officially announcing a cholera outbreak because it might deter tourists from visiting Havana’s old town.

Cuba Where Trickle-Down Definitely Doesn't Work

capitol hill cubans

capitolhillcubans.com

Advocates of normalizing relations with the Castro regime argue that unilaterally lifting sanctions will somehow have a trickle-down effect toward the Cuban people.

They admit that lifting sanctions would greatly benefit the Castro regime, but believe the residual effect would be worth it.

This talking point has also been adopted -- or vice-versa -- by the Castro regime itself.

Yesterday, Cuba's Minister of Tourism Manuel Marrero jubilantly announced that a record 2.85 million tourists visited the island in 2012 -- consisting mostly of Canadians and Europeans.

(So much for tourists spreading democracy).

Marrero went out of his way to note that the regime owned 300 hotels with 60,000 rooms, but there were also 4,280 "private" rooms for rent.

(Of course, Marrero failed to note that these are in homes of regime loyalists, who are specially-licensed, heavily-regulated and overwhelmingly-taxed).

In other words, once the regime fills its coffers, money will also flow to its "private" contractors.

Even some in the Obama Administration believe(d) this.

In February 2011, during a Senate hearing, former Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela testified:

"Let me just simply say this—that there may be some ancillary benefits [from the Administration's 2011 'people-to-people' trips] to the Cuban government, but it is our view that to be able to have direct contact with the Cuban people, that Americans have direct contact with the Cuban people, will provide them with a kind of space that will allow them to become much more independent of the regime."

Yet, all of the current "people-to-people" trips are pre-approved and hosted by the Castro regime, and frequent the regime's hotels, restaurants and nightclubs (worth thousands of dollars per traveler).

But hey, they might also buy a $2 trinket from an artisan in Old Havana.

Does an Administration that fundamentally disagrees with trickle-down economics, and is therefore looking to raise taxes on Americans that make more than $250,000, really believe this works?

As we've stated before, whether trickle-down economics works is debatable in open, democratic, capitalist societies, where hard-currency is freely and rapidly mobile and fungible.

But it's a laughable concept in totalitarian regimes with closed economies, where the dictator's funnel rules.

Can tourism liberate Cuba?

By Alberto de la Cruz

cubainfos.net

Can foreign tourists spending billions of dollars in Cuba really play an intrinsic role in liberating the Cuban people and be the catalyst to end a half-century of tyranny and repression on the island? The "Cuba Experts" will tell you that is certainly the case. But since these "Cuba Experts" are neither Cuban nor experts, perhaps it would be better to ask the Cuban people themselves.

Let's ask the people actually living on the island who in 2012, after being visited by almost 3-million tourists and having billions of dollars injected into the Cuban "economy," have suffered one of the most oppressive and violent years of repression in recent history. Ask the families of Laura Pollan, Oswaldo Payá, or Wilmar Villar, dissidents who mysteriously died under the "care" of the Castro dictatorship. Ask the thousands of democracy activists who were mercilessly beaten by State Security thugs and government organized mobs. Ask the thousands of dissident who have been arrested and imprisoned simply for asking the government to respect human rights. Ask the Ladies in White who are viciously beaten, harassed, and arrested on an almost weekly basis for the heinous act of going to Church on Sundays in a gourp. Ask 15-year-old Berenice Hector Gonzalez who was brutally slashed on her face, breasts, and other parts of her body by the knife-wielding daughter of a high-ranking State Security official for defending the Ladies in White.

2.9 million tourists visited Cuba in 2012, and repression is at an all-time high on the island...

Keep reading on babalublog >>

How Important is Tourism to the Castros?

Capitol Hill Cubans

absolut-cuba.com

It's so important, that they have:

Prostituted two generations of young Cuban women (and men) -- in order to satisfy the sexual whims of foreigners.

Institutionalized a system of tourism apartheid, relegating Cubans to second-class citizens -- in order to "cleanse" the ambiance.

Focused their family's business empire (GAESA, Inc.) on the travel sector, with Raul's son-in-law at the helm -- in order to pocket the profits.

And now, exposed the Cuban people to a deadly disease -- in order to ensure that the profits keep coming.

(Not to mention imprisoned independent journalist Calixto Martinez Arias -- to punish him for exposing the regime's cover-up.)

Gay Travel Guide: Havana, Cuba

from a baseball player: "tu ere maricon"
tosheatower

Insostenibilidad del Sector Turistico de Cuba. Tesis doctoral

porelsenderodelacreatividad.obolog.com

el hecho que algun inquieto viejo discapacitado fisico haya demostrado en un par de horas la insostenibidad del sector turistico kubano -algo por demas evidente-, no resta meritos a que un ingeniero electrico meta cabeza con tal de coger su "cachito" en sevilla y aplique el "mekanikon" andaluz al ajiaco isleno. las coincidencias conclusivas remiten a que mucho de "tablao" tiene la gerencia biranica del cayo.
los comedores de "cola de toro" sevillanos deben haberse atorados con las resurrecciones doctrinarias "sesentistas" con que nuestro estimado kubiche incorporaba despiadadamente cuartillas con los rostow, frank, prebish, galbraith, etc., apolilladamente existentes solo en los viejos manuales sovieticos de historia del pensamiento economico. 

ya sabemos que aki y akuya esta es una investigacion conceptualmente economica, pero entre el legendario deficit de iq de los que optan por las facultades de economia porque "no dan muchas matematicas" y cuyo aporte mas sustancial a la cienciologia kubiche ademas del oportuno cuello genuflexo, es el paradigmatico "el respeto al viaje ajeno es la paz"; nuestro kubiche electrico demuestra que la adaptacion en la lucha por la supervivencia no esta renida con el  talento ni con los cojones.

----------------------------------------

Resumen

Lázaro Alvarado Barrios 

En este trabajo de investigación se presenta un análisis teórico sobre el desarrollo y los conceptos relacionados, que nos han permitido presentar primero, una propuesta metodológica para evaluar la evolución del modelo de desarrollo de Cuba en el periodo 1995-2005, tomando indicadores internacionales que lo explican, y comparando su evolución respecto a América Latina, el Caribe y el Mundo. A continuación se muestra la evolución de la demanda y la competitividad del turismo receptor en Cuba también en el periodo 1995-2005, evaluando su comportamiento respecto a la región del Caribe y el Mundo, teniendo en cuenta las variables seleccionadas. Finalmente, se expresa a través de modelos la relación que existe entre la evolución de las variables que explican el modelo de desarrollo de Cuba y los ingresos provenientes del turismo internacional

Conclusiones >>  

Tesis doctoral completa >>

Couple see Cuba after honeymoon thwarted in 1959

Arizona Republic/ Luci Scott

In 1959, Dan and Marcia Cohen were booked on a honeymoon cruise to Havana. The day before they were to leave, Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro rolled tanks into the city.

Fifty-three years later -- this summer -- they finally got their Cuba honeymoon by joining a tour sponsored by the Tempe Chamber of Commerce.

As newlyweds, the Cohens had been at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, ready for a four-night cruise to Havana to visit casinos and see some shows.

"The day before the cruise, the Miami Herald headline said, 'Castro's tanks on outskirts of Havana,' " Dan Cohen said.

The San Tan Valley-area residents had not given up on one day making the trip and jumped at a rare chance to finally see Cuba on the tour, which was allowed under a people-to-people license issued by the U.S. government. Restrictions on travel to Cuba eased in 2011.

Cohen said a highlight of the trip was visiting the home of author Ernest Hemingway and seeing the patrol boat Hemmingway used to look for German submarines in World War II.

"It was magnificent grounds," Cohen said.

The Americans saw a lot of cars from the 1950s there, with their long-lasting diesel engines.

"At one of our stops by a cathedral, there was a beautifully maintained Chevy, a '55 or '56," Cohen said. "It had 450,000 miles."

Still, he said, a common mode of transportation was horse and buggy, often serving as crowded taxis.

Music was among the draws of Cuba, and it did not disappoint, Cohen said.

"And the laughter. The people ... didn't have much to enjoy, but they were making the most of it," he said. "At night, when we'd open the windows in the hotel, we heard nothing but music and dancing and singing."

Still, he was aware of repression by the Cuban government. Before he worked in security in Las Vegas, he had a career in counterespionage in the Air Force, so in Cuba, he said he recognized propaganda and discovered how Cubans are misled.

An American asked the Cuban guide what she thought of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, where the U.S. is holding terrorism suspects. From the guide's answer, the group surmised that the Cuban government had told its citizens that the photos of the abuse

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2012/09/13/20120913couple-see-cuba-after-honeymoon-thwarted-1959.html?nclick_check=1#ixzz26pHeVxiu

Cruceros de Monaco operaran en Cuba

By Gene Sloan, USA TODAY/

Cruise company Star Clippers has announced plans for voyages to Cuba, but the trips will be off limits to U.S. citizens in observance of the U.S. embargo of the country.

The Monaco-based sailing ship line says the 170-passenger Star Flyer will operate two repositioning cruises ending or originating at Cienfuegos, Cuba; one six-night cruise roundtrip from Cienfuegos; and five seven-night roundtrip sailings from Cienfuegos -- all to take place during February and March of 2014.

"Star Clippers is headquartered in Europe and caters to an international clientele," Star Clippers owner Mikael Krafft notes in a statement. "Each season we try to diversify our itineraries and offer something new and exciting. The small islands that we're calling at in Cuba are an ideal match for the Star Clippers product."

Star Clippers notes that U.S. citizens cannot reserve or purchase the new Cuba cruises from a travel agent, a Star Clippers sales representative or reservationist, or through an affiliated website or other general sales agent.

 

El turismo español en Cuba cae un 25%

elEconomista.es/

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En lo que va de año, Cuba ha alcanzado la cifra de dos millones de turistas extranjeros, un 5,3% más que durante el mismo periodo del pasado año, según ha informado el Ministerio de Turismo (MINTUR) en un comunicado distribuido entre los medios locales. Sin embargo, el número de turistas españoles se ha reducido de forma considerable.

Entre enero y julio viajaron a Cuba 46.856 españoles, frente a los 62.811 turistas que lo hicieron en el mismo periodo del pasado año, es decir un 25,4% menos, según refleja la Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información cubana. En términos de volumen, España se situó como el octavo país emisor de turistas en los siete primeros meses del año. No obstante, en julio -y pese a la tendencia a la baja del mercado-, los turistas españoles fueron los terceros en las llegadas internacionales a la isla caribeña.

La tendencia a la baja del mercado español fue la tónica también en julio. En ese mes, Cuba recibió 9.081 turistas procedentes de España, frente a los 10.550 que viajaron a ese país en julio de 2011. Parece que la mala coyuntura económica en España está recortando los viajes a destinos caribeños hasta no hace mucho en auge.  Mas >>

Autoproclamado "Alcalde" de Tarara sobre el exclusivo balneario

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Turista canadiense muere en Cuba

cnews.canoe.ca

An Ontario man has died while in Cuba, Foreign Affairs says.

Odaine "Horace" Lumley of Mississauga, Ont., has been identified in media reports as being the Canadian who died on Aug. 22, 2012, after falling from a hotel balcony in Cuba. (Twitter/QMI AGENCY)

"Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the Canadian citizen who passed away in Cuba," Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Jessica Seguin said in an e-mail late Friday.

"Canadian officials in Cuba are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information and are providing consular assistance to the family as required."

The man has been identified in media reports as Odaine "Horace" Lumley of Mississauga, Ont. It was reported he fell from a hotel balcony.

Friends took to Twitter to express their shock at news of the man's death.

"We will all miss you and love you, but we know you're watching down on us," on friend named Jessica E tweeted. "One of the funniest guys I know."

Another friend named Brittany tweeted she was "wishing this was a very bad dream" and posted a photo of Lumley.

"I can't believe we really lost Odaine," she wrote. "There are no words to really describe how I feel."

USA frena los viajes a Cuba

USA TODAY/

According to a recent column by Detroit Free Press travel writer Ellen Creager, almost no organizations with previous people-to-people licenses from the U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) have received renewals. Advertised trips have been scrapped, she writes, and organizations "are left to wait without any updates or information."

Jeff Braunger, program manager for Cuba Travel Licensing under the Treasury Department, told the Free Press "we have issued approximately 140 people-to-people licenses. We are doing our best to process both first-time applications and requests to renew existing licenses. We receive numerous such requests which are being handled in turn. It is our goal to respond in a timely matter.''

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