Holiday in Cuba

[sysyphus]

I'm pretty sure they can, they just can't fly directly to Cuba.

Cuban authorities will allow Americans to enter, however they will not allow any commerce with American corporations, thus one cannot even use a credit card or travellers cheques drawn on US banks.

The law in the US doesn't directly forbid Americans to go to Cuba (I believe that would be unconstitutional) but it does forbid Americans from making any kind of commercial transaction with Cuban entities, which includes the smallest thing like buying a chocolate bar. Thus, since it is impossible to go somewhere without making any comercial transactions, Americans are effectively barred from going there.

Many still do, travelling from Mexico or Canada, though I thoroughly recommend going via Mexico since travelling via Canada you will have a very difficult time convincing American customs whilst sporting a tan in mid-January that you were in Canada the whole time.

Btw, sysyphus isn't exactly american

Indeed, I am only vaguely American.

 

[farting bob]

Why would america ban its citizens from spending money in cuba? I would say thats not exactly supporting freedom. You can go to china and buy stuff there, so it cant just be a stupid anti-communist thing.

 

[sysyphus]

Why would america ban its citizens from spending money in cuba? I would say thats not exactly supporting freedom. You can go to china and buy stuff there, so it cant just be a stupid anti-communist thing.

It's more of a bearing old grudges kind of thing. Cuba was once supported by the US, though many thought the American support came from a heavy hand, which was the main drive behind the revelution. So at the hottest moment in the Cold war, Cuba befriended the Soviets instead, and adopted communism.

That of course, led to the Cuban missile crisis and essentially, the two countries have beared a grudge against one another ever since.

 

[Louis XXIV]

Throw Bay of Pigs in there somewhere and you get the full reason for a grudge

 

[cidknee]

yeah trying to assasinate a head of state might cause some grief too......

Also the US( CIA) backed Castro when he was revolting against Batista iirc but then he decided he didnt need them, didnt wanna be one of thier puppets and they didnt like that very much

 

[luiz]

The CIA did not back Castro, ever. The US did recognise him as the ruler of Cuba as soon as he captured Havana, though.
Originally Castro and his revolution were not communist, though there were plenty of commies among the leaders(Guevara, Raul Castro, etc). Some other leaders were not, like Camilo Cienfuegos, and there was even an anti-communist among them, Huber Mattos. The revolution was mostly nationalistic.

The relations with the US started to degenerate when Castro started moving consistently to the left, and giving signs that he planned to seize american property in the island. When he did that and the US broke relations and issued an embargo, he turned to the Soviet Union for protection, adopted a stalinist form of communism and purged the non-communist cuban leaders that once fought alongside with him(Huber Mattos spent 20 years rotting in jail for crimes of opinion). Some people speculate that Cienfuegos' plane was actually shot down, since he was increasingly critic of the new regime and refused to arrest Huber Mattos.

 

[cidknee]

hmm ya know yer right. I was mistaken. I wasnt sure but I know that they had backed SOMEBODY in Cuba. But iwas probally thinking of the Bay of pigs... but then again these pain meds are messing with my head...

 

[luiz]

They backed Batista, an enemy of Castro.

 

[Louis XXIV]

Yep, the US backed Batista. Also, Castro met with a US Vice President (I want to say Nixon, but I'm not sure) who came to the conclusion that Castro wasn't a marxist (just nieve). That opinion changed when he nationalized US businesses.

BTW, Brigade 2506 (the Cuban exiles who the CIA tried to use to overthrow Castro) weren't necessarily pro-Batista, they were just anti-Castro (some of them were just as opposed to Batista).

 

[sysyphus]

Yep, the US backed Batista. Also, Castro met with a US Vice President (I want to say Nixon, but I'm not sure) who came to the conclusion that Castro wasn't a marxist (just nieve). That opinion changed when he nationalized US businesses.
.

You are correct, it was Nixon.