You were in Cuba in 1998, during the terrible Special Period (1991-2001) that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. What you’re describing is consistent with those years of extreme deprivation and poverty as the result of Cuba’s loss of its nanny state. By the time I visited in 2011, the country had recovered significantly due to fo…
You were in Cuba in 1998, during the terrible Special Period (1991-2001) that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. What you’re describing is consistent with those years of extreme deprivation and poverty as the result of Cuba’s loss of its nanny state. By the time I visited in 2011, the country had recovered significantly due to foreign investments in tourism. I also had the impression that a small amount of private enterprise was allowed. We visited an outdoor market in Havana where all kinds of fruits and vegetables were available for sale, apparently by private citizens (although prices were fixed).
I’m not a Cuba expert, but it seems that COVID dried up the tourism industry and Cubans are again suffering from hunger and shortages of everything. Cuba is a small but very fertile island and it surprised me to see how much of it remains undeveloped (we saw the entire length of the island from the plane).
You were in Cuba in 1998, during the terrible Special Period (1991-2001) that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. What you’re describing is consistent with those years of extreme deprivation and poverty as the result of Cuba’s loss of its nanny state. By the time I visited in 2011, the country had recovered significantly due to foreign investments in tourism. I also had the impression that a small amount of private enterprise was allowed. We visited an outdoor market in Havana where all kinds of fruits and vegetables were available for sale, apparently by private citizens (although prices were fixed).
I’m not a Cuba expert, but it seems that COVID dried up the tourism industry and Cubans are again suffering from hunger and shortages of everything. Cuba is a small but very fertile island and it surprised me to see how much of it remains undeveloped (we saw the entire length of the island from the plane).