Cuba lecture

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This morning at the hotel, we had a very interesting lecture from Dr. Jorge Mario Sánchez, a professor of political science and economics at the university of Havana. He used political cartoons as a vehicle to explain his perspective on the history of US / Cuban relations. He explained rhat much of the new opening with Cuba, fostered by Obama, took place under executive authority and creative interpretation of various statutes. Of course much of this could be reversed by the new administration, although American companies have begun to invest in Cuba and there may be pressure from business not to turn back. He talked about how important it is, from the Cuban vantage point, to take these changes slowly and protect their society from commercialization. He notes that even with the new opening of travel, tourism is still a prohibited reason to travel to Cuba from the US. Apparently people have been fined in the past for coming under the auspices of educational purposes and then posting lots of photos of drinking on the beach.

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