Cuba: The Fake Paradise

If you ask tourists what do they think about Cuba, the answer will be “It’s a wonderful paradise!”  If you ask the same question to a government’ buff, you will get the same answer… Ask it to standard Cubans, and you will find a different response! And, believe me, all these reactions are truly upright. I will show you why:

The Facade

At the beginning of 2009, USA Today published: “Cuban tourism has remained strong while visitors to other Caribbean destinations have dropped amid the world financial crisis. International travel operators say the island remains popular because many visitors can buy relatively cheap, all-inclusive packages and can budget trip costs well in advance. At the same time, the financial crunch has not yet hit hard in Canada, the top source of Cuba’s visitors.”

Cuba is really a paradise for the tourists, not only for its cheaper prices, awesome views and amazing beaches, but also due to the high quality of their services, and it is not because they are superior in knowledge and training than in other countries.

The fact is that the Cuban tourism’s workers have the best income on the island, even higher than lawyers and doctors, whose monthly salary is about US$20.00 after conversion (1 dollar = 25 pesos). They wages are not higher than the others, but are paid in dollars, which it is a sensitive advantage, since the best markets for the common people are in dollars. Obviously, their services have to be exceptional, because they don’t want to lose the privilege.

The Unseen Set

Free world’s people can’t understand what happens inside the island, because it’s a totally different way of life, not based on a normal environment of human rights. The Cuban tourism workplace is probably one of the best examples of the general pattern.

Being based essentially on foreign inversions, the Cubans are not employed by the companies’ owners. The government deals directly with the investors, provides them the employees under international regular rates, and keeps full control over the personnel, so the financier doesn’t have any responsibility related with the human resources.

The witty part of this system, is that the government selects these workforces on its own inviolable conditions, which means:

1. To be proven regimen’s addict, following strictly the Communist Party social and political rules: No choices, you have to be a devotee of the scheme, or you are beaten by it.

2. Don’t have or try to have any contact with the patrons, under any circumstance.

3. To receive the wages predetermined by the law, although it is only a very little portion of the payment that the government acquires from the foreign enterprise. There is not another employer, so… no choices either.

I know that you, free citizen of a free world, can’t even figure out how it’s possible to live in a country without choices, but this is the only option in Cuba: not to have options; and really, it’s not funny!