Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cub has been inching towards capitalism -mostly in the form of tourism. Can Havana once again become “the Latin Las Vegas”?

Communist countries aren’t known for being vacation hot spots, and for good reason. To have a thriving tourist sector, you need luxuries to offer and visitors willing to spend money on them. That’s the stuff of capitalism. And yet, Cuba attracts about 2 million sightseers every year, mostly from Europe and Canada. That number is especially remarkable considering that two decades ago, Cuba’s tourism industry was not only nonexistent, it was outlawed.

FROZEN DAIQUIRIS

Cuban tourism was banned in 1960 as part of the Communist Revolution. Shortly after Fidel Castro came to power, his regime closed the island’s internationally renowned hotels. He also cracked down on prostitution, gambling, and illicit drugs -trades that had made the country a den of hedonism. As Castro saw it, tourism was a form of capitalist exploitation in which the rich pleasured themselves on the backs of the poor. He felt that Americans used the island as a playground with little concern for the welfare of those who lived there. In his new country, Cuban citizens would be equal; no one would stay at luxury hotels until everyone could stay at luxury hotels.

(Image credit: Flickr user Tom Graham)

Cuba got by without tourism for nearly 30 years, mostly by exporting sugar to its top trading partner, the Soviet Union. But after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, billions of dollars disappeared from Cuba’s coffers overnight. To keep the country from going bankrupt, Castro announced a five-year era of austerity, which he dubbed the “special period.” Never in the history of politics has the word “special” been used more euphemistically. Castro cut mass transit and food rations by 80 percent -moves so drastic that they caused the average Cuban to lose 20 pounds. But cutting costs alone wouldn’t make the country solvent again; Cuba needed new trading partners and new industries. So, very reluctantly, Castro re-opened the tourism sector.

THE TOURISM APARTHEID

During the 1990s, the Cuban government poured $3.5 billion into rebuilding the tourism industry, restoring old hotels, nightclubs, beach resorts, and churches, some of which date back 500 years to the Spanish colonial era. Still, because tourism is antithetical to the communist ethos, Castro tried to keep the sector as separate from most Cubans as possible. Cuban citizens weren’t allowed to enter tourist establishments, and by the same token, tourists weren’t allowed into areas designated for regular Cubans. To further distance citizens from foreigners, Castro’s regime created two separate currencies: the peso for Cubans, and convertible pesos, or CUCs (pronounced “kooks”), for tourists.  Most businesses in Cuba accepted one currency or the other, but not both.

In effect, Castro had blocked contact between tourists and the vast majority of the population, Suddenly, Cubans were second-class citizens in their own country, just as they had been before the Revolution. The new system became known as “tourism apartheid.”

(Image credit: Flickr user somebody_)

But the creation of the tourism sector in Cuba had some progressive aspects to it, as well. As vice-president during the 1990s, Raul Castro ushered in some small but significant reforms that allowed for limited private enterprise. For example, in 1995, Cuba legalized paladeres -privately owned, family-run restaurants. Two years later, the country started allowing citizens to turn their homes into casas particulares -bed-and-breakfast hotels open to Cubans and foreigners alike.

Tourism has also brought back the capitalist practice of tipping. Taxi drivers, musicians, tour guides, waiters, bartenders, and bellboys are coveted occupations because they receive tips, one of the few ways to get ahead on the island. A Cuban guitarist earning just $200 a month in tips makes 10 times the average government wage -far more than most Cuban doctors.

THE POWER OF THE SMALL BUSINESS OWNER

Since assuming the office of president full-time in 2008, Raul Castro has continued to make small changes to foster free enterprise. Aside from ending tourist apartheid, he’s also granted hundreds of thousands of new licenses to family businesses. Outside the tourism sector, he’s passed massive agrarian reform, allowing farmers to sell their produce directly to consumers. And now that a few people in Cuba have disposable income, Raul has made it easier for them to spend it. In the past three years, he’s made it legal for Cubans to rent cars, renovate their homes, and buy computers, cell phones, DVD players, and other electronics -all of which had previously been banned. Although Cuba is still not a market economy, it’s impossible to deny that times are changing.

The American government has been responsive to the expanding freedoms. In 2009, president Obama made it easier for Cuban-Americans to send money to their families back in Cuba. Then, in January of 2011, Obama made it legal for any American to send up to $500 every three months, so long as the money goes toward funding private enterprise in Cuba. In other words, if you have a friend in Havana, and you want to help him start a restaurant, all you have to do is write him a check. The embargo may soon come to an end, and not because Americans renounced the Cuban economy, but because they helped rebuild it, one small business at a time.

(Image credit: Flickr user Frans Persoon)

CAN AMERICANS VISIT CUBA LEGALLY?

Yes, they can, and it’s getting easier to do all the time. Although it’s still illegal for Americans to visit Cuba simply for pleasure, since 1999 the United States has allowed Americans to travel to Cuba for journalistic and educational purposes. If you’re a reporter on assignment or a doctor attending a medical conference, it’s perfectly legal to fly there. Also, as of 2009, Cuban-Americans are allowed to visit their relatives in Cuba as frequently as they’d like. Under the old rule, they were only permitted once every three years. In fact, today, there are nonstop flights to Havana from New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, and that list stands to expand.

There are plenty of ways to visit Cuba illegally, too. Tourists simply fly to Mexico or Canada and then catch another plane there. The Cuban government won’t stamp your passport anymore; they know that some Americans have gotten into trouble when they returned to the United States with a Cuban seal on their books. These days, Cuban officials at customs simply hand you a tourist visa, which gets stamped instead. So unless you try to smuggle a carton of cigars back in your suitcase, odds are, the government will never know you were there. An estimated 20,000 to 60,000 Americans travel illegally to Cuba every year.

_______________________

The article above, written by Jennifer Drapkin, is reprinted with permission from the July-August 2011 issue of mental_floss magazine. Get a subscription to mental_floss and never miss an issue!

Be sure to visit mental_floss‘ website and blog for more fun stuff!

Depending on how much you follow the schedule of upcoming movie releases, you may or may not know that MGM was planning to release a remake of Red Dawn on November 24, 2010 (the picture above is from the set). I say “was” because the studio is facing such major financial difficulties that the release has been postponed and the movie may be shelved indefinitely. To make matters worse, the Chinese press got a hold of the leaked script, which was based around a Chinese invasion of America (as opposed to the Soviet invasion in the first movie), and the headlines are not pretty. A few notable newspapers covered the story saying things like, “U.S. reshoots Cold War movie to demonize China” and “American movie plants hostile seeds against China.”

In honor of a movie that may soon join the ranks of many other films that might have been, let’s enjoy some trivia about the original 1984 version of Red Dawn.

Image via g jewels [Flickr]

Shifting Focus

If you’re one of the many people who think the movie is a pathetic excuse to rally Americans against communists, then you may be surprised to know that the original story was much more intellectual and less action-oriented. Unlike the final version of Red Dawn, the original tale was more like Lord of the Flies, focusing on tensions between the group members and serving to illustrate the aggressive nature of mankind rather than the evils of communist Russia. The story, originally called Ten Soldiers, was also focused on kids who were in their early teens, rather than the older teens featured in the final version.

Getting Ready For Action

The cast and crew both had a lot of work ahead of them even before filming started. The actors, which included Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey and Charlie Sheen, were all required to go through an intensive eight-week military-styled boot camp to get them in shape and ready to fight.

Meanwhile, the production crews were tasked with creating realistic weapons and vehicles for the American and Communist forces to use in the film. One of the movies T-72 tanks turned out to be such a perfect replica that the CIA actually dispatched two officers to find out where the Russian tank had come from and what it was doing in LA.

What Happens In Vegas Stays In New Mexico

While the movie is set in Calumet, Colorado, it was filmed mostly in Las Vegas, New Mexico. A rundown Safeway grocery store was used as a sound stage and many scenes were filmed there. Many of the buildings seen in the movie are still standing, with the exception being a 107 year-old historical building that was used for the headquarters of the invaders in the movie. Although it managed to survive being bombed by Wolverines for the purpose of production, it didn’t survive severe thunderstorms in the summer of 2006 and was torn down shortly after.

Setting A New Standard

If you ever thought there was nothing noteworthy about Red Dawn, you’re wrong. Not only did the movie represent the Charlie Sheen’s debut onto film, it also was the first PG-13 movie released in to theaters and the most violent film ever made at the time, according to Guinness. Technically The Flamingo Kid was the first movie to receive a PG-13 rating, but because its release was delayed five months, Red Dawn is largely credited with being the first PG-13 movie ever.

Many parent groups protested the movie, notably The National Coalition on Television Violence, which was shocked by the Guinness Record given to the movie. According to the record, the movie had 134 acts of violence per hour, over two every minute. The Coalition claimed that 1984 had the most violent blockbusters ever released in one summer, as Indiana Jones, Gremlins and Dreamscape also hit theaters that year.

Real World Inspirations

Many critics claimed the film was a fantasyland for war hawks who wanted to use the movie as an excuse to go to war. While the Cold War ended shortly after the movie was released, critics were right in assuming that the military was inspired by the film. When a Hussein disappeared during the Iraq war, the Army set up Operation Red Dawn, and named the targets of the mission Wolverine 1 and Wolverine 2. The captain who named the mission, Geoffrey McMurray, said it “was so fitting because it was a patriotic, pro-American movie.”

Politics on Neatorama are pretty divided and can be very heated, so I’m sure many of you have quite different opinions on the movie. So what do you guys think? Do you like Red Dawn? Are you hoping to see the sequel when (and if) it comes out?

Sources: Wikipedia, New York Times, IMDB, Slash Film

At midnight East Germany’s Communist rulers gave permission for gates along the Wall to be opened after hundreds of people converged on crossing points.

They surged through cheering and shouting and were be met by jubilant West Berliners on the other side.

Ecstatic crowds immediately began to clamber on top of the Wall and hack large chunks out of the 28-mile (45-kilometre) barrier.

Link | Timeline of the Wall | Interactive Map of the Wall | PBS Documentary | Image: U.S. Department of State

It appears the inhabitant of the humble flat fled in a hurry and shrivelled bread rolls still lay in a string bag.

Grocery brands from the Socialist state filled the kitchen.

“When we opened the door we felt like Howard Carter when he found the grave of Tutankhamun,” Mark Aretz told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

“Everything was a mess but it was like a historic treasure trove, a portal into an age long gone.”

Documents show the flat had been occupied by a 24-year-man who had been in some trouble with East German authorities, and must have fled before the Berlin Wall came down in November of 1989. A wall calendar was turned to August 1988. Link -Thanks, Paul!

Oh, and one more thing: Xinyu is the grandson of Chairman Mao.

Mao’s blog is largely dedicated to an appreciation of his grandfather, who died when he was six years old. The founder of communist China is still admired by many people here -despite the fact that millions died because of famine and conflict during his rule (an official Communist Party verdict delivered after his death ruled – with precision – that Chairman Mao was 70% right and 30% wrong).

"The greatest happiness of my life and satisfaction come from a real understanding of a great man. And he is my grandfather," grandson Mao writes.

Link | Mao Xinyu’s blog (in Chinese) – via TYWKIWDBI