Now…no one asked…but this is my impression of the situation.  I may be way off, but follow along.

Fidel Castro was a 29 year old rebel when he took over Cuba.   He was swept into office in a revolution that was spurred by the “have nots” in a country with very few “haves”.  What I saw from the ruins, the “haves” flaunted their wealth with mansions, boats, parties, and other amenities that were not available to the “have nots”.  In other words, there was very little chance a “have not” would ever have a chance to work hard, get lucky, and become a “haves”.

So, with that said, we have a 29 year old leader who comes into power.  He is persuaded by the Russians to allow them to park weapons of mass destruction on land only 90 miles from the USA border in exchange for a never ending export business of sugar from Cuba to Russia and beyond.  When the USA found the missiles, the president at the time did the right thing and stopped the situation.  The Russians took their toys and went home and for the next 30 years, stood by their promise to Cuba to protect them, and helped them export their main product, sugar.

Then, in the 1980’s, the Russians tore down the wall, the allegiance to Cuba diminished, and both countries went in a recession.  The Cubans were forced to find another export or source of income and then looked towards tourism.  The 1990’s brought new hotels and restaurants, and they allowed people to privately run the same.  They did not own it, but they ran it, and got to keep a portion of the profit. The Cubans refer to this as a revolution.

With all of the poverty and unsanitary conditions in the country, Cuba makes education the number one priority.  The children must attend primary and secondary schools, and if chosen, can continue to college…all for free.  If you graduate from college you are required to give two years of service to the country before you earn a wage.  While you are doing the service you are paid the same stipend that you are paid going to college.  A college education can be in any career focus, but even if your career is a dancer, you still have to pass the education classes.

The people in Cuba seemed inquisitive and excited about the chance to have more Americans come to their country.  They are very proud of their country and seemed to believe that the issues between the two countries was because of the leaders and seem to hold no grudge to the American people.   We did notice that “Church” was a bad word in Cuba and the churches are instead museums.  When we asked why, we were told to look up the “Peter Pan of Cuba”.  This incident included hundreds of children being taken from Cuba to the USA by church groups under the assumption the parents would soon follow.  The parents were not allowed to follow, the children were never returned, and were all adopted in the USA.

So my final observation is that it is a shame that the political leaders of countries cannot put their big egos aside and figure out a compromise, so that we don’t have to go 60 years without talking…or RUNNING…with our neighbors.