Cuba has been preparing for a fresh American invasion since Barack Obama and Ral Castro clasped hands at a conference in Panama. This assault will be peaceful. The Caribbean island will soon be inundated with American tourists.
For the time being, Cuba continues to be a fascinating time capsule where development seems to have stopped for fifty years. Visit right now before it gets too late! In this article, let’s explore the real Cuba!
1. Digital isolation
Cuba’s relative digital isolation is something that many Americans are aware of but don’t completely comprehend. According to data from the International Telecommunication Union and Cuba’s National Statistics Office, 25 percent of Cubans have access to the Internet in 2011. However, that figure is inaccurate since it includes users who can only access websites under government control. Only 5% of Cubans have unrestricted access to the Internet in that same year.
Home connections are nearly nonexistent, and the only people who have access to the Internet at work are authorized journalists, professors, physicians, and engineers. For everyone else, there are pricey government-run Internet cafés where an hour of access may charge between US$6 and US$10—an unaffordable sum in a nation where the average weekly wage is only about $20. Nonetheless, computers, routers, and other equipment continue to be expensive and difficult to obtain.

2. No use of credit cards
In Cuba, credit cards are not accepted, therefore travelers must carry a lot of cash. There are no phone services from the United States. But we’re confident you were unaware of the absurd lengths to which American companies are compelled to go to comply with those regulations. However, you couldn’t even look at your account if you tried to check your bank balance online while in Cuba. You will get a message when you try to sign in that says you are prohibited because you are in Cuba and that you should contact a toll-free number.
But Cuba doesn’t support American phone services! You won’t just lose access to your account; your credit or debit card will also be blocked. Given these difficulties, it is understandable that many Cuban youngsters, like those in Gaza, search for opportunities overseas. The country’s GDP is comparable to Botswana, and salaries typically range from $20 to $30 per month.
3. Equality for Women
In comparison to many other parts of the globe, especially the United States, women enjoy more equality now. The female representation in the Cuban parliament is 48%. There aren’t even 20 members of the US Congress yet. Women are equally represented at the provincial and municipal levels. All women are entitled to a year of paid maternity leave and are required to get equal pay for equal effort.

4. Education is prioritized
It is commonly known that Cuba has had a very effective literacy drive. Cuba had a literacy rate of 60–76% in 1959, partly as a result of poor access to schools in rural regions and a lack of teachers. Fidel Castro’s administration declared 1961 the “year of education” at Che Guevara’s urging and dispatched literacy brigades into the countryside to build schools, train new teachers, and educate the largely illiterate guajiro’s (peasants) to read and write.
By the time the program was through, 707,212 individuals had received reading and writing instruction, bringing the overall literacy rate up to 96 percent. The Cuban government continues this practice today by greatly subsidizing book prices so that everyone may purchase them. (That is made feasible by states sponsoring publishers, which does imply some degree of influence over the titles offered.)
The Takeaway
Hotels in Cuba have a whole different vibe of their own. However, since the Revolution, all hotels in Cuba have been held by the government. International hotel companies like the Hilton and the InterContinental are keen to return.
Cadillacs are the classic and typical Cuba cars! Since the most recent changes, modern Chinese vehicles have been imported to the island, but the majority of the Cadillacs, Buicks, and Chevrolets from the 1950s still line the streets of Cuba.
With more room for private enterprise, more prospects for employment and individual initiative, and increased access to American commerce, Cuba undoubtedly faces new obstacles. The present administration is aware of this and determined to develop further while maintaining its socialist roots.
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