U.S. Visits To Cuba Growing

Visits by U.S. travelers are growing steadily thanks in part to President Barack Obama’s lifting of restrictions on Cubanos visiting their native land, but also probably because Raúl Castro’s government is different than his brother Fidel’s in many ways. Remember that people in the U.S. cannot legally travel to Cuba without governmental permission.

Reuters reports than more than 1,000 U.S. tourists arrive to Cuba daily, taking second place after Canadians as the most popular tourists. What’s more, Reuters reported that businesses involved in Cuban travel reported than 265,000 people travelled in October with 330,000 expected in November/December. Reuters also got an anonymous U.S. State Department source to say more than 400,000 U.S. visitors would have visited the island this year.

It’s good news and bad news, I suppose. I’ve always wanted to visit Cuba, but, having  interviewed Cubans who left, the poverty there is apparently tremendous. On the other hand, the more Cuba opens up, the more likely U.S.-based interests are to begin to exploit the people and resources there. The double-edged sword of “progress”?

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