Being dependent on Tourists is a bad place to be.
Around 2005 we’ve spent a couple of weeks Cuba, and the ill effects of Tourism on the country were obvious, especially because they have two currencies, one for Tourists and one for the Cuban people.
Somebody who worked in a hotel, bar or resort would typically make more money in tips per day that somebody working in the fields would make in a week. That fucks up a society pretty badly
Most tourists would spend all their time in these resorts, or maybe visit Havana or Varadero, but they don’t see much of the Country that way. From all I’ve heard, that hasn’t changed much since then.
I’m all for lifting the embargo, but I’m not convinced that the embargo is the main reason for Cubas current and past problems, they had a stable government that had 70 years to find ways of working with and around that embargo. Building a dependency on the UDSSR, and then on Tourism wasn’t the smartest move, I’m afraid.
Edit: typos
