Throughout the past near 2 weeks, have really been trying to understand Cuba, its politics, its economic situation, its individuals, its way of thinking. have been speaking to as numerous locals as I could, and also every night before go to sleep, have actually been reading publications concerning Cuba along with having actually bought some regional Cuban books which are likely to give me a lot more insight regarding this special, inconsistent area. The other day I had a chance to speak to a TV reporter, who is a specialist in economics and also he described a couple of points to me. I have a passing degree of knowledge with Communism, mainly from my time back home in Austria, when the Soviet Block still existed. It is so hard for me to think that practically all organisation activity here is state-owned and also state-run.
The journalist discussed to me that there are 140 professions e.g. exclusive small restaurants/ Pala dares, private bed and breakfasts or Cases Particulars, cab driver, carpenters, plumbing technicians, artisans and also other trades people, that are permitted to practice private enterprise while all the shops, service providers and also sector are nationalized. Not surprisingly, the quality of service is very low and individuals swipe extraordinary amounts of items and also merchandise from the State to resell them independently on the street. Asked the journalist what he believes the percentage of theft is in contrast to the complete gross nationwide product; however he played rather foolish and said he could not provide me a response to that inquiry. Obviously the significant quantity of burglary and resulting capitalism is not officially talked about in Cuban political circles.
At midday today went with a stroll with a neighborhood Cuban female from the university and we attempted to order an easy lunch. We tried 4 dining establishments, all of them were shut some obviously as a result of a shortage of water and the ones that were open, had a couple of the things that were listed on the Best Cuba Travel Places. We ultimately ended up eating a pizza at one of the big hotels. Long schedules and also shortages are a theme that duplicates itself everyday numerous times. Earlier today my language course the teacher and 4 students went on an excursion to the Center Felix Varela, a non-governmental organization, moneyed by Swiss, Belgian and Canadian contributors, that worries itself with 4 major topics: sustainable development, problems for peace, regional area development and also environmental education and learning. From what understand, they supply workshops, seminars and conference for academics and political choice makers in these 4 classifications of subjects and they have greater than 100 volunteers that go out into culture to use a few of these concepts.
