Hi,
I have read through the forum and through many books and I have 8 remaining questions. If possible, I'd appreciate a direct-as-possible response. I know these are complicated questions, but I'd love to understand Cuba better and your help will be appreciated:
1. Regarding private taxis, if what is enabling them to be granted licenses to practice privately is the fact that they own private vehicles (unlike the vast majority of the population), then is it logical to assume that these drivers probably acquired the vehicles illegally? If so, then it would seem like although the government knows this, it still grants private licenses for taxis? Perhaps money is talking in this case! Probably.
2. Both before and after the Special Period, were/are Cubans of the same/similar profession making basically the same wages in different provinces or did/do wages vary province to province? If they vary according to province, then what stopped/stops everyone from simply migrating to the country’s ‘highest-paying’ province?
3. How is it determined how many people live in any given home in Cuba? Also, what if someone wants to relocate from, let’s say, Santiago to, let’s say, Havana? Is such freedom of movement allowed and if so, then who determines where this person will live and with whom he or she will live (let’s say he or she is single and relocating alone)?
4. Regarding religion in Cuba , since support for the Catholic Church dwindled following the Revolution, what use was made of all those churches on the island that were not being attended by churchgoers? I know Castro cannot be likened to Stalin, but has he-generally or ever-closed down church institutions and converted the buildings into functional shops of some sort (like Russia did)? To what extent was the Catholic Church restricted following the Revolution? How would you say the church was affected by the Revolution, its aftermath, the ‘Special Period’ and its aftermath?
5. Before the Special Period, who were the Cubans that afforded jewelry and other forms of ‘prestige’? After all, I am imagining that before the Special Period, things were not so lawless and hence, wages among the population did not vary so much like today. If true, then I imagine that before the 1990s there didn’t exist many places (restaurants, clubs, etc.) of a ‘higher caliber’. Am I understanding this correctly?
6. Do you have the phone numbers, addresses and even websites of any private apartment casa particular in Havana Vieja?
7. Was/is private ownership allowed in Cuba before and/or after the Special Period? I am talking about owning a mechanic shop, restaurant, retail store, etc. How do things work with profits? Do all gross amounts go to the government and then the government gives everyone a flat salary or do the store 'owners' or workers somehow divide the profits?
8. For those unemployed in Cuba and/or choose not to work, does the government still supply them with any money whatsoever?
8 Random Questions Regarding Cuba
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What an odd series of questions, and frankly you have many seemingly pre-conceived notions of Cuba that are totally false.
Q1 - You assume that vehicles are acquired illegally. TOTALLY WRONG. It's a complicated but fully legal system.
Q5 - Before the Special Period things were "not so lawless". What nonsense!!! I spend upwards of 6 weeks a year in Havana and I can assure you that it's one of the safest cities in Latin America or South America. I'm not saying that there is no crime at all, but compared to other cities I've travelled in it's not "lawless" at all.
Q6 - It's called "Google"
Q7 - Yes there is private ownership. Neither, they pay taxes for their licence, not a percentage or share of income.
Q8 - All citizens of Cuba receive the Libreta.
Frankly, I'd suggest you hop on a plane, head to Havana and Cuba for a couple of months, open your eyes and close your mind to preconceived notions and learn what makes this country tic.
Comments have been removed by Fodor's moderators
I don't understand why some people on this forum are so quick to slam others. I personally like when people care enough about how things work in a particular country, better than others who just go to an all-inclusive and come back without ever taking a step outside. Unfortunately, many of your questions might not get answered even if you do go to Cuba.
) about the special period is that things got really tough with the collapse of the Soviet Union and Cuba wasn't getting the financial support it was previously. Castro always seems to do just enough to avoid a mass revolt. Due to the harsh conditions, he had to loosen up some rules, eg. now you can rent a room as a casa particular, which is basically a private b&b, heavily taxes mind you but he allowed some privatization. Same with restaurants, some privatization there too. Not sure about the cabs. That baffled me also in Cuba. Most taxis we got into, never turned on their meter, we assumed that they filled a quota of "metered" trips for the night and then did the rest without turning it on.
The only thing I know (or think I know
Any local I asked questions to seemed very surprised that I was, I didn't get as many answers as I would've liked. Maybe partly due to fear/censorship. Who knows...
In terms of moving from town or another, I was told that you basically have to find someone who wants to move to your town and basically exchange homes.
I've only been to Cuba once, it was about five years ago. We were told then that people could not just move to Havana. You had to have permission from the government. How one went about this, I have no idea.
I would agree that you will have trouble getting all your questions answered, even in Cuba. Many of very reluctant to discuss politics at all.
That said, Havana is a wonderful city. Very safe, a wonderful place to spend some time, but also very sad to see the beautiful buildings starting to crumble....
This User posted the same questions in Dec 2007:
http://www.fodors.com/community/caribbean-islands/cuba-various-interesting-questions-non-polemical.cfm
and does so for numerous countries consistently.
These aren't travel questions for a forum, greekness2004 is collecting info for other reasons--so
Why do you want to know?
Greekness does indeed have a "history" of asking odd questions like these....
interesting.. and Canuck was the first one to respond in 2007 also
I guess I naively got myself into something I don't understand 
It's a little out of date but you should read "This is Cuba: An Outlaw Culture Survives"
by Ben Corbett
I think you will gain a lot of insight on the country and it's government and have lots of your questions answered!